No good thing ever dies.

Rating: 10/10 (17 June 2012)

The greatness of this film is in its excellent presentation and articulation of what lies deep within a human being that makes him/her persevere against impossible odds, especially so when he/she is facing a terrible injustice. This reminds me of Viktor Frankl's book 'Man's Search for Meaning' based on his experiences in prison under far worse conditions than depicted in this film. It is only under the harshest and most extreme of circumstances that a sensitive and just human being whose integrity is under attack will almost certainly face the question of the meaning of his/her life and in general the meaning of life and the meaning of freedom. The only real freedom that human beings have lies in a creative response to the impossible but challenging circumstances that one faces, and in that creative expression one finds meaning. No one can give that freedom and no one can take away that freedom – its source is within, and completely independent of external circumstances and institutions. All institutions tend to inhibit this freedom and instead 'confine' individuals so that they become 'institutionalized'. The prison is the toughest of all institutions. But the tougher the conditions, the greater is the challenge and if understood that way, the greater the rewards in finding meaning. But until that is accomplished, one must have something essential and substantial to believe in – call it hope or faith or self esteem – in order to survive, for nothing is accomplished in death. At the same time, the idea of death itself is the motivating force – a sense that one could die without having achieved anything in life is the most powerful life sustaining force itself – this is the most stupendous paradox of human existence, something that was hinted at in Joseph Heller's Catch 22. At the centre of this catch is the hope (a word much abused) that one will find meaning even in the most hopeless of conditions, that one will be able to forge something good out of the entire BS that surrounds us. And that which is good lasts forever. That is the true faith, not the false faith of the corrupt Warden, who in this case is not only the proverbial 'devil who is fond of quoting from the scriptures' but also gives the airs and appearances of one who is a 'man of God' only because of his fanatical devotion to the Bible. The irony of it all is brought out superbly near the end. The ending was the best part in a way because this story was no hopelessly fated 'Greek Tragedy', as the central message of the film was that hope within one man can light up the hope in another who otherwise would have given up, and that this evocation is a very powerful bond between humans, in this case between two very different kind of humans, both by background as well as race, but who become the best of friends because they share something vital deep inside that makes them 'to get busy living' rather than to 'get busy dying'. Finally, what makes this one of the greatest movies is that it also has drama, adventure and action which makes it appealing to a wide audience. For the serious, it can revisited several times for the special kind of mood that it evokes – a mood that is both uplifting as well as thought provoking.