1990's Movies: A Poignant Film

Rating: 10/10 (22 August 2008)

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
I've seen this film in its entirety now. Initially, I was afraid it would be a violent prison movie with very little meaning and would have very little to move me to tears. But it did. The film was Oscar worthy but it was a film that lost that year to "Forest Gump". Its release on VHS made the film very popular. Cable television airs the film frequently and it's even the stuff that film screenplay classes study as a sample of brilliant movie. Based on the short story by Stephen King "Rita Hayworth and The Shawshank Redemption" it tells the story of wealthy banker Andy (Tim Robbins) accused of murdering his wife and her lover. The time at the start of the film is the 1940's and by the end of the film it's the 1960's. Andy has been sent to Shawshank, a notorious prison (in Washington state or Oregon) where harsh discipline is provided by the Warden (Bob Gunton) and by its captain of prison guards. The elements of a prison movie are indeed here (nightmarish conditions, cruel punishment, gay prisoners raping straight/hetero prisoners) but it becomes a prison movie at a higher level with its theme of redemption and humanity, hope and perseverance. The bond between Morgan Freeman's character and Tim Robbins is perhaps the most poignant relationship of any two men portrayed on film. The prisoners have lost hope and although not bitter, become very comfortable with prison life and know no other type of life. This was the tragedy of the prison librarian who after decades of prison life, could not cope with the real world that had changed after his release. His suicide is extremely depressing. The "bad guys" turn out to be not the criminals who attempt to rehabilitate themselves but the hypocritical and cruel Warden. Andy is innocent as proved by a later inmate's confession to knowing the true culprit (played by Gil Bellows) but the Warden is too bent on keeping his image of having always done justice and keeps Andy in prison. The grim aspects of the film are nevertheless lightened by humor, good writing, nuance in character and scenes that have such power and subtlety. The scene in which Andy plays an opera album (Le Nozze Di Figaro by Mozart, duet "Sull'aria from the 1968 Karl Bohm album with Edith Mathis and Gundula Janowitz) is so moving and so touching. Andy's subsequent escape and the table-turned justice when the investigation into the corruption of the prison leads to the demise of the administration.
This movie ranks as one of the finest made in the 1990's, with excellent writing and fine acting. It's a movie that has become a classic and that continues to hold audiences enthralled.