The Shawshank Redemption

For the novella, see Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption.

The Shawshank Redemption
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Frank Darabont
Written by	Novella: Stephen King Screenplay: Frank Darabont
Produced by	Niki Marvin
Starring	Tim Robbins Morgan Freeman Bob Gunton William Sadler Clancy Brown Gil Bellows
Narrated by	Morgan Freeman
Cinematography	Roger Deakins
Edited by	Richard Francis-Bruce
Music by	Thomas Newman
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures (1994-1999) Warner Bros. (1999-present)
Release dates	September 23, 1994
Running time	142 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$25 million
Box office	$28,341,469

The Shawshank Redemption is a 1994 American drama film, written and directed by Frank Darabont, based on the Stephen King novella, Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption. The film stars Tim Robbins as Andy Dufresne and Morgan Freeman as Ellis Boyd "Red" Redding.

The film portrays Andy spending nearly two decades in the cruelty of Shawshank State Prison, a fictional penitentiary in Maine, and his friendship with Red, a fellow inmate. This movie exemplifies the gap between box office success and popularity. Despite receiving lukewarm box office reception and not making enough to cover back its budget, The Shawshank Redemption received favorable reviews from critics and has enjoyed a remarkable life on cable television, home video, and DVD, and continues to be noticed by popular culture fourteen years after its initial release. It is frequently ranked amongst the greatest films of all time. It is ranked as #2 at imdb.com, in the top 250 movie ranking.

Plot

In 1947, a young banker named Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) is convicted of murdering his wife and her lover based on strong circumstantial evidence, and is sentenced to two consecutive life sentences at the notorious Shawshank Prison in Maine. At the prison, inmate Ellis Boyd "Red" Redding (Morgan Freeman) is rejected for parole after having served twenty years of his life sentence. Later that day, he witnesses the arrival of the new prisoners, Andy among them. After meeting the disciplinarian Warden Samuel Norton and sadistic Chief Prison Guard Captain Byron Hadley, the new inmates are deloused and shuffled to their cells. One of the prisoners breaks down sobbing at night, whereupon Captain Hadley savagely beats him, inflicting fatal injuries.

File:Shawshankdvdcap.jpg

Andy asks Red for Rita Hayworth as the inmates watch the movie Gilda

Andy gradually becomes acquainted with Red's circle of friends, and specifically Red himself, who is known for cleverly smuggling in contraband. After a month of adjusting to his new life, Andy approaches Red and orders from him a rock hammer, so as to pursue his hobby of rock collecting. Andy initially works in the prison laundry, where he is harassed and sought out to be raped by a group of sadistic inmates known as "The Sisters." He endures the abuse for nearly two years but never speaks a word. One day, while tarring the roof of Shawshank's license plate factory, Andy overhears Captain Hadley discussing the taxes on an inheritance he is set to receive. Although he nearly gets thrown off the roof, his knowledge of financial matters proves valuable to Hadley. In return for three beers for each of his "co-workers", Andy sets up a tax shelter for Hadley.

During a film screening, Andy asks Red to get Rita Hayworth for his cell. As he leaves the theater, he is attacked by The Sisters and is beaten "within an inch of his life", and has to spend a few months in the prison infirmary to recover. Captain Hadley, in retribution, viciously beats the gang's leader, Bogs, leaving him permanently paralyzed. Andy is never again victimized by The Sisters, and word gets out that Andy is now protected by the guards because of his assistance to Captain Hadley. When Andy returns from the infirmary, he finds a welcome-back gift from Red: a large poster of Rita Hayworth, free of charge.

Word of Andy's assistance to Captain Hadley gets out, and he is appointed to assist elderly trustee Brooks Hatlen in the prison library (his first instance of preferential treatment) and writes to the Maine Senate for funds to improve the library. As other guards begin to come to him for financial help, Andy sets up a makeshift office to provide tax and financial services and his "clientele" grows to include the entire prison staff, guards from other prisons, and even Warden Norton himself.

After Andy has spent nearly ten years in Shawshank, he and Red find a distraught and hostile Brooks holding a knife to Heywood's throat. After Andy gets Brooks to let Heywood go, Red inquires of Heywood about what he did to set Brooks off in the first place. Heywood tells Red and the other inmates that he only came to tell Brooks 'good-bye'. Brooks' parole has finally been granted and he, in prison since 1905, is so accustomed to life inside that he fears the real world. Outside the prison walls, Brooks encounters nothing but loneliness, isolation, and a dead-end job of bagging groceries. While he was a respected man within prison, he is merely (according to Red) "a used-up old con with arthritis in both hands" in the outside world. In addition, he is given no sympathy by society and is harassed by his unlikeable supervisor, whom he briefly contemplates killing to return to prison. He ultimately writes a final letter to his friends back at Shawshank before carving "Brooks was here" into the banister, and then hangs himself in his room at a halfway house.

Warden Samuel Norton capitalizes on Andy's skills and devises a program to put prison inmates to work for local construction projects. His real motive is to steal money from corruption within the system in order to experience profit, with Andy acting behind the scenes as a money launderer, hiding the funds for Norton by creating a fraudulent identity of "Randal Stevens." To keep Andy happy, the Warden expands the prison library, and Andy is given the opportunity to help inmates obtain their high school diplomas. He also lets Andy keep an inordinate amount of contraband in his cell, including carved rocks, a rock blanket, and various posters (including a huge one of Marilyn Monroe, which has replaced the one of Rita Hayworth).

In 1965, a young prisoner named Tommy Williams enters Shawshank on a "B&E" charge. Andy takes a liking to him, and Tommy is being educated to take his GED. After attempting to complete the exam (which he later passes), he learns of Andy's supposed crime from Red, but then makes a shocking revelation: Elmo Blatch, one of his old cellmates, had gleefully described murdering two people who fit the description of Andy's wife and her lover and how her "hotshot banker" husband got blamed for it. Andy hopes that he will be able to get a new trial with Tommy's help, and he approaches Norton for advice and assistance. When Norton hears the story, he tries to convince him that Tommy sympathizes with his predicament and concocted the story to cheer him up. Andy then reassures the Warden that he will never reveal anything about the corruption at the prison. Fearing exposure if Andy is set free, Norton sends him to solitary confinement for one month and orders Hadley to kill Tommy following a discussion in which the young man states he is willing to testify on Andy's behalf. After subtly revealing that Tommy's murder will be covered up as an escape attempt, Norton makes it very clear that Andy will continue to receive protection from the guards only if keeps his mouth shut and continues to help Norton embezzle funds. If he doesn't, Norton informs him that he will 'cast him down with the Sodomites', and destroy everything that Andy's worked so hard on over the years, including the library. He then sentences him to another month in solitary confinement.

After spending two total months in solitary confinement, Andy is released, only to return to the main prison population as a seemingly broken man, resigned to his fate. Out in the yard, he gives ominous instructions to Red, telling him that if he is ever released he is to go to a specific spot in a certain hayfield near Buxton, Maine to find something that has been buried there. Andy's friends are concerned that he may commit suicide like Brooks, because he recently ordered a long coil of rope. The following morning, however, Andy is missing from his cell, in which only a poster of Raquel Welch, who has replaced Marilyn, stares at the Warden. In a fury over Andy's vanishing into thin air, the Warden throws one of Andy's carved chess pieces into the poster, where it goes through, and falls hitting a pipe. The Warden punches a hole through it, and then tears it off, revealing a hole that an average sized man could fit through. Warden Norton loses his composure and commits all of his resources to tracking the escapee down, but only muddy prison clothes, a bar of soap, and a rock hammer worn to the nub, is found.

In a flashback sequence, it is revealed that when Andy attempted to carve his name into the wall earlier in the film, the wall chipped significantly, and over the 19 years Andy spent at Shawshank, he spent hours chipping away at the wall. To rid himself of the evidence, he discreetly discarded rock chippings from his night activities into the prison yard. He completed his escape by crawling 500 yards through a sewage pipe. After his escape, Andy assumes the fake identity of Randall Stevens he created earlier for the purpose of concealing the warden's embezzlements, which has a birth certificate, driver's license, and Social Security number. Wearing Norton's clean suit and shoes, Andy withdraws the funds that he had deposited over the years (Over $370,000 according to a voice over by Red) for Norton as "severance pay" for his unjust treatment and work in prison. He also sends evidence of the scams to a local newspaper, exposing the corruption and crimes of the warden and the guards. The morning the story runs, police and the district attorney swarm to the prison. Byron Hadley is arrested, reportedly "sobbing like a little girl" as he is taken away, and Norton commits suicide in his office before the authorities can get into the room, in the narration Red comments that he likes to think the last thing going through Norton's head, "other than that bullet, was to wonder how the hell Andy Dufresne ever got the best of him."

Soon after, in 1967, Red is finally released on parole after serving 40 years at Shawshank. After trying to cope with life outside prison (and being given the same job and apartment Brooks had had years earlier) he considers doing anything to break his parole and send him back to Shawshank, but he recalls his promise to Andy shortly before Andy's escape. One day, Red heads to the field in Buxton that Andy told him about. Under a large out-of-place volcanic glass rock, he finds a small metal box containing money and instructions from Andy. He travels by bus (which breaks his parole, but he doubts anyone will kick up any fuss about an old crook like him) to Fort Hancock, Texas (where Andy crossed into Mexico) and, eventually, reunites with Andy in Zihuatanejo on the Pacific coast of Mexico.

Cast

• Tim Robbins as Andy Dufresne, the protagonist of the film. Tom Hanks, Kevin Costner, Tom Cruise, Nicolas Cage and Charlie Sheen were each considered for the role when the script circulated Hollywood. Hanks turned it down due to commitments with Forrest Gump (which beat Shawshank at the Oscars), but he later worked with Darabont in The Green Mile. While studio favorites Cruise and Sheen were passed over for the part, Costner turned it down due to filming of Waterworld, a move he later regretted.

• Morgan Freeman as Ellis Boyd "Red" Redding, the film's other protagonist and narrator. Before Freeman was cast, Clint Eastwood, Harrison Ford, Paul Newman, and Robert Redford were each considered for the role. Although written as a middle-aged Irishman with greying red hair (as in the original novella), Darabont cast Freeman for his authoritative presence and demeanor, because he could not see anyone else as Red.

• Bob Gunton as Warden Samuel Norton, the head of Shawshank State Prison and the primary antagonist.

• William Sadler as Heywood, one of Red's gang of long-sentence convicts. Sadler also appeared in a supporting role as Klaus Detterick in Darabont's adaptation of The Green Mile.

• Clancy Brown as Capt. Byron Hadley, chief of the guards at Shawshank and the other main antagonist. When cast, he declined the offer to study real life prison guards as preparation for his role, because he didn't want to base it on any one person.

• Gil Bellows as Tommy Williams, a young convict whose past experiences in prison hold the truth about Andy's innocence. Brad Pitt was considered at one point for the role.

• Mark Rolston as Bogs Diamond, the head of "The Sisters" prison gang and a known rapist.

• James Whitmore as Brooks Hatlen, the prison librarian/trustee and one of the oldest convicts at Shawshank. Darabont cast Whitmore as Brooks because he is one of his favorite character actors.

Jeffrey DeMunn appears during the film's opening credits in a cameo role as the 1946 DA, whose case causes Dufresne to be convicted. DeMunn, who is a Darabont alumni, has also appeared in the director's later adaptations of The Green Mile and The Mist.

Production

Darabont secured the film adaptation rights from author Stephen King after impressing the author with his short film adaptation of "The Woman in the Room" in 1983. Although the two had become friends and maintained a pen-pal relationship, Darabont did not work with him until four years later in 1987, when he optioned to adapt Shawshank. This is one of the more famous Dollar Deals made by King with aspiring filmmakers. Darabont later directed The Green Mile, which was based on another work about a prison by Stephen King, and then followed that up with an adaptation of King's novella The Mist. Rob Reiner, who had previously adapted another King novella The Body into Stand By Me, offered $2.5 million in an attempt to write and direct the project. He aimed to cast Tom Cruise in the part of Andy and Harrison Ford as Red. Darabont seriously considered and liked Reiner's vision, but he ultimately decided it was his "chance to do something really great" by directing the film himself.

The Shawshank Redemption was filmed in and around the city of Mansfield, Ohio, located in north-central Ohio. The prison featured in the film is the old, abandoned Ohio State Reformatory immediately north of downtown Mansfield. The Reformatory buildings have been used in several other films, including Harry and Walter Go to New York, Air Force One and Tango and Cash. Most of the prison yard has now been demolished to make room for expansion of the adjacent Richland Correctional Institute, but the Reformatory's Gothic Administration Building remains standing and, due to its prominent use in films, has become a tourist attraction. The real warden of the Richland Correctional Institute had a cameo appearance in Shawshank as the prisoner seated directly behind Tommy on his bus ride to prison and several other staff members from the nearby Mansfield Correctional Institution have small roles.

Several exterior scenes were shot at the Malabar Farm State Park, in nearby Lucas, Ohio. The sequence in which Andy is parked outside his home contemplating murdering his wife was filmed at the Pugh Cabin within the park. The sequences representing the village of Buxton and the field where Red finds Andy's hidden letter were filmed on private land located opposite the park entrance on Bromfield Road. The oak tree is clearly visible from the roadside. The adjacent rock wall, which was constructed specifically for the film, is located on the far side of the hill away from the roadside. The wall is still standing, although it has been somewhat eroded. Other scenes were shot in Ashland, Ohio, Butler, Ohio, Upper Sandusky, Ohio and Portland, Maine.

The photo of a young Red on his parole forms is that of Morgan Freeman's son, Alfonso. Alfonso is also seen in the yard when Andy's load of prisoners is first dropped off, shouting enthusiastically "Fresh Fish! Fresh Fish" whilst reeling in an imaginary line. Alfonso later played a parody of his father's character, Red, in a short spoof titled The Sharktank Redemption, available on the second disc of the 10th anniversary DVD.

The film ends with the prominent dedication "In Memory of Allen Greene". Darabont dedicated the film to his friend and agent, Allen Greene II, who died just before the completion of the film due to complications from AIDS.

Interpretations

Roger Ebert suggests that the integrity of Andy Dufresne is an important theme in the story line, especially in prison, where integrity is lacking. Andy is an individual of integrity (here referring to adherence to a code of morality) among a host of criminals, and guards, with little integrity. Additionally, some critics have interpreted the film as a Christian parable due to its handling of hope, original sin, redemption, salvation, and faith in the afterlife. Some Christian reviewers have referred to it as a film "true to Christian principles." In the director's commentary track on the tenth anniversary DVD, Darabont denies any intent to create such a parable, and calls such interpretations of the film "fantastic."

Critical reaction

• In the 1994 Academy Awards the movie was nominated for seven awards (Best Picture, Best Actor– Morgan Freeman, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Original Score, and Best Sound) but, in the shadow of 1994's big winner Forrest Gump, did not win a single one.

• In 1998 Shawshank was not listed in AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies, but nine years later (2007), it placed at the 72nd position on the revised list, outranking both Forrest Gump (76th) and Pulp Fiction (94th), the two most critically acclaimed movies from the year of Shawshank's release.

• In 1999, film critic Roger Ebert listed Shawshank on his "Great Movies" list, and in reader polls by the film magazine Empire, the film ranked fifth in 2004 and first in 2006 on the lists for greatest movie of all time.

• In 2002, The Shawshank Redemption was voted the third greatest film ever made in Channel 4's 100 Greatest Film Poll.

• On IMDb.com, it is currently placed as the second top movie ever made. (Only recently losing its first place rank by The Dark Knight).

Music

Main article: The Shawshank Redemption (soundtrack)

The score was composed by Thomas Newman, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Score in 1994, marking his first Academy Award nomination. Interestingly enough, the main theme ("End Titles" on the soundtrack album) is perhaps best known to modern audiences as the inspirational sounding music from many movie trailers dealing with inspirational, dramatic, or romantic films in much the same way that James Horner's driving music from the end of Aliens is used in many movie trailers for action films.

References to other works

Andy asks Red for a Rita Hayworth poster during a screening of Hayworth's film Gilda. The poster depicts a scene from that film. He eventually replaces the poster with one of Marilyn Monroe in her skirt blowing scene from The Seven Year Itch and later with Raquel Welch from One Million Years B.C. When Andy receives the first response to his letters to the Maine Senate concerning the prison library, the shipment includes a record of The Marriage of Figaro. Defying Norton, Andy plays the aria "Sull'aria? Che soave zeffiretto" over the prison loudspeakers for all the inmates to hear. While sorting books in the library, Heywood asks Andy what to do with a copy of The Count of Monte Cristo. Andy notes that the book is about a prison break, foreshadowing his own escape by tunneling later in the film.

See also

• List of fictional prisons
• Films considered the greatest ever

Further reading

• Mark Kermode (October 1, 2003). The Shawshank Redemption. London: British Film Institute. ISBN 978-0851709680. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

External links

• The Shawshank Redemption at IMDb
• The Shawshank Redemption at AllMovie
• Template:Rogerebert
• Template:Rogerebert as "Great Movie"
• Template:Filmsite
• The script for the film - varies slightly from the final version.
• The Shawshank Redemption at the Arts & Faith Top100 Spiritually Significant Films list
• A review from The Washington Post
• A review from PrisonFlicks.com