Yes, Shawshank is as good as you've heard

Rating: 10/10 (15 January 2015)

This movie is a true masterpiece, and it's a real pity that it never really got recognition and box office success it deserved. If Forrest Gump, also a very good movie, hadn't come out the same year, I have no doubt that Shawshank would have taken top honors at the Oscars.
At the center of the story is Andy Dufrense, a bank executive wrongly convicted of killing his wife and her lover. Our first impression of him is that he's a bookworm, a nerd, the kind of man who won't last long behind bars. But it becomes clear soon on that he is filled with a great inner strength, one that allows him not only to endure his ordeal, but to keep his sanity and his humanity.
Andy soon befriends Red (Morgan Freeman), the prison's top scrounger. Having spent the last twenty years on the inside the walls, Red serves as the film's wise old man, giving Andy (and the viewer) the ground rules, dispensing advice, and trading in contraband. He's sympathetic and loyal to his friends, but being in prison has given him a cynical streak that grows as the movie progresses. He also narrates the story, and does a masterful job. There's neither a single line of unnecessary narration, nor any scenes where more is needed.
Andy's skill with numbers eventually gets him in good with the guards, whose taxes he does. Before long, he enters the services of the warden. And once the warden begins a program of using the convicts as cheap labor- and pocketing the profits- Andy becomes one of the nation's best crooked accountants. As for the warden himself, he's an interesting character. He comes across a fairly benign, if somewhat self-righteous; his piety and talk of redemption contrasting with the actions of those under him. But as his schemes unfold, his villainous nature becomes apparent.
I don't know if there has ever been a more realistic, more sympathetic portrayal of prison life and what it does to a man. In every scene, this movie tells it like it really is. It doesn't shy away from the brutal beatings at the hands of sadistic guards, or the horrors of prison rape. But at the same time, it remains tasteful, never stooping to the level of crass exploitation or violence for its own sake.
Shawshank also gives the viewer a sense of the boredom and monotony that makes up the bulk of a prisoner's life, without becoming boring or monotonous itself. It also shows the feelings of camaraderie and close friendships that can develop between inmates. I've heard that the only bonds between soldiers in combat can compare to those between prison buddies, and based on this film, I wouldn't doubt it. The little things are perfectly captured as well: the cigarette trade, the obsession with the female image- to the point that you'll watch the same movie a dozen times just for that one scene with that one actress, and of course the way that every man in prison insists that he's innocent and it's all a big mistake.
Through the experiences of Brooks, the old librarian, we also see little known dilemma of so many long-term inmates returning to society. Despite all the hardships of prison life, the drudgery, the bad food, the loss of freedom, Brooks has become not only accustomed to, but dependent on life within the walls. After all the years he's spent at Shawshank Penitentiary he's forgotten the outside world, and the outside world, in turn, has moved on, becoming something completely different from what he once knew. All of his friends, his life's work, and his purpose are there in the prison. Inside, he's well liked, a learned man and intellectual among his peers. Outside, he's just an ex-con who's past his prime and not so steady on his feet anymore.
A real measure of this movie's greatness is that so much depth is given, and so much sympathy generated, for someone who is really a minor player. His story is only a subplot, yet this film spends more time and effort characterizing him than many movies spend on their main characters.
Another important theme is what confinement can do to a man's soul. After years behind bars, most of the inmate's spirits are downtrodden, if not broken. For them, true happiness is but a memory; hope an entirely foreign idea. "Hope is dangerous. Hope can get you killed." Red tells Andy at one point. But Andy is not like the others. He clings on to hope, even when he has every reason to believe he'll spend the rest of his life in Shawshank. He's determined that no matter what, he will not let his spirit be broken.
The ending is one of the best I've ever seen, and I wouldn't dream of giving this one away. I will say that nearly everything that's happened up to now has, in one way or another, led to this, and that when it's over, you'll be amazed and uplifted.
Shawshank is right up there with the best of Copula, Spielberg, or Kurosawa. It's the kind of movie that can restore your faith in cinema. No matter how many lackluster sequels or half-baked packaged deals the studios come out with, there will always be the Shawshank Redemption.