Genre: Drama/ Thriller
Runtime: 106 minutes
Year: 2020
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Daniel Webber, Ian Hart, Mark Leonard Winter, Nathan Page, Grant Piro, Lenny Firth, Lliam Armor, Adam Tuominen, PJ Oaten
Description: Based on the real-life prison break of two political captives (Daniel Radcliffe, Daniel Webber), set during the tumultuous apartheid days in South Africa.
I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2020 MOVIE CHALLENGE.
WEEK 29: A MOVIE BASED ON A TRUE STORY
Review: In one of the first scenes of “Escape from Pretoria” the protagonist, Tim Jenkin is called the white Nelson Mandela. Nowadays that would be a huge compliment, but in 1978 in South Africa it is meant as an insult. The country is still under the spell of apartheid and Mandela is listed as state enemy number one. However, it is questionable whether Jenkin is offended by this remark, because he is fighting the same battle as Mandela. Tragically, this also results in the same fate: a prison sentence for years. For the explosive distribution of pamphlets, Jenkin and his friend Stephen Lee are sentenced to twelve and eight years imprisonment respectively, but already on the first day of that sentence they hint they won’t stay that long.
It may seem somewhat inappropriate to show the fight against apartheid entirely from a white perspective, but it helps that the lives of Nelson Mandela and Steve Biko have already been explored on the big screen, and films like this one contribute to disproving the misconception that this was purely a battle between black an white. In addition, Jenkin and Lee are sent to an all-white prison, because the racial separation was also in force in the penitentiary system. This initially makes us fear that Jenkin and Lee will be treated as pariahs by other prisoners who do not care about their ideological struggle. But it turns out that a striking number of like-minded people are locked up in the Pretoria prison.
However, they do not have to expect sympathy from the guards, who are consistently portrayed as the pawns of a fault regime. Jenkin and Lee call themselves prisoners of war and the film seems to agree with them. “Escape from Pretoria” is not about the heavy prison life or the political struggle, but is mainly a traditional escape film in which the background of the characters is more secondary than main. A smart move, because the possible criticism that this film about political prisoners uses remarkable little politics.
Although the characters have their reasons to escape inspired by political ideology, you don’t necessarily have to be interested to enjoy the film. After all, it invokes a form of tension that is fairly universal. Almost like a Jenga tower that starts to incline more and more, the film strings together exciting scenes in which the fear that Jenkin’s handmade keys won’t fit the lock becomes almost tangible, and every tiny sound makes one fear that a guard will come around the corner. Nothing new therefore, but in its execution extremely effective. You should blame “Escape from Pretoria” for a lack of ambition, but sometimes the art of storytelling lies precisely in reducing the story to its simplest form.
Rating: 3,5 / 5
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