Aspiring objectivist empiricist made empathetic to subjective existence by this work of art.

Rating: 10/10 (18 August 2007)

I guess not many people will ever read this, but I just feel obliged to praise this work of art. I am an aspiring Neuropsychology student and obviously an extreme positivist. Man IS A MACHINE. Yet, The Shawshank Redemption DEFINES what BEING A HUMAN is! That is the reason why it is the best film ever made. It inspires hope, meaning, aspiration... whatever you would like to call it.
I wouldn't say that it inspired me to be less scientific in my view of life, it's just that it made me feel better about life. I am still very much in the physiological pure hard scientific corner of psychology. What I guess I'm trying to say is that this movie MUST put things into a rather mature perspective, even to the most rebellious and unreasonable nihilist on the face of this planet.
This movie is simplistic, the story isn't intricate, it is subtle and very very very easy to follow. Yet, it resides in that category of movies that include the likes of Schindler's list, Pulp Fiction and Forest Gump; it actually sits on the throne there. The essence of this movie is bigger than the discovery of Special Relativity, in that it gives an answer to the question that you are faced with when hearing the short line of sweet dialog: "I guess it comes down to a simple choice really: get busy liven or get busy die'n". "What is the meaning of life?"