The Shawshank Redemption - A Testament To The Human Spirit


                               Movies are the greatest thing in the world. I love how they can make you feel good in all sorts of way. Some make you laugh, some make you think, some thrill you, some make you think, some impress you... And then there's these very rare pictures that go beyond all this, that come and touch you so deeply that you'll never be quite the same. Movies that make you want to live fully, that make you believe that it's all worth it. The Shawshank Redemption is one of these films that you can't just love but cherish. Shawshank Redemption has been reviewed so many times, but films like these are the inspiration for me or any movie buffs to write about movies. Even though this review, might not capture the feel of the movie, I'd just like to try. 


                                The film concerns itself with a twenty-year friendship between Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins), a banker sentenced to life for the murder of his wife and her lover, and Ellis “Red” Redding (Morgan Freeman), a con who has already been imprisoned for two decades when Dufresne arrives on the scene in 1947. The script charts Andy’s attempts to build a new life on the inside, his refusal to lose faith contrasting with Redding’s weary resignation, and works its way to a bittersweet finale with a source of satisfaction.

                             In 1982, Stephen King  wrote a novella(short novel) entitled Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption. It was (and still is) one of his few mainstream efforts, bereft of supernatural occurrences and graphic murders. In 1987 a filmmaker by the name of Frank Darabont wrote to King and requested an option over the novella. Darabont proved himself a master of the art of adaptation. He had taken liberties to improve its translation to a visual medium. He changed characters (Red was a white Irishman in the novella), scenes (the ending is extended past King’s inconclusive finale) and dialogues (many of the best lines in the film are Darabont’s). 

                           It would have all been for nothing, however, without the universally exceptional efforts of the cast. As written, Red spends his time observing Andy fondly and describing prison life. But Mr. Freeman's commanding presence makes him a much stronger figure than that. The sheer charisma of the man is all-but overpowering, an image heightened by Darabont’s decision to utilize voice-overs to advance the narrative.

                          Central to the film's success is a riveting, unfussy performance from Robbins. Mr. Robbins plays it intensely, and he ages effectively from newcomer to father figure during the story.  James Whitmore's, Brooks is a brilliantly realized character, and the scenes with him attempting to cope with life outside of Shawshank represents one of the film's most moving - and effective - sequences.

                      The Shawshank Redemption is definitively not the usual, exploitative prison movie. There are some rough, unsettling moments, and we learn that the warden and his guards can be as crooked as the cons, but the movie is really about the human spirit. It uses the hard, disheartening world of prison to show that even in such an environment, life can bloom. There is a difference between living and simply existing, a difference many of the prison inmates eventually lose sight of, and it may just get you thinking about your life, and the fact that not all walls can be seen with the naked eye. Mostly, though, it reminds us of that we all hold the keys to our own prisons.

                     Shawshank Redemption might have flopped in the box-office, but it is the most divine movie experience you will find in this world. When the closing credits roll you will feel renewed, and hear these words in your mind:

“Get busy living, or get busy dying”. 
"Fear can hold you prisoner........ Hope can set you free."
"Hope is a good thing, may be the best of things, and no good thing ever dies."

Shawshank Redemption - Imdb                     

9 comments:

vinay said...

One of the greatest movies ever made..I never wrote about it fearing that I just might not be able to do justice to this great epic..
Good work...Loved the way you wrote it. :)

Dee........ said...

my all time favorite !
Freeman is the real hero, the bond between the duo inside JAIL... it will be a classic.
Wonderful movie.
--Dee..

Maliny said...

my all time favourite movie as well . . very well written . .

Bikram said...

Its one of the best films every made is always in the top 20 ..
beautiful film


Bikram's

CYNOSURE said...

aaahhhh.....Shawshank Redemption.... I love this movie.... :D :D :D

Akshay Kumar G said...

Great movie. For some reason it doesn't feature in my all-time favorites list though. :)

Very good write-up!

Neha said...

"And then there's these very rare pictures that go beyond all this, that come and touch you so deeply that you'll never be quite the same". Yep, that's exactly how I felt when I first watched this movie a few months back (Ya, I know I got to it a little late :( ) ... This is one of the most amazing movies I've ever seen and I'll keep watching it every six months for sure!! Its a pity it didn't run at the box office though and it only got nominated for the Oscars but got beaten by Forrest Gump movie that year I guess.
Totally worth writing a review on this movie and you have done justice to the movie with your precise words :) :)

Unknown said...

a perfect description of a convict's life, his spirit and his hope to get freedom back as well as brook's final result outside d shawshank leads us 2 a new world of movie all together....
one of d bst movies I hv seen along wth inception, perfume, the illusionist, scent of a woman, two brothers...

Unknown said...

awesome work