The Escape From Alcatraz: Tension And Freedom

The escape from Alcatraz takes place in one of the most isolated and inhospitable scenarios in the world. One of the places where “the most dangerous criminals” served their sentences. The film is loosely based on a true story and Don Siegel directed it for the big screen in 1979. Most people will never see another prison film without thinking about it.

The cold, hostile environment; the confinement and above all the suffocating suspense make it a fascinating film. It keeps you glued to the chair with your eyes on the screen at all times. Clint Eastwood and his enigmatic face are the key to the film’s success, as well as its exceptional location and true story. For some reason, stories based on real events always arouse more interest in the audience.

The prison with maximum security on an island allegedly ensured the imprisonment of the prisoners. And yet some of them escaped successfully. No one knows whether they survived or not, and that is one of the reasons why Alcatraz is known all over the world. The film mystified this image and allowed the collective imagination to draw its own conclusions.

Don Siegel gave us a great prison movie. He brought the drama and the horror to the cinema and made us feel empathy with the prisoners who were there. We understood that freedom was the one thing they lived for.

Alcatraz bak murene

Alcatraz Island is located near San Francisco Bay, California. It was a military fortification, although it is best known for housing notorious prisoners such as Al Capone. The prison closed its doors after 29 years of operation and was then occupied by several Native American tribes. At the moment, Alcatraz Island is a national park.

During its years as a federal prison, it also provided housing for its employees and their families on the island. Alcatraz’s main function was to house extremely dangerous prisoners. Those that were a threat even in other federal prisons and that the authorities considered impossible to reintroduce into society. The place was almost inaccessible and it guaranteed maximum security. The prisoners were not even allowed to talk to each other.

In a way, a certain halo of mystery and fear was created around the prison. On the one hand, it housed the most dangerous prisoners. There were also rumors of countless atrocities taking place in Alcatraz. Suicides among prisoners increased while others such as Rufe Persful mutilated their fingers, and so on.

Alcatraz had a bad reputation for a long time, and what happened there remained a secret. Despite this, rumors grew stronger. However, it seems that there were people who pointed out that the conditions in the prison were not as bad as they seemed. In addition, there were even prisoners who requested transfer to Alcatraz and claimed that the food was better than in other prisons. In any case, the controversy never stopped. Everything seemed to indicate that Alcatraz was a place where hostility reigned.

The true story

In the last years of the prison’s operation, many of the prison’s strict rules were either eliminated or softened. There were several attempts to escape from this prison, but only two incidents made history.

• The flight from Alcatraz is the first of these events. The escape left a total of five people dead: two guards and three inmates. In addition, there were several wounded.
• The second incident was the only successful one, the actual escape from Alcatraz, on June 11, 1962, on which the film is based.

The mastermind behind the escape plan was Frank Morris, a thief accused of drug possession and armed robbery, with an IQ that was much higher than average. Brothers John and Clarence Anglin managed to escape with him. In addition, Allen West also cooperated with them and was ready to flee, but failed due to a problem in his ventilation duct. The plan was absolutely perfect, and the prisoners then disappeared without a trace. The FBI declared them dead, but the mystery lives on.

It is claimed that the mother of the Anglin brothers received two bouquets of flowers every Mother’s Day. There is also a photograph that supposedly shows that they were still alive. In 2013, the FBI reopened the case after receiving a letter signed by John Anglin in which he claimed that the escape was successful and that he was ill at the time. We will never know what happened, but the mystery is what makes this story so attractive.

Why do we like these stories so much?

We like them because they nurture our imagination, and we can relate to the common goal: the desire to break free. This film puts images into our imagination and allows us to visualize how extraordinarily wonderful the escape was. It definitely made the alleged criminals heroes when they challenged a canned system and achieved what everyone wants: freedom.

The Escape from Alcatraz: A Claustrophobic Journey to Freedom

The film begins with a kind of ghostly scene on the island of Alcatraz in the middle of the night. The rain and the music keep us in suspense. Then Frank Morris arrives in the dark in the custody of the guards who take him to prison. There is a shot from the lighthouse in the distance, and little by little we get close to the island. This is a great introduction, all the elements are in perfect harmony and introduce the viewer to the story.

The film presents Frank Morris as a silent character who rarely speaks. His face is cold and distant and is almost expressionless. Clint Eastwood portrays the character to perfection. Siegel benefits greatly from his enigmatic face, gestures and expressions.

We get to know Frank gradually, and find that he is unusually intelligent, much more than average. Yet we do not know him in depth. The aura of mystery created around his character is fascinating. In the same way, the creative team makes perfect use of the rest of the prisoners and workers throughout the plot.

The flight from Alcatraz immerses us in the darkness of the prison and the difficult lives of the inmates. It shows us how extraordinarily proper Morris is. The blunt realism and the details of all the steps in the plan and their execution make the film a masterpiece. The tension only increases from beginning to end.

Voltage

It does not matter if you already know the story. It does not matter if you already know the whole plan in detail. What is true is that the suspense begins in the first minutes of the film and lasts well until the end. We are excited because we know something, not the other way around.

For example, we already know the end, but we will see how they achieve it. We perceive the anguish and the fears and the worries. The characters’ desire for freedom is so strong that even the fear of being discovered or dying by being shot does not stop them.

Then we get closer to the end of the film, and we get a break. The waves create relief. A small ray of hope that is the opposite of the dark, suffocating atmosphere we saw at the beginning.

Conclusion, The Escape from Alcatraz

The flight from Alcatraz gives us the opportunity to immerse ourselves in one of the great mysteries of the twentieth century. It leaves the story open just like the actual ending of the real story. The film plays with subtleties; with non-verbal language, and with nausea and claustrophobia that being confined gives. But above all the desire for freedom. The film becomes a real lesson in suspense and ultimately art in cinemas.

Finally, we have only one question: what is freedom? Maybe they did not survive. And maybe they did, but even if they had not, they are still free. This is because death is always more liberating than life itself. The main reason we like this story is that it connects us with the feeling all people want: freedom.