Religious musings?

Rating: 10/10 (13 July 2002)

Reading through the comments by other contributors here, I begin to realise the reason why this movie features in so many all time top 10s - the film means different things to different people.
As straightforward prison drama it is head and shoulders above others of its type - an epic story told with sensitivity and emotion, superbly acted and brilliantly shot. What makes what would have been a good film into a great one is the subtexts and themes which run through it that allow the viewer to actually think.
Personally, my more recent viewings of the movie have highlighted the religious subtext - the way that Red is influenced to 'get busy livin' (and find his way to the Promised Land) as a result of meeting Andy, the Crucifixion/Resurrection/Redemption metaphor of Andy's escape as he stands with his arms wide letting the rain wash away everyone else's sh*t/sins.
To be honest, I hate it when people try to look too deeply into art and identify supposed meaning of which the artist probably had no intention at all. I might be way off with these religious musings but the fact that I have been stirred to comment on them merely reinforces the power of this movie in the way that it can move us.