Escape From Pretoria, 2020.
Directed by Francis Annan.
Starring Daniel Radcliffe, Daniel Webber, and Ian Hart.
SYNOPSIS:
Arrested for fighting a corrupt South African regime, Tim Jenkin (Daniel Radcliffe) and Stephen Lee (Daniel Webber) are imprisoned. At odds with popular thinking and self-proclaimed prisoners of conscience they concoct an escape plan.
That this opens with some brutal stock footage of protesters being beaten, before establishing tone and pivotal incidents with narrative economy promises much. Reminiscent of Ben Affleck’s Argo, Escape From Pretoria sketches its central characters quickly moving them through set up to arrest and incarceration swiftly. Hidden beneath a thick beard, thicker accent and shaggy mop of hair Daniel Radcliffe embodies ANC activist Tim Jenkin with restrained reverence. Daniel Webber and Ian Hart provide admirable support giving the story much needed substance, while director Francis Annan mirrors Don Siegel’s Escape From Alcatraz.
There are minor outbursts of violence within the film but they lack humanity as the guards are thinly drawn and rarely move beyond stereotype. For that reason few of these characters feel under threat, while Ian Hart may provide a solid support as Denis Goldberg but Radcliffe lacks gravitas. His youthful features and slight frame are a hindrance in lending Jenkin that element of believability so essential for the role.
Comparisons with Oliver Stone’s Salvador or Richard Attenborough’s Cry Freedom are easy to make, but they possess something only evident in small flashes here. That is room to breathe, an opportunity to inhabit and sense of realism which makes them superior. Escape From Pretoria fails to pay the subject matter enough respect. Jenkin is a monumental figure in the story of apartheid as someone prepared to sacrifice everything. Injustice, segregation and alienation are merely touched on rather than attacked with a cinematic baseball bat. Neil Blomkamp did a better job with District 9 making his audience empathise, whilst blatantly taking South Africa to task for decades of wrongdoing.
By skirting around the issues and turning it into a formulaic prison break movie, writer director Annan is merely trying to entertain rather than educate. Unforgivable actions, attitudes and deeds are used as a narrative device rather than driving force to enlighten. Exposition supersedes character development and the audience is spoon fed rather being asked to work. Excessive narration and clichéd dialogue distract from any potential for tension, meaning that Escape From Pretoria only realises its potential in the final minutes.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film ★ ★ ★ / Movie ★ ★ ★
Signature Entertainment presents Escape From Pretoria in Cinemas from March 6th.
Martin Carr
