Genuine Work of Art

Rating: 10/10 (28 April 2016)

Film Appreciation is a course that many college students will take throughout their educational journey in hopes to pass time in an interesting manner while fulfilling an elective. That is my purpose of this review; to fulfill a requirement. However, choosing this film was very deliberate. Upon seeing the list of films to choose on a weekly basis of the course, I knew I would save the best for last. The Shawshank Redemption is one of the best films I have ever had the pleasure of watching. Giving special care to camera angles, costume design, lighting, transitions, sound effects, and Morgan Freemans god-like voice the creators have produced a film that will stand the test of time. Fulfilling my first requirement I will introduce our notable characters; Tim Robbins plays the mysterious main character Andy Dufresne, next we have the renowned Morgan Freeman playing Ellis Boyd "Red" Redding, and Bob Gunton starring as the Warden. Each character does an outstanding job making you believe you are experiencing a real-life tale. They possess human-like qualities that are relatable for all which aids in the emotional connection the audience is sure to form with this film. Andy has the will and drive that most people can only hope to possess in their lifetime, while Red is down-to-earth but extremely resourceful. The Warden is cruel, blinded by greed and power which most people in his position would likely succumb to regardless of what they think they would do. These three powerful characters are aided by many background characters who offer humor, softness, or harsh reality. The central theme of this film is that hope exists for all, we just need to never give up enduring life along the way. Peculiar theme to standout in a film encompassing the life of prisoners, but regardless it is my personal take away. We primarily follow the flashback of Andy who is serving two life sentences for the murder of his wife and her lover, but along the way there are other characters who receive special focus in order to evoke unavoidable emotions. We see the different sides of Andy throughout his journey, though much of the time he remains stoic as to not give away key plot points to the audience or even the characters within the film. Given the heavy dialogue and emotion there are many ideas to take- away from this film; you will just have to watch it yourself to experience them all. The most important factors of this film are the use of transitions and sound effects. Since the film takes place over a span of many years it is important to allow the audience to experience the passage of time correctly or the illusion is lost. Changing between slow motion and fast paced transitions, the film layers sound perfectly to the changes whether it is off-screen sound or visible sound made by objects on the screen. Some scenes fade away to aid emotional response, while others flash through quickly in order to give the audience of sense of the effect of the entire action going on in the scene. Combining the believable acting, with an emotional yet oddly- relatable theme and brilliantly done editing/sound effects, The Shawshank Redemption is a film that every person should watch at least once in their life-time (though I recommend more than once to really take it all in). It is a genuine work of art which I will gladly watch any day. (Especially gratifying when it can be used to fulfill a college requirement).