"Put your trust in the Lord  your ass belongs to me"

Rating: 9/10 (26 May 2000)

So says the warden of Shawshank prison, though Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) finds it belongs to a lot more people in this often-harrowing tale.
The Shawshank Redemption is a very, very clever film in that it takes its call from elder cinema, meaning it can net not only acclaim but also a wider audience. It's surely no coincidence that the first sound we hear  before the titles have even begun to roll - is that of The Ink Spots singing "If I Didn't Care". The shot pans out to Tim Robbins in an old-fashioned automobile and then to a courtroom where his last words to his wife were "I'll see you in Hell". No profanity from a bitter man in 90's cinema, though expletives do flavour the piece, with 24 uses of the f-word and 48 minor swearwords.
A few minutes into the film and part of the reason is given: the setting is 1947. However, the oldstyle trappings of the piece never leave it: violence and sexual activity are never laboured on. Beatings are delivered in shadow, or, in the case of Andy's first, the camera discretely pulls back and turns a corner while we just hear the sound. Note we are never shown that Andy is raped, we are just told that he is by Morgan Freeman's narration. That's another strong point of the film, and also an historical device, that of first person narration. Freeman adds a constant magnetism to the film; his voice-over a necessity considering it takes place over 20 years. Refreshingly, the ageing process is used subtly, if at all, rather than using unconvincing prosthetics. A little grey to Morgan's hair and the power of persuasion is all that is needed to carry out the illusion of time passing.
Another interesting point is that of race. Someone once told me they didn't like the film because they saw the black/white male bonding between Robbins and Freeman as too contrived and worthy. I told them that this showed a suspect attitude on their part as Ellis Redding's skin colour hadn't occurred to me, nor is it ever mentioned throughout the film. It isn't an issue that Redding is black, he just IS.
Ultimately, the redemption of the title comes from Robbins' humanitarian intellectualism against the warden's fundamental religious beliefs. But the ultimate testament to erstwhile cinema is that of two things: plot and character. It's this strength of character, not to mention two superb understated leads, which mean you can watch it again and again, even when one viewing reveals the twist in the tale. All the characters are three-dimensional, breathing human beings that get not lines, but emotions and beliefs. Occasionally some  not much, but some  of the dialogue can strain towards the overly sentimental. Perhaps this is what produced the nauseating tagline "Fear can hold you prisoner  hope can set you free". Yuck! But generally this pleasantly paced, well-told tale hits the target in it's own relaxed way. Far from pedestrian, the timing of the film is like that of drinking a cool beer on a hot summer's roof, or a whole yardful of inmates standing stock still to the beauty of Mozart.
The Shawshank Redemption was released the same year as Pulp Fiction, yet both of them were disgraced at the Oscars by the forgettable Forrest Gump. A great oversight.