The Shawshank Redemption is a powerful picture brimming with an uncompromising heart and melancholy

Rating: 10/10 (6 September 2017)

Based on the acclaimed novella by Stephen King, The Shawshank Redemption is a film burning with a certain sense of triumph that is rarely experience in any cinematic effort. It is a drama that stops at just about nothing to grab at your heart while feasting it with a strong human touch. This effort is accomplished by director Frank Durabont who, in his directorial debut, grasps on a powerful hold on the spirit of Stephen King's original source material. Taking from the pages of the novella of the same name, the film sets its action inside the walls of the federal penitentiary, a dark place where some of the most innocent people are incarcerated while they hopelessly watch as they are robbed of their humanity at the hands of the unpleasant nature within the prison. While some are thrown in prison for their lack of innocence, others lose their innocence while serving their time within the barbed wire fences and rusty cells. The primary focus of this bleak, yet triumphant tale, however, is the man who vows to fight against this tragedy. Set in 1947, this film follows Andy Dufresne (played by Tim Robbins), a man sentenced to forty years in prison after wrongly being accused of the murder of his cheating wife and his lover. Stationed at the Shawshank Prison in New England under the watchful eye of religious bible-thumping Warden Norton (played by Bob Gunton), Andy is forced to deal with the harsh reality of the prison life, but soon finds a glimmer of hope when he forms a bond with fellow prisoner under the nickname Red (played by Morgan Freeman) who claims to be innocent. Following his years in prison, Andy seeks for redemption and decency among his fellow prisoners while struggling to survive against the unpleasant lifestyle uprooted by Norton.
One thing everyone in that prison has in common is that they are all innocent, at least according to Red in a scene upon meeting Andy for the first time. But does he truly mean? That question lies within the story as it proceeds through a long, yet thoughtful process of establishing the emotional nature of the characters and the soul- crushing environment that has them shaken to their cores. But as Red states, "you become use to it". Whether one can agree with Red's claims or not, it is his wisdom that establishes him as a character with an emotional force to reckoned with. And kudos can be given to Frank Durabont's absorbing script, this character would not the shining light he is without the outstanding performance by Morgan Freeman who amplifies the role is just enough emotional magnitude to tap at the heart, while also dominating the film with his narration. The bond between him and Tim Robbins strikes the chord in more ways than one, especially with Robbins embracing the role with pure grit. Andy is a tragic character who is forced to come to terms with the reality that innocence is lost regardless of when it is in your control, and that leaving does not always mark the end of your tragedy. One character in the film is forced to learn that the hard way in one heartbreaking sequence. The film never grabs at your heart with strangling you with forced sentimentality, it just allows its emotions to run wild while sprinkling small bursts of humor to occasionally lighten the tone. In the midst of the melancholy at defines the atmosphere, there is a powerful sense of hope that Andy will not let the prison become the thief of his dignity nor his humanity, particularly at the hands of Bob Gunton's Warden Norton, a corrupt individual tainted with his religious hypocrisy. How can one trust a man who shoves his bible in their face, yet expresses himself in such an inhuman manner? And for a technical standpoint, shout-outs go to Roger Deakins for his profound cinematography to capture the nature of each scene from start to finish.
The Shawshank Redemption is a triumphant cinematic effort brimming with an uncompromising heart and sense of humanity within its roots. It is powerful picture that will leave you heartfelt one moment, then leave you choked up within the next. That is just an example how magnificent director Frank Durabont is at gripping you with such a strong human touch. Worthy of the name "masterpiece"? I definitely think so.