The Shawshank Redemption
Frank Darabont
Initial release: September 23, 1994 (USA)
Stephen King, the reigning royal of boo books, isn't known for his non-horror work — after all, this is the guy who made millions on creepshow classics like Carrie and The Shining; some of the best horror movies of the 1970s and 1980s were based on his work. (And some of the worst, but that's a tale for another time.) So how did we get from Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, a realist prison tale tucked away in King's Different Seasons collection (one of the very few King books I have not read) to a whopping seven Academy Award nominations for Frank Darabont's The Shawshank Redemption? Honestly, it's one of those movies that, if you watched it, you'll probably understand right away.
Let's start from the beginning. The Shawshank Redemption starts in 1947 with banker Andy Dufresne entering Shawshank Prison for the murder of his wife and her lover. Despite constant harassment from the local booty warriors (iykyk) he mostly keeps to himself, sometimes commissioning fellow inmate Red (short for Redding) for various items and contraband. But a couple of years in, he finds a way to ingratiate himself with the screws by offering them his services as a banker: he does their taxes, gives them money advice, and manages their finances. Despite his claims to innocence, he seems resigned to life in prison... until he hears a clue that might exonerate him after all. Too bad the warden has no interest in letting him pursue it...
Really, you've probably picked up a lot about the movie over the years just through osmosis, like the girlie poster hiding a tunnel, or the masterful performance by Morgan Freeman as Red (the narration is all his, too — with a voice like Freeman's, you wouldn't dare use anyone else.) Devoid of context, this is one of those movies that are going to seem hokey and saccharine, like a lot of movies from the era, until you actually see it.
I wouldn't say it does much that's particularly special or unique; instead, it does a few things and it does them extremely well. The characters are all well sketched out, almost archetypal: the quiet, handsome protagonist, his older, wiser friend, the smug little prick of a warden, the cruel bully of a guard captain. The other prisoners all have their own personalities too. These characters are brought to life as if we're stepping into a world where they've already been existing before we ever observed them. Shawshank is massive and imposing, a city of stone and steel that swallows men up so far into its depths that freedom sometimes seems like a curse.
There's a little bit of symbolism that can be mined from the film. After spending much of the film as something unto a Christ figure, Andy manages to escape nice and clean in a way that's unrealistic, but satisfying, part of his victory in the long-running mindgame with the contemptable warden. Crawling through a mile of shit to escape the prison, he finds his redemption, metaphorical if not literal, in the waste pond at the end, amidst a tremendous storm that symbolically washes away his sins. Does it matter that he never gets to clear his name and the real killer is never brought to justice? No. By crawling through that pipe after nearly two decades in prison, Andy Dufresne has shed his old life and is given the chance to begin anew. The Bible-thumping warden, the clear Satan figure in that petty, officious way you sometimes see with little nerds who never got over getting bullied in school, gets his just desserts; he was the only loose end that mattered.
And what of Red? His friendship with Andy is the driving force of the whole film, two men with different philosophies on life (in prison and in general) yet who form a powerful bond that keeps them both going through the hard years. The Shawshank Redemption simply wouldn't be what it is without Red, or without Morgan Freeman to play him. If anything, the film is Red's story; he's telling us, in loving detail, what goes on with Andy, but it's all Red's impressions and recollections. The real character arc is in fact Red's.
Some movies define an era. I keep saying it, but it keeps needing to be said: you'll never understand why this movie had such a hold on people until you see it for yourself. For some, it's an almost religious experience; for me, it just so perfectly encapsulates all that was good about 1990s movie making. In its way it sort of captures King's own approach to characters, where he'll sketch out a whole town and give them all life on his pages. But I don't think that's why it's successful; the idea of a guy being thrown into a horrible situation through no sin of his own and not only making life better for everyone around him but getting away clean while the villains get their comeuppance is certainly compelling, but I don't think that's it either. I think what makes The Shawshank Redemption work is that, fundamentally, it's a message of hope. Hope can destroy us, but it can also set us free. That's what resonates with people, even after all these years.
Because we, too, can hope for liberation.
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