Maybe That is True Friendship: Brokedown Palace (1999)

Next up in our Girl Power series, Jonathan Kaplan's Brokedown Palace.

Though there have been countless comparisons between Kaplan's 1999 film and the much more successful (both critically and commercially) Midnight Express, Brokedown Palace, at least in my opinion, stands on its own.

Perhaps the biggest difference between these two films, and what I believe to be Brokedown's both greatest strength and greatest frustration, is the ambiguity of the characters.

The film tells the story of two American best friends and recent high school graduates, Alice and Darlene. Like so many films about teen girls that have come before it, Brokedown Palace juxtaposes its two main characters.  Darlene is the "good one" while Alice is the "bad one." Before Darlene leaves for college, the girls decide to have one last trip. Instead of going to Hawaii as originally planned, they decide to go to Thailand without telling anyone.

Photo credit: ofalltime

The trip is cut short, however, when the girls meet a charming Australian man calling himself “Nick Parks.” Both girls are completely infatuated with him and, using his endless supply of charisma, Nick convinces them to meet him in Hong Kong.  All hell breaks loose while the girls are in line waiting to board their flight to Hong Kong.  As sirens begin roaring, the girls are stopped by Thai police, who discover heroin in the carry-on bag. The rest of the film covers the girls' time in a Thai women's prison and the people they encounter along the way.  They form unlikely friendships, both with fellow inmates and a compassionate guard.  They have occasional run-ins with the "bully" of the prison, but even she is shown to not be as heartless as she seems.  The main struggle of the film is that of their lawyer, known as “Yankee Hank,” as he tries to put the pieces of the puzzle together to show the girls' inocence. All while dealing with the greatest villian of the film: a corrupt justice system.

I have watched this film several times, and still, every time I do, I notice different things that can make me believe one way or the other about the innocence of the girls.

**SPOILER ALERT**

Though the film ends with Alice confessing to smuggling the drugs in, it is unclear, even in the final moments of the film, what the truth actually is. As she is leaving the prison, Darlene confronts Alice about lying to the court so Darlene could be released.  Alice replies:

“If I say it was the truth, you'll hate me. And if I say I lied, then when you go home, all the time you're there with your family, you won't be able to just be happy. So let's just say that it was the right thing to do.”

Was it the right thing to do?

There a several scenes throughout the film that point to Alice's guilt.

1. Alice is the last one to see Nick Parks and talk to him about the impending trip to Hong Kong.
2. Alice is the last one left alone with the bag carrying the heroin and even asks the bellhop to wait for a minute when he comes to take the girls' bags.
3. When the girls are first brought in to be interrogated, Alice falls asleep while waiting, which seems odd for someone just arrested for a crime they did not commit.  I know that if I were arrested in an unfamiliar country for something I didn't do, I'd be far too terrified to even think about sleeping.  Though, despite not being shown very well, I think the reason for her sleeping was that she had been left in the same room for hours.

Yet, despite all of these scenes, I believe Alice is innocent.

“Yankee Hank” discovers that the man calling himself “Nick Parks” is a known smuggler with connections to the Thai Minister of Justice. Also, the airport customs office was tipped off while the flight was boarding by someone with a (surprise surprise!) Australian accent.

Many viewers debate about how the drugs wound up in the carry-on bag, offering different ideas. The most promising I have heard is that the bag carrying the heroin was switched with another by the bellhop as he loaded the bags into the trunk of the taxi. (The camera shot conveniently does not show the ground or the bellhop from behind.)

Whether or not the girls were actively involved with the smuggling could be debated for hours, and I'd love to hear your thoughts if you have seen this film. Do you think Alice was completely innocent? What about Darlene?

Perhaps the more important debate has to do with Alice's choice at the end of the film, assuming she is innocent.

Relating to an earlier scene in the film, Alice states during her confession:

“Here in Thailand you believe that what one friend does the other one knows about. Maybe that is true friendship, but I am an American, and I was not that good of a friend to her.”

Photo credit: Fox 2000 Pictures

What makes a “good friend”? By confessing, Alice has to serve the remainder of both her and Darlene's sentences. The full sentences, not subtracting the time already served by both, add up to a total of 96 years.

Call me selfish, but as much as we all love to say that we would do anything for those we love most, 90+ years in prison seems like a pretty big favor. As much as I love my friends, I can't honestly say I would do this for them if I were in Alice's shoes.

What do you think? Was the judgment fair? Would you be willing to spend the rest of your life in prison for a friend? If you were guilty? If you were innocent?

Up next in our Girl Power series:  Teen Witch (1989).

To return to the beginning of the series, click here.