A Film that will touch your soul

Rating: 10/10 (13 June 2005)

I read this novella in Stephen Kings "Four Seasons" while i was doing my GCSE exams. i remember then what a profound effect the story had on me. A story of hope through extreme adversity and the power of friendship that i thought could not be found between two men. The sheer anticipation of this film being released was almost heart stopping, but coupled with the fear it would not live up to my expectations. i also remember thinking that i did not want to see it for fear of it shattering my own perceptions of the two main characters, ANDY and RED. i need not have feared a thing.....the screenplay and adaptation was done with nothing short of pure brilliance. the camera work and choice of location could not have been more suitable. perhaps it is a symbol of how well Mr King writes that, it seems, everyones picture of everything is the same!!! Thus is was quite easy to choose sets, locations and of course actors. In the book, RED is a white, Irish man......against all odds, i cannot imagine ANYONE else delivering such a captivating, believable and utterly brilliant performance as Morgan Freeman. This man deserves 20 Oscars his acting together with the small stabs of narration are mind blowing who else could have done this?!! NO-ONE!! Tim Robbins IS ANDY!....his whole movement and attitude were exactly what King had written, this was encompassed in Robbins' portrayal perfectly. together the chemistry they had was beautiful, you could see that these characters were good friends, as well as the actors that played them. The visionary pieces of the film that will always linger? well the whole film lingers, such was the effect it had on me, but the two specific points in the film? Firstly, Andy described to RED where he could find a box, near a tree in a field, under some rocks to be exact. Now this bit is in the book (obviously!!) but i remember when i read it, the picture of that tree, in that field, next to that wall. In the film it was as if they had asked ME to choose the location, a chill went down my spine and it nearly brought me to tears!!! and i am NOT KIDDING!!!!. The second bit, well its right at the end, its the smile on RED's face when he sees ANDY again. This is not a feeble lip turning grin.....NO this is a full , both sets of teeth, cheek aching smile!!!! it IS the biggest and most emotional smile i have ever seen in any film. i could go on for pages about this film, i have been a film fan ever since i can remember, sitting with my father on a Sunday afternoon (before the times of VCR's or satellite, when you watched what was on that day or tough!!!) we watched films like "The African Queen", "Bridge on the River Kwai", "Citizen Kane", "The Rear Window", etc and from then i always liked a good film with a good story, The Shawshank Redemption was already a good story, it took genius to make it a GREAT film. to date i have seen it over 100 times. this has taken me through 3 copies on Video before the DVD came out, i am now on my 2nd DVD. if i have to buy another 100 DVD's it will always always alway be my number one favourite film of all time. It is a film you can watch at any time, when you are in any mood and it is still as compelling as the first time i saw it, or indeed the first time i read the story. 20 out of 10........