Both Billy Hayes, the anti-hero of the story, and screenwriter Oliver Stone have expressed remorse over the extremely negative depiction of Turks in this highly fictionalized version of a true story. In the movie, Billy Hayes is visiting Istanbul...
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Both Billy Hayes, the anti-hero of the story, and screenwriter Oliver Stone have expressed remorse over the extremely negative depiction of Turks in this highly fictionalized version of a true story. In the movie, Billy Hayes is visiting Istanbul with his girlfriend (in the book, he was alone), and is caught trying to smuggle hash (not corned beef!) out of the country to sell to his friends (a brilliant stroke!). His original sentence of four years for possession is overturned days before his sentence is up and is extended to thirty years for smuggling. The prison is a living hell, but even if the events taking place there were actual, any sympathy you might have for Hayes is tempered by the realization that he got there by doing something crimilally stupid, as did most of his fellow prisoners. In Turkey or anywhere else, behave yourself, don't break the law, and your chances of returning home without incident are excellent.