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Plot - The notorious Alcatraz prison - a jail that is impossible to escape from; a fact that the prison's warden (McGoohan) enjoys to smugly boast of. One man does not believe it is impossible however - Frank Morris (Eastwood). A cunning bank robber who has escaped from prison before, he is determined to make it happen. Based on a true story
This is an exceptionally finely crafted effort from Don Siegel, even if I personally found it a tad lacking in actual thrills. It certainly doesn't proceed at a lightning pace, and has a noticeable lack of significant or exciting set-pieces, spending much more time on the little details both of prison life and the planned escape. So we don't have the action of fights and prison riots, or the inspirational take of a Shawshank Redemption. Instead it's more a study of how these characters try to stay sane in this hell. It takes a much more measured and meticulous approach, obsessing over all of the little details as opposed to descending into a more melodramatic affair. And does so while still remaining relatively tense. And Eastwood's restrained style just adds to the film's low key nature.
While I may have found it detrimental to my overall enjoyment of the film I do admire the approach that Siegel took. As opposed to an action-packed thriller it is more interested in presenting an austere depiction of the tedious routines and drudgery of jail time, and in this case it portrays several inmates as courageous and possessing of a strong spirit that is required to survive in such an environment surrounded by a harsh warden, vicious fellow prisoners and having to deal with a life sentence. It is a real tale of Frank Morris' determination and never surrender attitude. Siegel rarely relying on 'big' moments to move us along, instead building the tension slowly with small little incidents here and there. In a way it brought David Fincher's Zodiac to mind as Siegel approaches it with an almost procedural fashion, valuing character and story over cheap thrills.
My favourite stretch of the film is definitely when the ingenious plan starts to build and eventually comes together. So seeing all the little details - the soldering of a digging implement, the raincoat raft, the paper mache heads etc. Indeed even if their escape failed I think they should have been pardoned purely on the grounds of ingenuity.
I think a big problem for me was that I just felt I'd seen a lot of it all before as it hits on a number of prison drama clichés. Though to be fair at the time some of these touches may have been fresh back in 1979, maybe even original, and it's just that I've then seen them copied and aped in subsequent films. Though one major ace that the film does have up it's sleeve however is the location of Alcatraz prison itself. It's such a distinctive, recognisable location; brimming with a character all of its own.
After not having seen much of his work in my previous 25 years on this Earth I've now seen about 6 or 7 in the last few months and I've got to say I'm liking both him and the films he made. However, and I'm not sure how common this sentiment is, but from the work of his I've seen so far I don't think I'd say he's a 'great' actor. I certainly think he's good but for the most part it feels like the same character over and over; mostly a case of Clint playing Clint. While I may not feel he has tremendous acting ability what he does have however is an undeniable screen presence. He just exudes a power that I've rarely seen matched. And when the character fits his style it can work excellently. Here it does work and he is pretty first rate as Morris. His succinct and gruff style sees him being a great fit for Morris' quiet determination and strength of character.
While Eastwood and his partners in the breakout plan are fairly straightforward, the rest of the cast is filled out with a series of colourful characters; from the sadistic warden to Morris' fellow inmates such as Doc, a gifted painter with nothing to keep him going when his hobby is taken away from him; English, a bitter black librarian who becomes a friend and protector to Morris; Wolf, Morris' sadistic would-be 'suitor' and Litmus, a kindly old inmate who keeps his pet mouse with him at all times. And most of them are backed up by enjoyable and memorable performances.
You could accuse the film of painting a sympathetic picture of the inmates. It shows the inhumanity of the prison system. To help drive up our levels of sympathy Patrick McGoohan is very important in giving us a very hateful character in his smug, complete b***ard of a warden. His antagonist is vital if we are to root for Clint and his fellow prisoners. The moment were he takes away the painting privileges of Doc is highly successful in making us despise him. Painting was all that Doc had left in his life, such as it is in this prison. Such a cruel action means that afterwards we are now desperate to see his pride take a knock. Especially when it drives Doc to deliberately slice off his fingers in the carpentry room. And Siegel also chooses very wisely not to dwell on the actual crimes of the inmates whose stories we are following and are meant to sympathise with. He makes us experience the film from the prisoners' point of view.
Oddly after so much build-up the actual escape feels somewhat anticlimactic. It's not this great explosion of joy at the escape, something to get you excited. Indeed for a large degree of the escape it's actually tough to tell exactly what is going on as we see Eastwood and his cohorts shuffling in gloomy air ducts and along the rooftop drenched in the shadows of the night. And then they're just gone, away into the blackness of night. While it obviously makes sense for the escape and accurately depicts what really happened it's not the great rush you would usually envisage.
Conclusion – While undoubtedly a fine film, probably deserving of a slightly higher rating than I have awarded it, it just didn't grip and thrill me quite to the level I was expecting. Perhaps that's more my fault than the film's; my expectations weren't accurate going in.
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Year of release
1979
1979
Directed by
Don Siegel
Don Siegel
Written by
Richard Tuggle (script)
J. Campbell Bruce (book)
Richard Tuggle (script)
J. Campbell Bruce (book)
Starring
Clint Eastwood
Patrick McGoohan
Roberts Blossom
Fred Ward
Paul Benjamin
Clint Eastwood
Patrick McGoohan
Roberts Blossom
Fred Ward
Paul Benjamin
Escape from Alcatraz
Plot - The notorious Alcatraz prison - a jail that is impossible to escape from; a fact that the prison's warden (McGoohan) enjoys to smugly boast of. One man does not believe it is impossible however - Frank Morris (Eastwood). A cunning bank robber who has escaped from prison before, he is determined to make it happen. Based on a true story
This is an exceptionally finely crafted effort from Don Siegel, even if I personally found it a tad lacking in actual thrills. It certainly doesn't proceed at a lightning pace, and has a noticeable lack of significant or exciting set-pieces, spending much more time on the little details both of prison life and the planned escape. So we don't have the action of fights and prison riots, or the inspirational take of a Shawshank Redemption. Instead it's more a study of how these characters try to stay sane in this hell. It takes a much more measured and meticulous approach, obsessing over all of the little details as opposed to descending into a more melodramatic affair. And does so while still remaining relatively tense. And Eastwood's restrained style just adds to the film's low key nature.
While I may have found it detrimental to my overall enjoyment of the film I do admire the approach that Siegel took. As opposed to an action-packed thriller it is more interested in presenting an austere depiction of the tedious routines and drudgery of jail time, and in this case it portrays several inmates as courageous and possessing of a strong spirit that is required to survive in such an environment surrounded by a harsh warden, vicious fellow prisoners and having to deal with a life sentence. It is a real tale of Frank Morris' determination and never surrender attitude. Siegel rarely relying on 'big' moments to move us along, instead building the tension slowly with small little incidents here and there. In a way it brought David Fincher's Zodiac to mind as Siegel approaches it with an almost procedural fashion, valuing character and story over cheap thrills.
My favourite stretch of the film is definitely when the ingenious plan starts to build and eventually comes together. So seeing all the little details - the soldering of a digging implement, the raincoat raft, the paper mache heads etc. Indeed even if their escape failed I think they should have been pardoned purely on the grounds of ingenuity.
Film trivia – No stunt doubles were employed to perform the inmates dangerous escape over the prison wall and into the water. And on two occasions Don Siegel thought that he had lost his actors to the treacherous currents.
After not having seen much of his work in my previous 25 years on this Earth I've now seen about 6 or 7 in the last few months and I've got to say I'm liking both him and the films he made. However, and I'm not sure how common this sentiment is, but from the work of his I've seen so far I don't think I'd say he's a 'great' actor. I certainly think he's good but for the most part it feels like the same character over and over; mostly a case of Clint playing Clint. While I may not feel he has tremendous acting ability what he does have however is an undeniable screen presence. He just exudes a power that I've rarely seen matched. And when the character fits his style it can work excellently. Here it does work and he is pretty first rate as Morris. His succinct and gruff style sees him being a great fit for Morris' quiet determination and strength of character.
While Eastwood and his partners in the breakout plan are fairly straightforward, the rest of the cast is filled out with a series of colourful characters; from the sadistic warden to Morris' fellow inmates such as Doc, a gifted painter with nothing to keep him going when his hobby is taken away from him; English, a bitter black librarian who becomes a friend and protector to Morris; Wolf, Morris' sadistic would-be 'suitor' and Litmus, a kindly old inmate who keeps his pet mouse with him at all times. And most of them are backed up by enjoyable and memorable performances.
Film trivia – While we don't know whether the escape was successful or not, the Discovery Channel TV show Mythbusters proved that the escape was at least plausible. They recreated the entire escape down to the smallest details, using the exact materials that the inmates had access to. Even the raincoats the prisoners used were the exact same type. They were able to successfully cross the bay and reach the shore in the exact same spot were legend has it that the inmates landed.
Oddly after so much build-up the actual escape feels somewhat anticlimactic. It's not this great explosion of joy at the escape, something to get you excited. Indeed for a large degree of the escape it's actually tough to tell exactly what is going on as we see Eastwood and his cohorts shuffling in gloomy air ducts and along the rooftop drenched in the shadows of the night. And then they're just gone, away into the blackness of night. While it obviously makes sense for the escape and accurately depicts what really happened it's not the great rush you would usually envisage.
Conclusion – While undoubtedly a fine film, probably deserving of a slightly higher rating than I have awarded it, it just didn't grip and thrill me quite to the level I was expecting. Perhaps that's more my fault than the film's; my expectations weren't accurate going in.