****
out of ****
In
1983, when I was 13 years old, I got my hands on my first Stephen King book; a
collection of four short novels called “Different Seasons”. The
first short novel in the book was called “Rita Hayworth and
Shawshank Redemption” - that story was my introduction to Stephen
King. I have since collected all 50+ of his books and read them all
as many as 20 times each, but “Shawshank” remains my very favorite story.
Fast
forward 11 years and I was laying on my couch watching the David Letterman show. PVRs
hadn't been heard of yet so you actually had to sit through the
commercials, and one of the ads on this particular night started with
the line “I guess there's a guy like me in every prison in America – I'm the guy that can get it for you.” I sat bolt
upright, knowing exactly where I had read that line countless times
before. I became tremendously excited realizing they had made a movie
from that story and I couldn't wait to go see it.
Of course, this was not a typical summer at the movies. “Forrest Gump”, “Pulp Fiction”, “The Lion King”, “True Lies”, “Dumb and Dumber”, “Speed” and “Interview With the Vampire” were packing them in and theatre screens for new releases were at a premium. As a result, “The Shawshank Redemption” never came to my hometown - I had to drive over an hour to the nearest theatre where it was playing. And I did.
Five times.
In its initial release, “The Shawshank Redemption” only made $11 million at the box office – less than half it's production budget. Blame this on a few things: it's a prison movie, it had no really big stars in it (Morgan Freeman was a much smaller star then than now), and it had a very unusual title. I used to tell people that I accounted for half it's initial box office take. Once it was nominated for 9 Oscars a few more people went to see it, so it broke even after all, but it was anything but a popular movie, not even scraping into the top 50 for the year.
It has since been discovered on video and AMC and become something of a pop culture wonderkind – and IMDB has it as the most highly rated, beloved film of all time. But for a short time I felt like it was mine and mine alone, and for more than 20 years has been my single favorite movie, bar none and by far.
“The Shawshank Redemption” seems to be the story of Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins), a banker who is sent to prison for murdering his philandering wife and her lover. Actually, I have always thought of it as the story of Red (Morgan Freeman), another convicted murderer and Andy's best friend inside the prison. When Andy arrives Red has already been there 20 years, and the two and a half hour story tells of their burgeoning friendship, and of how Andy's indomitable spirit transforms how Red sees life in prison and life in general.
Andy claims, right from the first day, to be innocent of the crime for which he was convicted. His crime's scene saw the victims shot repeatedly, bullets and a broken bourbon bottle with Andy's fingerprints, but he remains steadfast about his innocence. Luckily for him he knows how to play the prison game, and after proving his worth to the warden (who has plenty of scams and graft money that he needs laundered) Andy eventually has it pretty easy inside. He also runs the library and utilizes his altruistic streak in helping young inmates get their high school diplomas. Eventually he runs afoul of the warden, which becomes a part of the movie's endgame but despite the intrigue of the plot, the story isn't what makes “The Shawshank Redemption” so special....
Andy Dufresne is a unique movie character. We've seen prison movies before about guys that couldn't be broken (see “Cool Hand Luke” or “Papillion”), but never in the self-possessed way that Andy is. Red comments that Andy seems to stroll through life in prison, like a man without a worry or a care in the world. As Red discovers Andy's strength the movie gets better and better, and there are a few scenes where you get chills as you see how far he can take his feeling of inner peace and freedom. Basically, I don't know what to call it other than “uplifting”.
“The Shawshank Redemption” is often ugly, gritty and show some of the grimier sides of prison life. But it is also joyous, thrilling and beautiful on many levels. As I had read the story before seeing the film I already had little mind-movies about certain scenes, visions that director Frank Darabont realized almost exactly. One scene in particular toward the end, as Red walks into an open field with a rock wall and an oak tree, literally took my breath away. I had already seen it in my mind precisely like that 100 times.
Thank you to Stephen King for writing such a wonderful story and thanks to Darabont for so perfectly realizing King's story on the screen. If I could only pick one movie to watch for the rest of my life, this would be it. It is, as far as I am concerned, the closest thing to perfect any movie has ever been.
Of course, this was not a typical summer at the movies. “Forrest Gump”, “Pulp Fiction”, “The Lion King”, “True Lies”, “Dumb and Dumber”, “Speed” and “Interview With the Vampire” were packing them in and theatre screens for new releases were at a premium. As a result, “The Shawshank Redemption” never came to my hometown - I had to drive over an hour to the nearest theatre where it was playing. And I did.
Five times.
In its initial release, “The Shawshank Redemption” only made $11 million at the box office – less than half it's production budget. Blame this on a few things: it's a prison movie, it had no really big stars in it (Morgan Freeman was a much smaller star then than now), and it had a very unusual title. I used to tell people that I accounted for half it's initial box office take. Once it was nominated for 9 Oscars a few more people went to see it, so it broke even after all, but it was anything but a popular movie, not even scraping into the top 50 for the year.
It has since been discovered on video and AMC and become something of a pop culture wonderkind – and IMDB has it as the most highly rated, beloved film of all time. But for a short time I felt like it was mine and mine alone, and for more than 20 years has been my single favorite movie, bar none and by far.
“The Shawshank Redemption” seems to be the story of Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins), a banker who is sent to prison for murdering his philandering wife and her lover. Actually, I have always thought of it as the story of Red (Morgan Freeman), another convicted murderer and Andy's best friend inside the prison. When Andy arrives Red has already been there 20 years, and the two and a half hour story tells of their burgeoning friendship, and of how Andy's indomitable spirit transforms how Red sees life in prison and life in general.
Andy claims, right from the first day, to be innocent of the crime for which he was convicted. His crime's scene saw the victims shot repeatedly, bullets and a broken bourbon bottle with Andy's fingerprints, but he remains steadfast about his innocence. Luckily for him he knows how to play the prison game, and after proving his worth to the warden (who has plenty of scams and graft money that he needs laundered) Andy eventually has it pretty easy inside. He also runs the library and utilizes his altruistic streak in helping young inmates get their high school diplomas. Eventually he runs afoul of the warden, which becomes a part of the movie's endgame but despite the intrigue of the plot, the story isn't what makes “The Shawshank Redemption” so special....
Andy Dufresne is a unique movie character. We've seen prison movies before about guys that couldn't be broken (see “Cool Hand Luke” or “Papillion”), but never in the self-possessed way that Andy is. Red comments that Andy seems to stroll through life in prison, like a man without a worry or a care in the world. As Red discovers Andy's strength the movie gets better and better, and there are a few scenes where you get chills as you see how far he can take his feeling of inner peace and freedom. Basically, I don't know what to call it other than “uplifting”.
“The Shawshank Redemption” is often ugly, gritty and show some of the grimier sides of prison life. But it is also joyous, thrilling and beautiful on many levels. As I had read the story before seeing the film I already had little mind-movies about certain scenes, visions that director Frank Darabont realized almost exactly. One scene in particular toward the end, as Red walks into an open field with a rock wall and an oak tree, literally took my breath away. I had already seen it in my mind precisely like that 100 times.
Thank you to Stephen King for writing such a wonderful story and thanks to Darabont for so perfectly realizing King's story on the screen. If I could only pick one movie to watch for the rest of my life, this would be it. It is, as far as I am concerned, the closest thing to perfect any movie has ever been.
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