THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION
A film review by Chad Polenz
Copyright 1997 Chad Polenz
Chad'z rating: **** (out of 4 = excellent) 1994, R, 142 minutes [2 hours, 22 minutes] [drama] Starring; Tim Robbins (Andy Dufresne), Morgan Freeman (Red), Bob Gunton (Warden Norton), William Sadler (Captain Hadley), produced by Niki Marvin, written and directed by Frank Darabount, based on the novella "Rita Hayworth And The Shawshank Redemption" by Stephen King.
"The Shawshank Redemption" is unlike anything I've ever seen before. It's not about a hero trying to overcome a struggle, as the entire film is blatant in telling us this will never happen. Instead, what makes it great is its characters and all its many individual events.
The story revolves around Andy Dufresne (Robbins) and his wrongful sentence to Shawshank Prison. Of course we meet many other characters and see events typical of prison films, but this one is scripted, filmed, and acted much better than any other prison film. Most prison settings depend on violence and profanity to make for a dark, rough atmosphere, but this film tells a much grimmer story without using this elements gratuitously.
If prison breeds criminality, than its administrators are no exception. There is Captain Hadley (Sadler), the stern head guard who takes pleasure in beating prisoners, and Warden Norton (Gunton) who seems nice on the outside but turns out to be just as corrupt as the men he incarcerates.
The prisoners themselves seem to be some of the nicer characters, especially Red (Freeman) -"the guy who can get stuff." Red is a nice guy, he admits he was stupid and wrong to have committed his crime, but can never seem to convince the parole board of this.
Not much happens here in terms of plot, it is mostly just character and environment study. A subplot begins to form as Andy helps Norton and Hadley extort and embezzle thousands of dollars. Andy also tries to get the prison more funding for a library, and an interesting mystery concerning Andy's chance at freedom crops up, but all of this is just a backdrop for the film's many philosophies about humanism, freedom, justice, and love.
The evil, oppressive establish in George Orwell's "1984" said "freedom is slavery" and we see just how true that is through the eyes of these men. Granted, they would rather not be in prison, but when their friend Brooks is finally released, he realizes how easy he had it inside. Although they must work within the prison, all their basic needs are provided. Brooks can't handle the responsibility and this makes for a powerful theme of prison being an alternate reality.
Another interesting and thematic philosophy occurs when Andy and Red have a discussion about hope. Red says hope is the one thing that truly imprisons him. Once one gives up hope he is free from its grasp. Andy counters by saying just the opposite - hope is the one thing that will give them a sense of freedom. The guards can beat them all they want, they can be rejected for parole, but they can't take away one's sense of hope and dignity.
"The Shawshank Redemption" does have many scenes and events that might be depressing because of the harshness of reality, but the film has a happy ending that really makes you think. Andy and Red never give up hope and this ultimately leads to their freedom.
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