I know many hardcore film people who would put this film in their top 10, top 5 or even top 3. it really is that good. If you have not seen it, I have no idea what your problem is. In fact, it is currently number 1 on IMDB.com's top 250 movies of all time. Thematically it is resonant and applicable to all. It is gorgeously written, acted, and directed. it is essentially a master class in film and I was kind of surprised to find it on the outside of my own top 10. Bank Merchant Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) is convicted of killing his wife and her lover and sent to Shawshank prison. After a while of depression and solitude, Dufresne starts to remember that even in prison there is one thing no one can take from him: hope. He starts to earn the respect of the other inmates and become particularly close to "Red" (Morgan Freeman). Even as the circumstances in the prison get more and more depressing for Andy, he finds a way to hold onto hope.
Robbins, who I have always found to be a solid actor, but not anything special, really nails it here. From the very start, he hooks you into this character of Andy. You wonder how this seemingly mild mannered man will handle life in prison and then as he starts to find that quiet hopeful feeling, it is impossible not to be completely taken in by the performance. It is almost serene what Robbins does with the role. Of course, most people leave the film thinking about Morgan Freeman's pitch perfect performance. Freeman has sort of perfected this type of role as a the confidante of the white man, but he is in top notch form here. He should have won the Oscar for this movie, but instead he got it for a different movie playing the same type of role a decade or so later. Robbins and Freeman create magic together. There is an ease to their scenes that almost transform the surroundings. You forget this is a prison and that there are seriously hardened criminals in the film. Gil Bellows as Tommy, a character vitally important to the story and to the transformation of Dufresne, is quite great. I think he gets overlooked because of how excellent Freeman and Robbins are, but honestly, the Tommy character arc breaks my heart every time I think about rewatching this film.
It does not end with the acting though. Writer/director Frank Darabont adapted Steven King's story and gave it serious life. The screenplay is fantastic. It allows for so many great character moments and gives multiple characters a chance for growth and change. He writes dialog is such a wonderfully rhythmic way and it adds to the ease at which Robbins and Freeman interact. Darabont has become more known for the first season of the Walking Dead at this point, but when you think about The Shawshank Redemption being his first feature length directing job, it is a pretty amazing accomplishment. I did not think there were many camera tricks and that lends itself to the film. It puts you right in the film, I felt. There were moments when you felt like you were in the prison with these people. That is, of course, helped by the gorgeously perfect cinematography of Roger Deakins. When I first saw this movie, I was still in my infancy of loving film, so I did not have an appreciation for cinematography yet, but during my multiple viewings of this film, I have grown to understand how important it is in film in general, but particularly for a film that is set in such a drab place like prison. it takes skill to make a movie look beautiful when so much of what we see is grey. The palette can be so boring, but Deakins and Darabont find the beauty, which is part of the theme of the film. Adding to the beauty of this film is Thomas Newman's wonderful score. Now if Thomas Newman is scoring your picture, there is a great chance that the music will be perfect. The man understands movements in music and how they work within a film. To be fair, movie scores are still something I am learning. It is an aspect of film where my appreciation is still in its infancy. However, even I can recognize how wonderfully uplifting the music here is.
The tagline for this film is "Fear can hold you prisoner. Hope can set you free." The poster features a great shot of Robbins with his arms spread wide with rain pouring down on him. At its core The Shawshank Redemption is about not letting your circumstances hold you down. Yes, the movie literally takes place in a prison, but the idea is that we all have things that trap us and hold us down. It is our job to keep dreaming, to keep hope alive no matter what is happening. The film believes in the uplifting spirit of hope. It is a powerful message in its own rite, but when backed by this film and backed by the tremendous final 30 minutes of this film, the point is perfectly sent and received, at least by me. I did not see this movie in theaters, but saw it early on in its home video life, and I had not studied the film much, and I was just completely taken by how this film made its point. Everything about it was so gorgeous, even though it was birthed out of ugliness. It should be an ugly film and there is certainly ugliness to be found within the characters and the actions of supposedly good characters, but deep down through all the ugliness is this uplifting soaring theme of hope. Everything eventually revolves around this idea of not letting the world bring you down. If you cannot relate to that, you must be living the most charmed of lives.
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