about it

Rating: 10/10 (11 June 2013)

Based on Stephen King's novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, Frank Darabont's "The Shawshank Redemption" tells the story of Andy Dusfresne (Tim Robbins), a gentle banker wrongly convicted for the double murders of his wife and her lover. The story goes on to send a powerful message of friendship and hope through even the darkest times imaginable.
"Andy Dusfresne â€“ who crawled through a river of s*t, and came out clean on the other side", remarks Red, narrator and man-who-knows-how- to-get-things, effortlessly played by the iconic father of narration Morgan Freeman. When we meet Red, he's 20 years into a life sentence with a jaded view of the world and initially thinks little of Dusfresne. However as the months turn into years we watch them form a beautiful friendship and observe two people who truly care for each other, a rarity in many modern movies and arguably life today.
This is testament to the wonderful acting from Robbins and Freeman, and indeed across the board. The supporting cast is excellent, from the corrupt Warden Norton (Bob Gunton) and his viciously sadistic Captain Hadley (Clancy Brown), to the kind, institutionalized librarian Brooks (James Whitmore), every character in Shawshank is well rounded and brilliantly acted. And as if all that wasn't enough, the soundtrack, composed by Thomas Newman, is hauntingly beautiful and perfectly complements the film throughout its 2.5 hours.
The Shawshank Redemption is an emotional roller-coaster in that it truly offers everything, from devastating and disturbing lows to heart-warming highs, and even elements of comedy where appropriate. This movie has such depth and whilst not being preachy in any way, it has many lessons to offer through Andy's character. Andy, for me, embodies the perfect human, caught up in a hurricane of bad luck; he only once complains about his fate, the rest of the time he seems to find goodness in most situations and spends his sentence improving the lives of those around him.
This is epitomized by Red's story who, despite our protagonist being Andy, is our eyes and ears, our story teller and ultimately the one redeemed. Red, the self-proclaimed "only guilty man in Shawshank" is all but institutionalized after 30 years in those walls, but it's Andy who gradually shows him the power of hope, of integrity and of not forgetting who you are. He enables him to free himself after being freed from Shawshank.
It comes down to a simple choice really. Get busy living, or get busy dying.