The Movie Book (Big Ideas Simply Explained) (2016)

IN CONTEXT

GENRE

Drama

DIRECTOR

Frank Darabont

WRITERS

Frank Darabont (screenplay); Stephen King (short story)

STARS

Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, Bob Gunton

BEFORE

1979 Escape from Alcatraz tells the true story of a breakout from prison.

1983 The Woman in the Room is Darabont’s first movie, also based on a Stephen King story.

AFTER

1995 Tim Robbins directs Dead Man Walking, the story of a man on death row.

1999 Darabont films King’s The Green Mile, another prison drama, set in the 1930s.

A movie that deals with the triumph of the human spirit over adversity has a delicate line to tread. Misjudge the balance between dignity and suffering and the triumph will either feel hollow or not worth the ordeal, for protagonist and audience alike.

In The Shawshank Redemption, with its story of a man who is sentenced to life in a prison run by a corrupt warden, director Frank Darabont achieves the perfect balance. The movie emphasizes humanity over brutality, and it has become one of the most popular movies ever made about the power of self-belief.

The movie’s initially low returns at the box office were rapidly offset by seven Oscar nominations and lasting popularity with the public.

Unconventional prisoner

In its lead character, Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins), the movie subverts the tough-guy protagonist of previous prison dramas such as Cool Hand Luke (1967) or Escape from Alcatraz (1979). A former banker who is convicted of murdering his wife and her lover in 1947, Andy is a sensitive, thoughtful man. His strength is not physical; it derives from his belief in the individual’s inviolate right to justice and humane treatment, which allows him to maintain his integrity even when his situation seems hopeless.

Although Andy is trapped in a system that seeks to crush him and institutionalize him, the audience has the impression that he is freer than many of those at liberty. He never loses hope that life can get better, whether he is campaigning for an improved prison library or cutting a deal with one of the most brutal guards to get his fellow jailbirds a beer after a day’s labor.

It is this hope that impels Andy to turn the tables on the brutal Warden Norton (Bob Gunton), who exploits Andy’s bookkeeping skills in order to launder money. Each night, Andy chips away at his cell wall in order to carry out an escape that is 20 years in the making. His determination also inspires his friend Red (Morgan Freeman) to find his own redemption.

Paying the price

In contrast, fellow inmate Brooks Hatlen (James Whitmore) is so dependent on the certainties of prison life that he dreads his release. When Brooks is let out on parole in 1954, he is shown attempting to cross a road, shocked by the speed of traffic, overwhelmed in an enormous world. Brooks is neither weak nor cowardly, but he does not know how to cope.

Time in prison can change people, often for the worse, and this is what makes Andy’s fortitude so miraculous. The Shawshank Redemption suggests that it is possible for a person to hold on to their self-worth even in the very direst of circumstances, and to maintain their humanity even in the face of the most inhumane treatment.

Fellow lifer Red (Morgan Freeman) is drawn by the steely determination of Andy (Tim Robbins) not to be broken. Red’s slow, measured voice-over as the movie’s narrator adds to its somber dignity.

The child of Hungarian immigrants, Frank Darabont was born in 1959 in a refugee camp in Montbéliard, France, and moved with his family to the US as an infant. He began his career with various jobs on movie sets, including as production assistant on the horror movie Hell Night (1981). His first full feature was The Shawshank Redemption, an adaptation of a Stephen King short story. This brought him worldwide acclaim and an Oscar nomination. He directed more adaptations of King’s work in The Green Mile and The Mist, before working on TV horror series The Walking Deadbetween 2010 and 2011.

1994 The Shawshank Redemption

1999 The Green Mile

2007 The Mist

What else to watch: Cool Hand Luke (1967) ✵ Midnight Express (1978) ✵ Escape from Alcatraz (1979) ✵ The Shining (1980) ✵ Sleepers (1996) ✵ The Green Mile (1999) ✵ The Majestic (2001) ✵ The Mist (2007) ✵ A Prophet (2009)