Probably the best movie ever

Rating: 10/10 (14 June 2013)

There is a reason the Shawshank Redemption has been at #1 of the IMDb top 250 for as long as I can remember. It is probably the best movie that has ever been made. Not because of the thrilling special effects (it hardly has any). Not because of the daring, experimental innovations it has brought us (it is a quite straightforward movie). But because of its simple, beautiful storyline and its great characters.
"They send you here for life. That's exactly what they take." The strength of this movie is that Darabont is able to show what it means to completely lose are perspective and dreams for the future. To show how the people inside shed off their old lives and get used to the terrible life in Shawshank prison. We can truly understand how a man can become 'institutionalized.' How people get used to living under a repressive regime and can't face changing it. We see how the old Brooks can't deal with the world around him and commits suicide. How Red faces the same challenges when he can't take a leak without asking permission. Inside the joint these men had a certain standing, they were important people. Being set free is not easy when your live has been taken from you.

"Why did you do it? - I didn't, since you ask. - You gonna fit right in."

Half of the movie we don't know for sure whether Andy is guilty or not. It doesn't matter so much. What is important is not his past. Rehabilitated? What does that word even mean? In prison you live a whole different life. With whole different rules. Without a past. Or a future. Andy is the exemption. He shows us the remedy against becoming institutionalized. By never accepting our destiny. By never giving up. By always keeping our dreams alive.
"- There are places in the world that aren't made out of stone. There is something inside that they can't touch. - What are you talking about? -Hope. - Let me tell you something my friend, hope is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane. You better get used to that idea."
But Andy doesn't get used to that idea. He has received two things by the warden. "Discipline and the bible." And he uses these two things to get out and escape to the paradise called Zihujataneo. There are two things that make this movie so extremely good. The first thing is that we all can relate to Andy.
"I must admit, I didn't think much of Andy first time I laid eyes on him. He had a quit way about him. A walk and a talk that just wasn't normal around here."
Andy is a normal guy. He is smart, he is doing good. But he is not extremely strong, or extremely smart, or extremely rich. In other words: he is us. He is elevated a little bit above the criminals in prison, but his two most important characteristics are characteristics that, deep down inside us, we all have: hope and determination. These two emotion are so strong and so pure, that we all love to see the live of Andy. That is what makes this movie so appealing.
And by living just your live as best as you can, by never giving up and by keeping your dignity at all times, we see that we can inspire people. Brooks was here. So was Red. Red didn't choose that path of Brooks. Red hasn't become completely institutionalized. Because he lived with Andy and dreamed a bit of his dreams.
We, the normal movie-watchers, have never been to prison. And certainly, there is nobody who can play the role of an older brother as the great Morgan Freeman, and this might be his best performance of his live. Darabont shows a lot of skill in movie-directing and can let years pass in his movie without one moment losing our attention. There is a great soundtrack, which breathes the smell of Southern America into our living rooms. But I'm convinced that what makes this movie so great is that it inspires us all.
We are not stuck in a prison, but certainly we can be stuck in our lives. Change is hard and also outside of prison it is possible to become institutionalized. We can have a life that seems to have no past and not future. That seems to be unrelated to all the other things that happen in the world. Andy learns us to never give up. To never lose faith. To always keep hoping and dreaming about paradise.
"I guess it comes down to a simple choice. Get busy living or get busy dying."