Escape from Pretoria
Two white South Africans, imprisoned for working on behalf of the African National Congress, are determined to escape from the notorious Pretoria Prison.
CAST
She encourages him to stay strong. Before the court hearing, in the restroom Timhides the money in a cigar case and shoves it where the sun doesn’t shine. 1978, In the courtroom, the judge praises the prosecution, which has presented an overwhelming amount of evidence of 26 custom made bombs. As defense to their actions they use that all races are equal, which is not taken well. The judge announces the sentence.
Tim is sentenced to twelve years, as he is the main bomb maker, and Stephen to eight years as an accomplice.As they prepare to leave the courthouse, Stephen notices his chance to escape through an open window, and he does, but in vain. When he reaches the ground, he is beaten up. They are brought to the prison of Pretoria and the prison warden, Captain Schnepel, receives them with disgust, because he considers them traitors. He hands them over to a very strict prison officer, Meneer.
As they follow Meneer, who explains the rules and regulations of the prison, Tim takes a close look at the automatic grill doors, the multiple barred gates, and the security systems in place; everything seems tight. Meneer shows them their cells, which are closed by a grill and a full metal door. He tells them to keep the cells clean and they will have a good relationship. Tim barely gets any sleep.
Day 1. At breakfast, Tim carefully strolls around to find a seat when Denis gives him a hand. Denis is an older political prisoner serving four life sentences for his work against apartheid. He tells Tim that the prisoners in the blue uniforms are murderers, while they themselves in the grey uniforms are political prisoners. They notice Stephen and make some ruckus to get his attention and join them. Denis asks them about their sentences. Stephen confidently tells him for how long they are sentenced, but they don’t plan on staying that long.
A French prisoner, Leonard,eavesdrops on them. Potluck accidentally spills the soup and Meneer makes an example out of him. Later in the day, when the prisoners are exercising in the prison yard, Denis tells them everything they need to know about the prison's layout, the height of the walls, the searchlight, and the guards, and advises them against trying to escape. Denis tells them about the wall next to the public road, which is always guarded by a sniper.
He also tells them that people always sneak in money with the idea of escaping within a week, but that does not happen and advises Tim to give him the money for safekeeping before he gets an infection. After Denis takes his leave, Leonard approaches the duo and says that Denis always discourages anyone who talks about escaping. He believes it is possible and offers his help, in return he wants to be included in their plan. Captain Schnepel observes them and finds them fishy. On Denis' advice, Tim gets the cigar case out of his system and, at breakfast under the tables, passes the money over to other prisoners to Denis, who hides it in a toothpaste wrapper.
Day 23. With a lighted match, Tim looks at the keyhole to the grill gate in his cell as if it offers any answers. For multiple nights he stared at the lock as ideas ran through his head, but nothing stuck. Then finally one night it dawned on him, you start with what you know and work backwards.He has an idea. He uses paper to measure the keyhole and check its length.
He wants to make wooden keys to open the doors. The next day, he shares this idea with Stephen and Leonard in the shower room. Leonard thinks the wooden key idea is nonsensical, but Stephen and Tim are sure it could work; they would get the wood from the workshop. Acting on the plan, Leonard creates a commotion in the cafeteria to get Maneer's attention. Tim carefully observes the shape of the key and later begins to draw it in his cell. He takes every opportunity to take a look at the key, whether it's during training or during their count, until he finally has a clear draft of it.
However, there is one small problem. He can not reopen the door and even breaks off the key, leaving a piece stuck inside. Leonard signals that a guard is approaching. In the tense situation, Tim just manages to get part of the piece out before the big guard arrives.
key out of the barred window, but this is of no use since they cannot turn it.
When Leonard takes the broom to sweep, Stephen gazes at it and gets an idea. They measure the length of the broom to see if it reaches the lock from the inside. It is barely long enough. As Tim works in the workshop he watches a turning machine.
In his cell he successfully develops a system with a similar concept that he attaches to the broom.
and tries it out that night with a key attached. He succeeds with opening the door from the inside! Not without hiccups though, as the key falls down when he pulls it out. He does not give up and uses a piece of chewing gum to stick it back on the broom and barely manages to pull it in. The next morning, Tim is extremely excited as he tells Stephen and Leonard that he did not sleep a wink last night, but managed to open the all-metal door. While on gardening duty, to lessen the stress of getting caught, they bury wooden keys in a jar.
Meneer notices them together, walks up to Tim and asks him what they were doing,
suspecting something is up. Tim quickly explains that Stephen was just picking up
his yard waste. Meneer tells him to clean up his own mess. Denis warns Tim to be careful and once again advises him against trying to escape, but says he will try to look out for them. One night Tim comes out of his cell and checks the stairwell. He informs the others that if they can unlock one door, they can unlock all the other doors and sneak out of the prison that way. Day 206. Nothing stays the same in prison, but nothing changes either. The routine remains the same and you find the cracks to exploit to make the most of it. Tim has made friends with Potluck. Through the window he asks him to get the road map and other errands they need for their escape.
At breakfast, Potluck signals him about the goods and Maneer takes note of this.
The trade takes place at the dumpsters; Tim gets newspapers for some soap and ciggies. Day 296. Meneer comes to Tim's cell to give him his new glasses, which he ordered, and to let him know that Potluck has been put down for smuggling. This makes Tim even more determined to escape, as he remembers his wife telling him to stay strong. That night, he and Leonard make dummies on their beds and get out of the cell. They carefully descend the stairs and approach the next grilled gate to try the keys. Right around the corner is the admin room. They know it is the night shift of the big guard, so they are warned a good time before his approach.
They are still sweating with worry, but find one of the keys to this gate works.
The big guard's music stops and he goes on a night patrol. Tim and Leonard hide in a closet and just manage to keep the door closed. As the big guard walks up the stairs in his slow walk, they sneak out and past the admin room and try their keys on the next doors, opening them with success.
soon. They just manage to lock the door and hide in the closet as the guard descends the stairs. On his way back the big guard notices the sweat but doesn’t think much of it. The duo returns to their cells. Tim is overly excited and hides pieces of keys in a cup. That morning Captain Schnepel with other guards enter Tim's cell. He has slept through the wake-up call. Schnepel curiously asks Tim if he is sick, implying that he wants to know the reason why
he overslept. Schnepel's 20 years of experience tells him that he overslept because Tim is tired, and he is tired because he does not sleep at night. But all Tim can do is apologize. He is sent out and they search everyone's cells for clues. Tim is called back and the cup with his toothbrush falls over and the key pieces fall out. Captain Schnepel picks up one of them and asks what it is. Tim barely keeps his nerve and quickly comes up with an idea that he made them to hold up his parents' picture. Schnepel is sure that Tim is hiding something and vows to find out. It was a close call. The following night, Tim has a panic attack because his nerves give up, but he keeps going. He narrates that the obstacles presented a new way of looking at things, so that the whole prison became their hiding place. For several nights they snuck out and kept making new keys for their escape. They begin to make many other preparations for their escape and manage to get civilian clothes from the laundry.
Captain Schnepel, very suspicious that something is cooking, turns everything in Tim's cell upside down out of frustration, but finds nothing. In the evening, after all the officers have left, Tim, Stephen, and Leonard start to carry out their plan. Tim offers Denis one last time to join them, but he refuses. They collect the keys, which are hidden in different areas of the prison, and change into civilian clothes.
saved by the skin of their teeth and can continue their escape. They get all the
keys they need in order and make their way through the doors as quickly as possible.
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