![]() And why can nobody do a plausible South African accent? It’s quite watchable, but it’s an odd mixture. Meanwhile, the portrayal of the prison guards as shouty, incredibly thick caricatures makes the film resemble a spin-off from Ronnie Barker’s Porridge. Escape From Pretoria is the true story of Tim Jenkin (Daniel Radcliffe) and Stephen Lee (Daniel Webber), young, white South Africans branded terrorists, an. The end result feels quaintly old-fashioned, like a World War Two prison camp movie. Random Movies on M4ufree.to Love, Fashion, Repe HD - N/A Survive Ta Nang Pha HD - N/A God Bless the Broke HD - 5. The ever-suspicious guards keep searching their cells, but luckily manage to overlook telltale evidence when it’s staring them in the face.ĭirector Francis Annan uses archive footage to evoke the riots and brutality of apartheid, and period cars, posters and clothes wing us back Seventies-wards, but the fierce politics of the era are kept firmly in the background and are never fully addressed. Light Off Storyline: Escape from Pretoria (2020) Based on the real-life prison break of two political captives, Escape From Pretoria is a race-against-time thriller set in the tumultuous apartheid days of South Africa. This prompts various nile-biting moments as the escapees test out their plans in the middle of the night, narrowly evading prowling warders. The core of the film is a claustrophobic account of how Jenkin studies the warders’ keys while the others distract their attention, then figures out various incredible methods of getting the keys into the appropriate locks while still inside his cell, using a mixture of home-made Meccano and a pulley system. Since their resources are severely restricted, Jenkin settles on the idea of fabricating the keys from wood in the prison workshop. It involves making a set of keys to all the various doors they’ll need to open if they’re going to make their getaway. They won’t listen though, and partnering up with the volatile Frenchman Leonard Fontaine (Mark Leonard Winter), they set about hatching a wildly improbable scheme (Radcliffe and Daniel Webber, pictured below). Although there’s an ANC prisoners’ council in the jail, run by another real-life character, Denis Goldberg (Ian Hart), they’re strangely negative about Jenkin’s plans and try to dissuade the pair from going ahead with it. The prison is a hellhole of brutish warders, primitive cells and trigger-happy snipers patrolling the walls, but our protagonists are determined to break out. Apparently it didn’t even occur to them to run away after they’d done it, and within the twinkling of an eye the outraged judiciary had the pair despatched to Pretoria Central Prison (12 years for Jenkin, eight for Lee). It’s a real display of the actor’s talent.Radcliffe plays Jenkin, who with his fellow African National Congress-supporting comrade Stephen Lee (Daniel Webber) gets arrested for a comically inept stunt where the pair of them put exploding bundles of political leaflets in wastepaper bins. Based on the real-life prison break of two political captives, Escape From Pretoria is a race-against-time thriller set in the tumultuous apartheid days of South Africa. With Daniel Radcliffe, Daniel Webber, Ian Hart, Mark Leonard Winter. Radcliffe is subdued but committed, lending an ideal everyman quality to Jenkin. Escape from Pretoria: Directed by Francis Annan. It steadily builds its tension, culminating in a heart-pounding sequence in which Jenkin tries to rescue a key he dropped outside of his cell with nothing but a stick and a piece of gum. Two white South Africans are determined to escape Pretoria Prison, the notorious white mans Robben Island. It is based on the real-life prison break of two political prisoners. ![]() That cyclical process is what makes Escape from Pretoria tick. Escape From Pretoria is a race-against-time thriller set in South Africas turbulent apartheid era. ![]() He’ll break himself out of his cell only to lock himself up again, waiting until he’s certain there’s a clear path out of the prison gates and on to freedom. The escape itself takes up a majority of the runtime, as Jenkin puts himself through a rigorous process of trial and error. Director Francis Annan, who co-wrote the script with LH Adams, is clearly entranced by the mechanics of it, crafting an intricate and studiously plotted film in return. Day by day, week by week, Jenkin carved his own set of keys out of wood scraps, all carefully hidden from view of the guards. His methods were meticulous – this wasn’t Steve McQueen and his motorcycle vaulting over barbed wire fences.
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