FAVORITE FILM NUMBER 9: The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
I'm sure as kids, most of us hated being told to "go to our rooms" or to sit in "time-out." However, as we all know, in the adult world, those types of punishments stand pale in comparison to what happens to you if you break the law. Commit or be convicted of a felony, and you'll find yourself in a more mammoth room, commonly known as prison, with a new, extraordinarily more aggressive form of time-out. Usually, most people are so petrified by the horror stories of lockdowns, disgusting food, and sodomy that they will do anything they can NOT to end up in the "slammer." However, the frightening truth, as I'm sure we all know, is that sometimes wrongfully-accused innocent people end up in prison as well, and Frank Darabont's The Shawshank Redemption (1994) is a poignant, fictional example of that.
Based on the novella, Rita Hayworth Visits Shawshank Prison, by Stephen King, The Shawshank Redemption is the story of Andy DuFresne (Tim Robbins), a successful banker who is wrongfully accused of murdering his adulterous wife and her lover (based on strong circumstantial evidence) and is then subsequently given two life sentences to serve at Shawshank Prison-- run by the mean and authoritative Warden Samuel Norton (Bob Gunton)-- after being found guilty. The clever and mathematically inclined Andy, who enjoys classical music, literature, and geology, initially struggles with life in prison. For the first few years, Bogs (Mark Rolston) and a gang of inmates known as "The Sisters" sexually assault him, the guards treat him harshly, and he is viewed as being shy and weak. However, after befriending Ellis Boyd "Red" Redding (Morgan Freeman), an older inmate who's known for skillfully obtaining illegal contraband, helping the Captain of the Guards Byron Hadley (Clancy Brown) with his taxes in exchange for more library space and free beers for the prisoners while they work outside, and having Bogs and his men beaten and vacated from the penitentiary, Andy's luck starts to change. In addition to Red obtaining a rock hammer (to build a collection of small chessmen) and posters of Rita Hayworth, Marilyn Monroe, and Raquel Welch for him, Andy becomes a popular individual and helping-hand around the institution. He begins assisting librarian Brooks Hatlen (James Whitmore), aids the guards with their spring taxes, and brings a spirit of life into the prison that had not existed there before him. However, when Norton forces Andy into solitary confinement on several occasions, exploits him for money laundering purposes, and ignores the testimony of a younger prisoner, Tommy Williams (Gil Bellows), who has proof of Andy's innocence, Andy begins to ruminate about hope, freedom, and his current predicament. Will he or Red ever really be able to escape this place?
This film has many strengths. In terms of its acting, both Robbins and Freeman give superbly realistic and sympathetic performances. However, the real excellency of this film is its story. Poignant, unpredictable, and inspiring, The Shawshank Redemption captures not only what it's like to be literally incarcerated, but also spiritually incarcerated as well. Andy DuFresne represents the imperfect, yet perseverant everyday human being. Unfortunately, as this movie suggests, reality can be extraordinarily cruel and unfair, consuming and/or destroying what it wants when it wants it at its own will. Such is the case with Andy, who, after being wrongfully accused and given a life sentence, spends his first few years in prison getting beaten, raped, and verbally assaulted. However, there are several other moving themes imbued in this film that oppose the idea that nature is solely brutal and ugly; namely, the themes of hope and friendship. For instance, Andy is not physically the most powerful person at Shawshank Prison, yet his quick thinking and resourcefulness, intelligence, and affability allow him to tolerably endure the plight that he's in. By that same token, Red survives the predicament he's in because his skill of obtaining illegal contraband allows the other inmates to lead more bearable lives in prison.
One idea that The Shawshank Redemption seems to cater to is an idea that I'm sure we're all familiar with: "Misery loves company." However, I don't believe that this movie is directly suggesting that misery loves company, but rather that it accepts it. That being said, sometimes company, if it's powerful enough, can reduce or even destroy misery, but what misery ultimately loves (or at least desires) is hope, and there is one scene in this movie that evocatively represents that. Put in charge of the warden's office and provided with the opera The Marriage of Figaro, Andy locks the door and plays the record on Norton's public address system for all of the prisoners in the yard to hear. He is put in solitary confinement for a month, and when he gets out, the other inmates ask him how he stayed sane for so long. Andy replies that during confinement, the sound of Mozart's music playing in his head was something he knew the guards couldn't take away from him. This segues into a conversation about hope, and Red tells Andy to avoid thinking about it since it's a "dangerous thing" that'll "drive a man insane." In real life, I'm sure we all, at one point or another, could agree with Red. For instance, when we consider the topic of human mortality, an inevitability we are all cursedly aware of, we sincerely hope that there is something better on the "other side" (be it reincarnation or a blissful afterlife, etc.), but, ultimately, we don't know, and sometimes it really does drive some of us insane. However, that is not to say it should. Aristotle believed that death was either a "ceasing to exist" or "the soul's transmigration" to a different state of being, and if that puts your worries to rest, then so should the adage "Hope is a good thing, and no good thing ever dies" that Andy posits through voice-over later in the film.
SPOILER ALERT: The following paragraph gives away important plot information. If you've not seen this movie and wish to see it, refrain from reading further. Otherwise, read on at your own risk.
The other scene that gloriously represents the issue of hope is one in which a character escapes from prison. During this sequence, we learn that the escapee has burrowed a hole through one of the prison cell walls and broken into a sewage drainpipe with a rock, using the booms and crackles of an incidental, nighttime thunderstorm to wash out the noise. What's particularly compelling about this scene, though, is its visual symbolism. To reach freedom, the escapee crawls through five hundred yards of excrement into a nearby stream. Exiting the drain, he stands with his shirt off and his arms in the air, reveling exaltedly in the deluge of rainfall, and the message of the story at this moment in the film is crystal clear to any viewer who is watching it: the greatest rewards sometimes require us to suffer tremendously. Of course, this shouldn't sound like a new concept to anyone, and throughout history, many anguished people have adhered to this philosophy, including Jesus Christ, the Egyptian Jews, and the African-American slaves. While I do not personally believe that true solace can only be reached through agonizing persistence, it is uplifting to see the issue explored so beautifully in film.
Gracefully well written, well acted, and emotionally pulsating, The Shawshank Redemption is a treasurable tale that exemplifies the triumphant nature of the human spirit. There is a scene in which Andy remarks that you can either "get busy living, or get busy dying," and if the following line struck an inspirational chord with you as it did with me, then you should "get busy" watching this truly captive-ating film.
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