Introduction The 1994 prison escape thriller The Shawshank Redemption is a legend of the 1990s. It has been acclaimed as the best prison movie to this date according to IMDb (Stenberg). Many movies following The Shawshank Redemption have tried and failed in their attempts to recreate this behemoth of a movie. Being the critically acclaimed movie that it is, The Shawshank Redemption is bound to have countless reviews critiquing and praising every aspect of the plot, director, setting, and countless other variables. Each of these selected reviews differ in their rating, plot rundown and discussion; and the resemblances and differences can be clearly seen between the reviews as well as the movie itself.
Summary
Based off of a Stephen King
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Developmental Section Washington Post writer Desson Howe describes The Shawshank Redemption by saying, “It wanders down subplots at every opportunity and ignores an abundance of narrative exit points before settling on the aforementioned finale.” (Howe). However, The Hollywood Report writer Duane Byrge describes The Shawshank Redemption by saying, “In the lead roles, both Robbins and Freeman are outstanding, layering their performances with snippets of individuality: Their small, daily sustenances and minor triumphs are wonderfully inspiring.” (Byrge). Following in the same theme of Byrge’s review, another film reviewer, Janet Maslin of The New York Times, praises the delicacy of director Frank Darabont and the hard work of the actors Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins are praised immensely (Maslin).
Unlike the reviews of Maslin and Byrge, Howe paints The Shawshank Redemption in a bad light, and while a few other critics share the same views as Howe, those critics keep their reviews short and to the point without much reason. Having said that, Howe is one of few that does take his review and backs it up with reasonings from the movie, pointing out nuances that could go unnoticed unless otherwise stated. Even as Maslin points out the greatness of The Shawshank Redemption, she also relates to Howe’s review, as she points out some flaws, writing about the extreme length of the movie, as well as a complaint about the gentleness of
The movie the Shawshank Redemption, based on the book by Steven King, I believe is one of the best movies ever made. The portrayal of prison life in the movie is the best I have seen and a star-studded cast including Morgan Freeman supports the characters and brings to life the everyday struggles of life behind bars. In this paper I will relate topics from class to the movie and discuss information we have learned through out the semester.
To me Shawshank Redemption, seemed to be like any other prison film. A story of a prisoner’s tough life, when surrounded by the massive walls of a brutal American prison, treated as scum. In some genius way, they manage to trick the management and escape through a tiny tunnel and out as free men.
While many movies have depicted various areas of the criminal justice system, the Shawshank Redemption is like no other. I first watched the film many years ago on television and since have seen it numerous times on platforms such as DVD and Netflix. The key stars in the production, are actors Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman. Other standouts that who are featured in supporting roles included actors Bob Gunton and Clancy Brown. The film was directed by Frank Darabont who is known for criminal justice films such as the Green Mile. The Shawshank Redemption was first released in theaters September of 1994.
Shawshank Redemption portrayals differ from reality because violent crime is over represented. The portrait of criminal found in the media has almost no correspondence with official statistics. Most of the criminals in prison are actual guilty of committing a crime. In reality a can trial take a long time, but in the movie they portrayed it in a different way. Guards are not allowed to abuse the prisoners in real life because prisoners have rights. Most of the things portrayed in the movie differs from
In 1994, Frank Darabont’s film ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ received a poor reception when released; it only made a $0.3m profit. More recently the film has become known as one of the greatest movies of all time, it has inspired hope in many people, helping them to lose weight, leave abusive marriages and such like. The film is based mainly upon two convicts, and the idea of hope. Andy Dufresne is a ‘Hot Shot Banker’ imprisoned with two life sentences, for the suspected murder of his wife and her lover and ‘Red’ (Morgan Freeman) whom Andy redeems hope in, along with the other convicts, saving them from institutionalisation.
“The Shawshank redemption” is a film in which Andy Dufresne is wrongfully given two life sentences for the murder of his wife and her lover and is sent to the Shawshank prison where Andy is subjected to a variety of different beatings by the guards and other inmates, even being raped by other inmates. After getting involved with doing the guards taxes the crooked warden forces him to hide his many untaxed revenues. After Andy escapes he leaves the jail in scandal by giving evidence to the press surrounding the warden’s dodgy dealings. This paper will be analysing how the director, Frank Darabont uses stylistic features to present the idea of hope in the film. The primary features used in this film was symbolism but there is the use of lighting
'Shawshank Redemption' directed by Frank Darabont is a compelling film about the life of one of its prisoners, Andy. many film techniques were used through out the film as a clever way of conveying main themes. This essay is going to examine how Darabont used camera angles and colour effectively in this film to portray the idea of power.
Directed by Frank Darabont, The Shawshank Redemption tells the Story of Andy Dufrane, a man who has been wrongly convicted of murder and must endure life inside the harsh and corrupt Shawshank prison, but despite this he never loses hope of finding freedom. Hope is an important inspiring idea in this film, as it is what sustains him during the long and difficult years within the prison, and it is the result of this enduring hope that Andy finally finds freedom. There are many visual and oral techniques used throughout the film to portray the idea of hope. This includes the hope that Andy holds, and
The Shawshank Redemption movie is about a man named Andy Dufresne who was falsely accused of murder and was sentenced to life in prison for the murders of his wife and her lover. Being in jail, Andy faced many problems of being abused, but he also gained a strong friendship with a man named Red. Many of the things that the prisoners had to face showed a sociological perspective on how life was in jail and how it affected the prisoners. In Shawshank prison, the functionalism theory, the conflict perspective, and the control theory shows the life and adjustments a prisoner has to make in order to survive going into a new world.
Shawshank Redemption is directed by Frank Darabot, published in 1995 Australia. The film focusses on the theme of forgiveness and escape. It follows an unusual friendship between Andy and Red set in a 1930’s American prison. The main focal scenes explored include: Brooks suicide and Tommy’s death. The film is to be narrated by Morgen Freeman (Red), it shows the 20 year period of Andy’s imprisonment. As a part of the analysis emphases on the scenes as it introduces the audience to the Shawshank prison and Andy’s first moments when attends to the prison to the very moment when he escapes to Mexico.
The film has some additional storytelling that I would like to discuss. The Shawshank Redemption is done in chronological order, but there are some parts when the characters flash back to earlier times in their live so you can understand what is happening in the film. This is done so the viewer still has an easy way to follow the movie. The characters of the film face both internal and external conflict. The internal conflict is should I continue this life when I know I am innocent, and the external conflict is from the prison, the prisoners, and the prison staff. The film does contain symbolism. An example of the symbolism is when the warden learns of his fate and his last judgment by reading the morning newspaper of himself and the prison being corrupt. Additionally, symbolism is used with the holy bible the warden reads; when he finds the hammer that Andy uses to dig out of the prison. There is a passage from Exodus that is used to symbolize the warden’s salvation and Andy’s escape. Also, there is a metaphor that I remember and it happens when the librarian (Brooks Hatlen) is freed from jail and he takes his own life. At the same time he hangs himself his bird (Jake) fly’s away and is freed. The metaphor is that the librarian is free of his lifelong nightmare of being told what
(Part I) Nicole Rafter identifies several stock characteristics that dominate the traditional film. First, there is the convict buddy. In The Shawshank Redemption our innocent protagonist Andy is quickly befriended by prison veteran, Red. Red’s voice can be heard narrating his thoughts about his friend Andy. As the story goes on, their relationship is further explored to the point that the last shot is them reuniting. Common to traditional prison films is a paternalistic warden, but this is not the case in Shawshank Prison. The warden here is very greedy and immoral which is a general a characteristic of more recent prison films. Another stock character is a brutish guard which we see exemplified in Captain Byron Hadley. He beats a man to death in the first act of the film. Finally, we have Andy, who is the young hero, or at least he is fairly young when he goes into prison. He is innocent and thus exemplifies Rafter’s stock character of having an unjustly accused protagonist. Rafter also notes stock plots that often play out. In The Shawshank Redemption, the innocent hero Andy escapes while simultaneously bringing condemnation on the unjust members of the prison. This plot corresponds to one of Rafter’s traditional prison plots (2006, 166). Lastly, there is the idea of stock themes in traditional prison films. Again, The Shawshank Redemption falls in line with Rafter’s theme of the unjustly jailed hero fighting against the unfair system. Rafter writes, “To restore justice,
knowing that Andy is vulnerable, gets him on the tar duty and seems to take him
The Shawshank redemption depicts an innocent man, Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins), sentenced guilty for murder of his wife and her lover. During the movie we follow Andy’s time in prison and with famous actors Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman working together with director Stephen King, the Shawshank redemption sends a strong message about both incarceration and hope. In my opinion it would be an insult to the film industry in whole to even attempt remaking a movie this powerful. Stephen King has created a character that, despite his wrongful conviction, is able to see light where there is dark. Andy Dufresnes makes the best of the future instead of evaluating the past.
The movie “Shawshank Redemption” shows what goes on in a prison. The movie depicts the part of a prison that most people are not aware of. People think of a prison as a place a person is tortured physically as well mentally. However, all that being said true, friendship, hope, and loyalty exists in prison. The movie shows how the main characters Red and Andy build a friendship that lasts in life after prison and loyalty among the inmates. Besides the development of friendship, the movie clearly shows the everyday routine of a prisoner’s life. The movie focus on the main characters Andy, who used to be the vice president of Portland bank before entering prison convicted with a double murder of his cheating wife and a man she was with and