Shawshank? Redemption? A great movie with a bad title.

Rating: 10/10 (13 May 2020)

When the film The Shawshank Redemption was released it was barely seen and hardly earned back its budget at the global box office. It is pretty surprising to consider this when one realizes that the story is by Stephen King, whose films based on his stories are usually well-known (if not well-reviewed).
The novella by King is part of his collection of stories found in the book Different Seasons, and the novella is entitled: Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, subtitled: Hope Springs Eternal. Anyone who has seen the film knows that it is outstanding. The characters are realistic, the conflicts are life and death and the themes are deep and moving. One can't help feeling emotional during the last scene as the story resolves so beautifully. It was nominated for Best Picture even.
If I had one wish for this film it would be to go back in time and change the title, perhaps just using the novella's subtitle: Hope Springs Eternal. It may be a little on-the-nose, but it is so much more evocative of the themes in the film, especially since the word Shawshank has no meaning outside the story, and the word Redemption is used as a noun and begs the question, "redeemed from what?", again leaving the title as vague and uncompelling.
I can only imagine that the film would have actually won Best Picture in 1994 if it had been released with the title: Hope Springs Eternal.