The Shawshank Redemption truly is one of cinema’s greatest films. The Shawshank Redemption, based on Stephen King’s novella, is available to rent, stream, or buy.
Despite opening with great reviews, it took The Shawshank Redemption until its VHS release to garner wider recognition. Through little more than word of mouth, the film went from unknown to seven Oscar nominations (but zero wins) and became one of the most popular movies in history, frequently cited as a favourite among audiences and critics alike. Watching it again for its 30th anniversary, this affection is thoroughly deserved. Its warmth and sincerity are so engrossing and delicately crafted that its tenth viewing is as poignant and captivating as its first.
Based on Stephen King’s short story ‘Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption’ from the collection ‘Different Seasons, we open with a drunk banker, Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins), sitting ominously in his car, contemplating his next move. The next time we see him, he’s in court, being tried for supposedly murdering his wife and her lover. Ordered to serve two life sentences, Andy is detained at Shawshank Prison, where the rest of the film is told from the perspective of longtime inmate Red (Morgan Freeman). Red narrates his first time seeing Andy, sizing him up as a bourgeois elite who will crack under the weight of prison life, and the constant routine and hopelessness. When he doesn’t, an unlikely friendship forms between Andy and Red as they navigate decades of incarceration together.
Looking at this premise, one can see where initial apprehension might have come from. Prison dramas already weren’t popular in the 90s, but the minimalist story, 142-minute length, and effectively all-male cast could be read as problematic or daunting. But the film quickly quashes all cynicism as it invites us into its world to experience its earnest sentiments – the most striking of which is the power of hope in a world that feels unjust.
The film doesn’t treat its convicts as delinquents but as human beings with complex feelings. When so much of your life is confined to the walls of a prison, one cannot help but reflect on existentialism. Some of these men long for freedom, whether from Shawshank or from the guilt they harbour inside; others, like the elderly Brooks (James Whitmore), have spent so long in prison that the prospect of freedom is scarier than the limited life they’ve gotten used to on the inside. The picture explores the dimensions of prison life through a fundamentally humanist lens, lending authenticity to the story and the people who inhabit its world. These inmates are never portrayed as subhuman but as a community of complicated people who’ve learned to play with the cards they’ve been dealt.
Where another prison film might’ve been wholly gritty – think Cool Hand Luke – there’s a refreshing gentleness to The Shawshank Redemption. Writer-director Frank Darabont constructs the film in a way that never feels invasive, despite the claustrophobic confines. Characters are allowed space to be who they are, giving room for laughter and anger alike.
Legendary cinematographer Roger Deakins, who got his first Oscar nomination for this film, utilises mid and long shots to ensure this space is given. He observes the years at Shawshank impartially, whether it’s the casual banter between inmates, the sexual abuse Andy initially suffers, or the hypocritical corruption of the religious warden Norton (Bob Gunton), generating immersion through the slow but steady authenticity of the character dynamics.
There are a handful of occasions when the cinematography feels intimate in more vulnerable scenes between Andy and Red, or when Thomas Newman’s score heightens the circumstances, such as when Andy feels the rain again, but these moments are warranted pay-offs in the drama. The filmmaking never muddies the story with melodrama but instead helps the narrative find the humanity and hope buried within.
Centrestage among the sea of fun, memorable characters is the dynamic between Andy and Red, who represent hope and hopelessness, respectively, although the film reveals this gradually. Robbins portrays Andy as a guarded man who rarely shares his thoughts, leaving us to speculate whether he’s coping or is as innocent as he claims. Some have argued that Andy’s character arc is flat, but in reality, his journey is from a man resigned to his fate to someone whose resilience is aspirational. The characters often talk about hope, but Andy’s arc showcases exactly what hidden strengths we can find when we put our faith in it.
It is in the hope that Andy embodies that the titular theme of redemption comes through Red’s journey. A man who has spent decades at Shawshank, he has grown accustomed to the ways of life behind bars to the point of becoming a contraband smuggler critical to the prison’s ecosystem. He has long since given up on finding the atonement that the authoritarian guards and warden preach disingenuously, but his friendship with Andy slowly but surely allows him to see the errors in his cynical beliefs. By finding hope, he can, in turn, find genuine salvation. All the while, Freeman effortlessly humanises Red through a radiant, charismatic performance. Freeman has delivered many great roles, from Street Smart to Seven to Million Dollar Baby, but Red might be his very best.
As rich and thought-provoking as all of this is, it’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the film’s power. These observations do not factor in the small but brilliant details littered throughout the picture within both filmmaking and storytelling. Whether it’s the use of repetition during Red’s decennial parole hearings (the parole board getting younger and more diverse every time), the tragic subplots of inmates Brooks and Tommy (Gil Bellows) or the deliberate but playful dialogue that generates as much humour as drama, it’s a film that continuously rewards its audience with every viewing.
Whether it reveals filmmaking details we previously never picked up on or gives us a timely reminder of hope and its capacity to enhance the human spirit, it draws us into repeated viewings like a magnet, transfixing us with its powerful themes and gradual pace where more modern or eccentric pictures tyre and bore. The Shawshank Redemption is as beautiful and genuine now as it was in its initial overlooked run.
1994 was a banner year for cinema, with titles like Pulp Fiction, Speed, The Lion King, and Hoop Dreams, among others, all having lasting impacts. The Shawshank Redemption may seem like an obvious, even uninspired, contender for that year’s best, given its excessive popularity, but it is popular for good reason. In a time when cynicism and irony are informing many collective attitudes and approaches to media creation and discussion, movies like this, which denounce disillusionment and pessimism in favour of hope, empathy, and solidarity, are all the more special. It’s precisely in this film’s championing of such simple yet often underappreciated notions that its enduring power lies. It’s a cliche to say, but The Shawshank Redemption truly is one of cinema’s greatest films.
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