Escape from Pretoria

Last updated

Escape from Pretoria
Escape from Pretoria film poster.png
Theatrical release poster
Directed byFrancis Annan
Written by
  • Francis Annan
  • L.H. Adams
Based onInside Out: Escape from Pretoria Prison
by Tim Jenkin
Produced by
  • Mark Blaney
  • Jackie Sheppard
  • David Barron
  • Michelle Krumm
  • Gary Hamilton
Starring
CinematographyGeoffrey Hall
Edited byNick Fenton
Music by David Hirschfelder
Production
companies
Distributed bySignature Entertainment
Release date
  • 6 March 2020 (2020-03-06)(United Kingdom)
Running time
106 minutes
Countries
  • Australia
  • South Africa
  • United Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Box office$2.4 million

Escape from Pretoria is a 2020 Australianprison film co-written and directed by Francis Annan, based on the real-life prison escape by three political prisoners in South Africa in 1979, starring Daniel Radcliffe and Daniel Webber. It is based on the 2003 book Inside Out: Escape from Pretoria Prison by Tim Jenkin, one of the escapees.

Contents

It was filmed in Adelaide, South Australia, in early 2019, both on location in the city and suburbs and in the Glenside studios of the South Australian Film Corporation. [3] [4]

Plot

In 1978, Tim Jenkin and Stephen Lee; two white South Africans, are carrying out anti-apartheid missions in South Africa. They are arrested on the spot and prosecuted; Jenkin is sentenced to twelve years and Lee is sentenced to eight. At the courthouse Lee attempts to escape but to no avail. Transported to Pretoria Prison, they meet Denis Goldberg, an older political prisoner serving four life sentences for previous work against apartheid. He shows them the ropes but discourages them from trying to escape.

Jenkin and Lee discuss escaping with another prisoner, Leonard Fontaine. They settle in and go about their daily routines, but Jenkin starts to analyze the prison and think of ways to escape. He steals items from the wood shop to make wooden keys that fit the locks to their cells. He sneaks around the prison at night, making keys for other locks. Lee and Jenkin bury these keys in the prison garden while tending it and make many other preparations for their escape.

Fontaine and Jenkin do a test run by using keys to leave their cells. They hide in a closet as the night guard walks by. They use another key to leave the cell block, but they have to run back to their cells before they can use another key. The guards search everyone's cells the next day but fail to find anything. Later, Jenkin discovers that a new gun tower is being built. He, Fontaine and Lee present their plan to Goldberg and other prisoners who decide against trying to escape with them.

Jenkin, Lee and Fontaine execute their plan. They gather keys hidden in various areas and change into previously smuggled street clothes. Once again, they hide in the closet to evade the night guard. Unexpectedly, the night guard comes back to the closet. Goldberg short-circuits the light in his cell, causing the electricity to go out and calls for the guard, distracting him so that the trio can reach the last door. They cannot get any of the keys to work on this door, but Fontaine breaks it open using a chisel and screwdriver. They leave the prison and find a taxi driven by a black driver to take them out of Pretoria after offering him cash.

It transpires that the biggest manhunt ensued in the aftermath, but they managed to escape to London via Mozambique, and Tanzania. The three would continue their protests against apartheid under the African National Congress Party; they were ultimately pardoned in 1991. Goldberg was finally freed in 1985 after spending 22 years in prison. In 1992, a year after Jenkin, Lee and Fontaine's exoneration, apartheid ended.

Cast

Production

The film was written and directed by Francis Annan. [5] The film is an Australia-UK co-production, co-financed by Arclight Films, New York-based Magna Entertainment and with the assistance of the South Australian Film Corporation. [6] Sam Neill was originally cast as Goldberg, in May 2017. [7]

Filming commenced on location in Adelaide, South Australia, in March 2019, with some scenes being shot at Mitcham railway station and others in the centre of the city, in Pirie Street. [3] [8] Jenkin spent some time in Adelaide, advising Radcliffe on accent and other aspects of the film, as well as playing as an extra, playing a prisoner next to Radcliffe in the visiting room. [9] [10]

The film contains two pieces of music by the Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: The Dies Irae from his Requiem Mass in D minor and the Kyrie from his Mass in C minor. The latter was also featured prominently in a classic prison film, A Man Escaped directed by Robert Bresson.

Release

Escape from Pretoria was released on 6 March 2020 in the United Kingdom by Signature Entertainment and in the United States by eOne and Momentum Pictures. [11] It was released for rental on digital platforms iTunes, Sky Store, Amazon Prime Video and Virgin on the same date, and had a limited cinema release in the UK, US and some other countries. [12] It became available to buy on DVD and Blu-ray from 20 April 2020. [12]

The film was screened on 11 July 2020 at select cinemas in Adelaide as part of Adelaide Film Festival, after cinemas had just reopened in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia. [13]

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 73% based on 44 reviews, with an average rating of 6.4/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Escape from Pretoria doesn't quite do justice to the fact-based story it's dramatizing, but that lack of depth is offset by suitably gripping jailbreak action." [14] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 56 out of 100, based on 7 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". [15]

Footnotes

  1. Not to be confused with the Australian film distribution company, Footprint Films, headed by Australian filmmakers Robert Connolly and John Maynard. [1] [2]

Related Research Articles

The Rivonia Trial is a trial that took place in apartheid-era South Africa between 9 October 1963 and 12 June 1964, after a group of anti-apartheid activists were arrested on Liliesleaf Farm in Rivonia. The farm had been the secret location for meetings of uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK), the newly-formed armed wing of the African National Congress. The trial took place in Pretoria at the Palace of Justice and the Old Synagogue and led to the imprisonment of Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Govan Mbeki, Ahmed Kathrada, Denis Goldberg, Raymond Mhlaba, Elias Motsoaledi, Andrew Mlangeni. Many were convicted of sabotage and sentenced to life.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oliver Tambo</span> South African anti-apartheid activist and politician (1917–1993)

Oliver Reginald Kaizana Tambo was a South African anti-apartheid politician and activist who served as President of the African National Congress (ANC) from 1967 to 1991.

Abraham Louis Fischer was a South African Communist lawyer of Afrikaner descent with partial Anglo-African ancestry from his paternal grandmother, notable for anti-apartheid activism and for the legal defence of anti-apartheid figures, including Nelson Mandela, at the Rivonia Trial. Following the trial, he was himself put on trial accused of furthering communism. He was sentenced to life imprisonment and diagnosed with cancer while in prison. The South African Prisons Act was extended to include his brother's house in Bloemfontein where he died two months later.

Mount Gambier Prison is an Australian prison located in Moorak immediately south of Mount Gambier. It is managed and operated by G4S.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adelaide Gaol</span>

Adelaide Gaol is a former Australian prison located in the Park Lands of Adelaide, in the state of South Australia. The gaol was the first permanent one in South Australia and operated from 1841 until 1988. The Gaol is one of the two oldest buildings still standing in South Australia, the other being Government House which was built at the same time. The prison is now a museum, tourist attraction and function centre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yatala Labour Prison</span>

Yatala Labour Prison is a high-security men's prison located in the north-eastern part of the northern Adelaide suburb Northfield, South Australia. It was built in 1854 to enable prisoners to work at Dry Creek, quarrying rock for roads and construction. Originally known as The Stockade of Dry Creek or just The Stockade, it acquired its current name from a local Kaurna word relating to inundation by water, which was used for the Hundred of Yatala.

<i>A Man Escaped</i> 1956 French film

A Man Escaped or The Wind Bloweth Where It Listeth is a 1956 French prison film directed by Robert Bresson. It is based on a memoir by André Devigny, a member of the French Resistance who was held in Montluc prison during World War II by the occupying Germans, though the protagonist of the film was given a different name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Denis Goldberg</span> South African anti-apartheid activist (1933–2020)

Denis Theodore Goldberg was a South African social campaigner, who was active in the struggle against apartheid. He was accused No. 3 in the Rivonia Trial, alongside the better-known Nelson Mandela and Walter Sisulu, where he was also the youngest of the defendants. He was imprisoned for 22 years, along with other key members of the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa. After his release in 1985 he continued to campaign against apartheid from his base in London with his family, until the apartheid system was fully abolished with the 1994 election. He returned to South Africa in 2002 and founded the non-profit Denis Goldberg Legacy Foundation Trust in 2015. He was diagnosed with lung cancer in July 2019, and died in Cape Town on 29 April 2020.

Stephen Lee, Steven Lee or Steve Lee may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pirie Street</span> Street in Adelaide, South Australia

Pirie Street is a road on the east side of the Adelaide city centre, South Australia. It runs east–west, between East Terrace and King William Street. After crossing King William Street, it continues as Waymouth Street. It forms the southern boundary of Hindmarsh Square which is in the centre of the north-east quadrant of the city centre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tim Jenkin</span> South African writer and activist, known for 1979 prison escape from Pretoria Prison

Timothy Peter Jenkin is a South African writer, former anti-apartheid activist and political prisoner. He is best known for his 1979 escape from Pretoria Local Prison, along with Stephen Lee and Alex Moumbaris.

Breakout is a Canadian television series that aired on the National Geographic Channel throughout the world. It dramatizes real life prison breakouts. The series premiered on March 28, 2010, and aired its last episode on March 23, 2013. It was listed as a Canada/UK co-production.

Pretoria Central Prison, renamed Kgosi Mampuru II Management Area by former President Jacob Zuma on 13 April 2013 and sometimes referred to as Kgosi Mampuru II Correctional Services is a large prison in central Pretoria, within the City of Tshwane in South Africa. It is operated by the South African Department of Correctional Services.

Baruch Hirson was a South African political activist, academic, author, and historian, who was jailed for nine years in apartheid-era South Africa before moving to England in 1973. He was co-founder of the critical journal Searchlight South Africa, and in 1991, a critic of what he referred to as Stalinist methods used by the African National Congress (ANC).

Nathan Page is an Australian actor. He is best known for his commercial voice-over work and his role as Detective Inspector Jack Robinson in Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raymond Suttner</span>

Raymond Suttner is South African activist, academic, journalist and public figure.

Parmananthan "Prema" Naidoo is a member of the African National Congress and former Chief Whip of Council and of the majority party in the Johannesburg Metro.

Stephen Bernard Lee is a South African former political prisoner best known for his 1979 escape from Pretoria Local Prison with friend and fellow activist Tim Jenkin and a third inmate, Alex Moumbaris.

Alexandre Moumbaris is a political activist and former political prisoner. He was born in Egypt to Greek parents, grew up in Australia, lived and worked in the UK, was imprisoned in South Africa and now lives in France. He is known for his political activism against the apartheid régime in South Africa in the 1970s, and his subsequent incarceration in, and 1979 escape from, Pretoria Local Prison with Tim Jenkin and Stephen Lee. He returned to France after his escape.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Rabkin</span> South African activist (1948–1985)

David Rabkin was a South African anti-apartheid activist known for publishing subversive pamphlets. He served seven years of a ten-year sentence for his anti-apartheid activities. After his accidental death during military training in Angola, he received a hero's burial in Luanda.

References

  1. "About us". Footprint Films. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
  2. Campora, Matthew (December 2013). "Disrespectful Indigenisation: The Films of Robert Connolly". Contemporary Australian Filmmakers (69). Retrieved 26 November 2021 via Senses of Cinema.
  3. 1 2 Sutton, Malcolm (13 March 2019). "Adelaide transformed into apartheid-era Cape Town for Escape From Pretoria filming". Australian Broadcasting Corporation News. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  4. "Escape From Pretoria commences production in South Australia (13 March 2018)". South Australian Film Corporation. 13 March 2019. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  5. Deckelmeier, Joe (9 March 2020). "Francis Annan Interview: Escape From Pretoria". ScreenRant. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
  6. Kay, Jeremy (11 February 2019). "Daniel Radcliffe prison break thriller 'Escape From Pretoria' hot seller for Arclight (exclusive)". Screen Daily. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  7. Grater, Tom. "Sam Neill joins Daniel Radcliffe in 'Escape From Pretoria'". Screen Daily. Retrieved 5 April 2019.
  8. Polychronis, Gabriel (14 March 2019). "Adelaide's Pirie St transformed into 1978 Cape Town for Daniel Radcliffe's movie Escape from Pretoria". Adelaide Now. The Advertiser. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  9. "Tim's back on the run". Adelaide Confidential. The Advertiser. 29 March 2019. p. 6.
  10. Ritman, Alex (1 November 2022). "Daniel Radcliffe on Going 'Weird' in His Post-Potter Career, Picking Roles "On the Basis of What Seems Fun"". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  11. Grater, Tom (13 February 2020). "'Escape From Pretoria' Director Francis Annan Inks With ICM". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved 24 February 2020.
  12. 1 2 Desborough, Jenny (6 March 2020). "Escape from Pretoria release date, cast, trailer, plot: When is Escape from Pretoria out?". Express.co.uk. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  13. Marsh, Walter (8 July 2020). "Down the rabbit hole with Escape From Pretoria director Francis Annan". The Adelaide Review. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  14. "Escape From Pretoria (2020)". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango . Retrieved 10 October 2021.
  15. "Escape from Pretoria Reviews". Metacritic . CBS Interactive . Retrieved 9 April 2021.

Further reading