GLASGOW FILM FESTIVAL 2020 - Escape From Pretoria
GLASGOW FILM FESTIVAL 2020
Escape From Pretoria, directed by Francis Annan, adapts the 2003 book Inside Out: Escape from Pretoria Central Prison by Tim Jenkin. The story revolves around imprisoned South African human rights activist – starring Daniel Radcliffe as Jenkin himself – under apartheid in the 1980s.
Radcliffe, after his breakout and highly successful years as Harry Potter, has chosen wise projects to shift his now-iconic teenage image in the likes of Guns Akimbo, Imperium and Swiss Army Man. Escape From Pretoria is once again a robust instinctive performance from the actor and another terrific decision to showcase the actors' deep, engaging range in a compelling feature.
What works best for Annan's film is that it plays on two levels of delivery. The first is a surface level prison thriller not too different from the likes of Prison Break or The Escapist. A content and intimate devised feature that is here to thrill its audience. The second level goes deeper into the broken and repressive racist social system. Such a strong theme is not only effective in its showcasing, but works to enlighten the weight and prosecution of a terrifying system.
The account of frightening faux nationalism is not far too distant in the past to still feel the ripples of its mark. However, such a dark and compelling theme, while staunch and principled, never drowns what is essentially a dramatic prison thriller. The balance of said forms intertwines, and they play on each other with a captivating effect. This harmony is perfect for the audience who can view the film with a keen eye on either or both forms of impact.
The film is greatly helped along by its performances, specifically Radcliffe. Even when the actor’s accent slips multiple times, the range of fear to inexplicit horror interweaved with emotional anxiety is felt through his stirring performance. It is just a shame that on occasion writer-director Francis Annan and co-writer L.H. Adams hinder the actor and undermine his range with narration to verbally convey emotional distress, rather than put their faith in Radcliffe’s physicality.
Radcliffe is supported by the strong performances of Ian Hart and Daniel Webber as co-prisoners, who craft a decent amount of depth into their respective character acts. The material afforded to build up Radcliffe's character Jenkin, undoubtedly takes centre stage here. However, the strongest unsung attribute is the tremendously tight and claustrophobic camera work from cinematographer Geoffrey Hall; his scenes capture the gritty nature and depressive state of this environment to a compelling degree.
