The Shawshank Redemption is one movie that I was always wanting to watch and got around to doing only after four years. The reason I wanted to watch it was that my closest friend kept insisting that I do, but it somehow managed to give me the slip every time it was aired.
When I did get to watch it, I realised that this was a movie that I have seen bits and pieces of at least twenty times on HBO. I had repeatedly skipped it, assuming it to be a loser’s attempt at making an arty movie. The first impression of the movie is that of a depressing prison story, full of drugs, fights, abuse and an innocent man wronged. The first impression is mostly right in that there is all of these but you go wrong on one thing - the ’’depressing’’ part. Far from it, the depressing parts only form a backdrop to the story -
the story of ’’Andy Dufresne, who crawled through a river of s__t and came out clean on the other side.’’
The story itself is narrated by Red (Morgan Freeman), a lifer at the Shawshank, the name of the prison from which the movie draws its name. It is this monotonous narration that kept me off the movie every time I chanced on it, it is the same monotone that ensures that the focus remains on the words themselves. Its takes a few minutes getting used to, but becomes captivating and compelling after a while and keeps you glued to your seat until the very end of the movie.
Red tells you the story of Andy Dufresne(Tim Robbins) and his days at the Shawshank prison. Andy is different from the other inmates, mostly in the manner in which he manages to remain untouched by the environment that others succumb too and also the manner in which he is able to influence that very environment. And as the movie progresses, you realise WHY and HOW he is able to achieve that, you realise how twenty years of life taken away from one’s life can mean so little to someone who KNOWS that he will be free again, and how hope (and faith) allows one to face the ’’temporary’’ tribulations that one comes across.
The movie is allegorical and the monotone of Reds narrative is interspersed with sudden and deep insights into life, faith, hope, freedom and choice. It reinforces some strong religious ideas, the most important one being redemption. It is also steeped in symbolism - Andy lifts his arms and looks at the sky as he is cleansed by the water of the creek into which the sewage from the prison flows.
The movie excels in all aspects of movie making, and there is nothing specific that one can point out. Suffice to say that it was nominated for the Oscar in seven categories, and that is definitely something for a movie by a first time director.
This movie sadly did not do well at the box office. It however gained ground through television and has done pretty well for itself in the form of DVD sales.
I feel that there is a very simple reason for it. In a world where people are bogged down to cynicism, here is a story of a man who has been grossly wronged and yet does not lose hope. As the movie draws to the end and Andy is ’’redeemed’’ we hear Red say -
’’... some birds aren’t meant to be caged. Their feathers are just too bright and when they fly away...part of you....does rejoice ...’’
Yet for me it is this very ’’redemption’’ that takes away another more important message. The message that Andy provides while still in prison -
’’some birds aren’t meant to be caged - and they remain free even when they are’’