Not a film but a journey of the inner workings of the human soul

Rating: 10/10 (12 August 2013)

Without doubt one of the most endearing stories to touch the human soul. Very rare a film succeeds in taking the mantle away from the novel. However this is one of those cases when it simply just does.
This soul finding, awe inspiring against all the odds film is a great adaptation of Stephen King's 1982 Novella entitled 'Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption'.
This is the film that will make you think that there is hope in the world and that with great perseverance 'anything can be over come'. Set in the times of what looks like the depression and located within the backdrop of the sleepy south of America.
A man sent to prison for life for a crime he did not commit, and how this alien world of the lower reaches of society seem at first that he will be broken and beaten and either die or go mad (as so many of the inmates succumb to). As Simon and Garfunkel had their books and poetry 'to protect them (me)' so the lead character Andy Dufresne has his to protect him from such failings. In Rita Hayworth he has a passage of physical escape as opposed to the virtual world of books. He gains respect over time not through physical violence but by the craft of his mind and sheer willpower. Like a chess master he is thinking several moves ahead of everyone. Even the old master lag played by Morgan Freeman can only watch this man from a distance. However he relays through mainly past tense commentary how this man was as GB Shaw would say was 'Superman'. Eventually like a great master he exposes the lies,hypocrisy and greed of the evil church going warden. This is not a film but a journey to the very survival of the human soul and as the lead character passes through leads a golden light on those condemned even if only for a passing moment in time. Like a bird on a journey he is destined to be free. Enjoy this film because it may if only for a moment save your soul.