“Get busy living, or get busy dying.”
The Shawshank Redemption (Frank Darabont, 1995) follows Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins), a former accountant who in 1947 is unjustly sentenced to two life sentences for the murder of his wife and her lover. Andy is set to serve his sentence in the tough Shawshank Prison but he is the only one who knows that he didn’t actually commit the crime he was convicted of. While in Shawshank Andy befriends the the prison contraband smuggler Red (Morgan Freeman) and experiences the brutality of prison life as well as beginning to help the Warden with his expertise in money.
This is an amazing movie and I’m sure that most people will agree with me on this. The story is just brilliant and actually very simple, considering it’s really only following the mundane prison life of one man for 20 years. But its the emotions that come with it and Andy’s constant hope for life, shown by him wanting to make a decent life for himself while in prison; he tries to help people and helps improve the library, making a name for himself within the confines of the prison but in a good way.
My favourite character is probably Red, mainly because of his attitude to life and how, even though he doesn’t want to, he begins to believe in Andy’s theory of hope. Plus, when played by an actor with a voice as amazing as Morgan Freeman he is the best character to use as the narrator.
Also, if you’ve ever watched Highlander (the original movie I mean), then you’ll recognise Handely, the head guard, as being the terrifying Kurgen from Russel Mulcahy’s movie, played by Klancy Brown. Handley acts as the threat that Andy faces when in prison, apart from that of the other inmates, however he becomes vaguely more likeable as the movie goes on, although he is still a rather repulsive and scary character.
Because of how good and well known this movie is, if you haven’t seen it you really need to because it is truly brilliant!
Jake Carder's AS Media Studies Blog 