Escape from Pretoria

Escape from Pretoria – When Tim Jenkin and Stephen Lee are imprisoned for spreading anti-apartheid literature in South Africa, the pair are determined to escape their prison, the notorious Pretoria. After analysing every aspect of the prison, Tim gets to work on making his own keys, figuring out the guards routines and trying to predict every possible scenario to get both himself, Stephen and new friend, Leonard, out. However, with the ever watchful guards keeping their eyes on them, unannounced cell inspections and various unpredictable moments, is it actually possible to escape?  

Escape from Pretoria (2020) – Director: Francis Annan

Rating: 12

Running Length: 106 mins

Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Daniel Webber, Mark Leonard Winter 

Genre: Thriller, Period, True Story

REVIEW: ‘ESCAPE FROM PRETORIA’

The true story of Tim Jenkin and Stephen Lee, two men sent to Pretoria (a notorious South African prison) during apartheid is not one that is globally well known. For many of us this is a brand new story to enjoy.

The movie focuses on the escape efforts of three men: Jenkin (Daniel Radcliffe), Lee (Daniel Webber) and Fontaine (Mark Leonard Winter, playing a man who in real life was called Alex Moumbaris but has been changed in this movie for some reason). Jenkin was a white man engaged in low key protesting against the racism in South Africa but who became a political prisoner along with his brother in arms, Stephen Lee. The pair immediately set about finding allies in order to plot their escape and hope comes from fellow prisoner, Leonard Fontaine: a man whose motivations are never truly explored other than wanting to be a part of his son’s life.

The focus of the movie is squarely on Jenkin – he’s the one who figures out how to make the duplicate keys out of flimsy materials allowing the party to move through seemingly impenetrable barriers. Sadly, his partner-in-crime, Stephen barely gets a look in and is mostly relegated to being Jenkin’s shadow. Leonard (Winter) is wonderfully charismatic and, from the moment he shows an interest in the plan, his need to be so central in their lives makes one wonder if he can be trusted. Yet the movie barely explores his motivations or background beyond standard ‘parent’.

Other detainee (and real life apartheid fighter), Denis Goldberg – played by the excellent Ian Hart – is a complex character, who seemingly wants to remain incarcerated as an act of martyrdom for his cause, but nonetheless supports the trio in their plans. Unfortunately, the absolute concentration on Jenkins’ escape leaves little room to flesh out parts that could do with some more depth.

The prison is supposedly a very dangerous place but other than initial nerves, none of the characters ever seem particularly fearful to be there. Even when Jenkin is told to stay away from certain prisoners due to them being murderers, this is barely touched on afterwards. The guards are nameless and bland. Even the main guard, shown to be cruel to both prisoners and black workers, could have more screen time to bubble into the anxiety of the prisoners. Instead he is essentially tolerated as part of the prison experience.

What the movie does excellently is tension! Whether it’s a wooden key snapping and getting stuck in a lock as a guard is on his way, surprise cell inspections or a character desperately clinging to the tip of a metal nail which is the only thing keeping a squeaky door closed as a guard walks by, this is a movie that is chock full of edge-of-your-seat moments. While some parts of the movie could have been given more depth, what we are ultimately looking for in a prison escape film is given to us in spades in ‘Escape from Pretoria’ and we couldn’t be happier!

CONTENT: IS ‘ESCAPE FROM PRETORIA’ SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN?

The movie opens with news footage of protests relating to Apartheid in South Africa, Gas is used against protestors and people are shown coughing and struggling to breathe. There is an image of dead black teenager and the narration says ‘They shot black kids like rabbits’. A black man is shown being beaten by white policemen and another black man puts his hands over his face as he sobs.

Two men walk along a busy street which has dozens of people, including families milling around. They both carry large bags and it is strongly implied that these bags contain hidden bombs. The pair separate and hide their bags in separate places. This scene becomes quite tense as we wait for the bombs to explode. However the explosions are small and no-one is hurt when they detonate.

Before being taken to prison, a character goes to the toilet and hides money inside a cigar case which is then secreted in his bottom. The camera is close-up to his face as he leans forward and looks uncomfortable, later, when he extracts it he is seen sitting on the toilet and the item can be heard clattering into the bowl. Nothing graphic is shown but kids may be curious as to what is happening!

After their sentencing, Stephen attempts to escape but is quickly apprehended and is kicked in the face. The camera cuts away quickly but he is seen shortly after with blood and cuts on his face.

One of the prison rules is ‘No sexual activity’.

One of the menial workers is black and he is treated terribly by the guards. Despite doing nothing to provoke any kind of attack, one of the guards uses his baton to beat the man around the legs. He cries out in pain as the guards laugh at him.

There are many tense scenes throughout the movie where the characters are on the verge of being discovered. One of these is when Tim is trying out one of the wooden keys he has made in his cell’s lock but, as a guard is coming, the key snaps and part of it gets stuck. The guard’s footsteps can be heard getting closer as Tim and the others panic as they try to get the tiny bits of wood out.

A character is visited in prison by their young son. The visit is arbitrarily and cruelly cut short by the guards. The boy cries out in fear for his father and the man is devastated. Shortly after this character explains that he is only allowed one 30 minute visit from his son per year which adds an extra layer of tragedy to this scene.

Tim is told by a gloating guard that one of his black friends ‘got stretched’, meaning that he was killed by being hung. He tells him the killers ‘had to winch him up 3 times’.

CAN I SEE A CLIP?

VERDICT: IS ‘ESCAPE FROM PRETORIA’ FOR KIDS?

An excellently tense drama and true story, ‘Escape from Pretoria’ is a fantastic movie that will have you on the edge of your seat until the credits roll. This is a movie that is aimed at a more mature audience and therefore we would recommend it for kids aged 12 and over.

• Violence: 3/5 (some racially driven violence, one character is kicked in the face)
• Emotional Distress: 3/5 (Leonard’s son being pulled away as his visit is cruelly cut short is distressing. Some characters laugh and gloat about violence and murder being inflicted on black people)
• Fear Factor: 3/5
• Sexual Content: 1/5
• Bad Language: 3/5
• Dialogue: 2/5
• Other Notes: Deals with themes of fighting injustice, apartheid, racism, becoming political prisoners, prison escape, changing the status quo, rebellion and progress.

Words by Laura Record