True story of how a group of anti-apartheid activists attempted to escape
from a South African prison.
Review by
Ben Peyton
Directed by: Francis Annan
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Daniel Webber, Mark Leonard Winter,
Nathan Page, Ian Hart
South Africa in the 1970s. Apartheid is in full swing. White citizens are
afforded the highest status, followed by Asians, coloureds (a multiracial
ethnic group native to South Africa who have ancestry from more than one of
the various populations of the region) and black Africans. Tim Jenkin (Daniel Radcliffe) and Stephen Lee (Daniel Webber) are white South Africans united in
their determination to bring about the end of Apartheid and so join the
prohibited African National Congress group, running anti-apartheid missions,
doggedly fighting for freedom and equality for all races.
When the pair are caught, and arrested for distributing propaganda on behalf of banned organisations, they’re promptly sent to Pretoria Political Prison for White Men with sentences of 12 and eight years, respectively. Inside, they meet fellow activists Denis Goldberg (Ian Hart) and Leonard Fontaine (Mark Leonard Winter) and together they plot their escape, because some birds aren't meant to be caged.
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After making his name playing arguably the most famous wizard of all time,
Radcliffe’s film choices have hardly been predictable. Shunning more
commercially viable options, he gravitates (or perhaps it’s apparates)
towards more quirky and unusual projects, and
Escape from Pretoria is no different. Inspired by the true
events of what happened behind those notorious bars in December 1979, it’s
surprising that this remarkable story of audacity and ingenuity isn’t more
widely known.
Using a set of wooden hand-carved keys, painstakingly forged by Jenkin, the men attempt their getaway under the cover of darkness and must negotiate numerous obstacles along the way. Of course, things don’t go to plan, which forces them to improvise and rely on blind luck to not get caught. Director Francis Annan creates some nerve-shredding moments of tension and keeps the pace zipping along nicely, although peripheral characters are glossed over with some seeming to appear out of nowhere, thus making an emotional connection difficult.
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Filmed in a real prison, solitude, coldness and desperation ooze from the
walls of the long grey corridors and the solid steel doors, while there are
some cleverly filmed sequences where the camera replaces a key in a lock to
perform a 360 degree turn. South African accents slip every now and then,
but there’s no faulting the energy and commitment by all involved.
The brutality of life in jail is watered down too much due to the confines of a 12A certificate, but Nathan Page’s sadistic prison guard exudes menace in a memorable performance that deserved more screen time. He revels in his supposed superior status, appalled that white people could want to help the lowly black race. Radcliffe holds the film together well with a determined intensity to get the job done, but Winter has the most interesting journey as a father desperately missing his young family.
Escape from Pretoria is an intriguing and often astonishing
story of daring, bravery and friendship, and although it occasionally lacks
depth, this long walk to freedom is well worth watching.
Escape from Pretoria is on UK VOD,
DVD and blu-ray now.