Andy Dufresne was sent to the Shawshank correctional facility , facing two murder charges back to back for killing his wife and her lover, in the midst of their passionate love making. He is innocent as much as he likes to believe much against every evidence that screams his guilt over the court room. Till that moment he was a banker, vice president of a bank. Soon enough he would become a number in a state prison.
Meet Red, Shawshanks ’’ only guilty ’’ who is serving a life sentence for a murder. Hoping for a parole release. He runs his contacts to be the prisons ’’Sears and roebuck’’. As much as he likes to believe , He has no hopes on getting on the outside. One point of time He didnt have any hopes of making it on the outside, for the fear of being ’’institutionalised’’.
Red and Andy , become good friends. Red has a fascination towards Andy for his ’’meticulous nature’’ and his knowledge in varied fields. As much as Red believed Andy was innocent, we can find him asking Andy at times ’’Why did you do it’’. Red and Andy wanted to be free men. Andy hoped , and Red wished. If you watch this movie you see my point on how contrasting the two state of minds would be.
For a man like Andy who had a successful career , till he found out about his wife’s affair , and landing in prison for murdering her, dont have much chances that he would be free one day. If I were in his place, I would accept it as my fate and take what ever comes my way. If that is what this movie is about , then probably I would have suggested against watching this movie.
For the remainder of the movie you are shown the harsh prison life. If it isnt the inhuman treatment of ’’prison sisters’’ then it is an obtuse Warden, who relies on Andy’s ability to run scams and save up enough green for the warden.
To keep his mind occupied, Andy kept the funds flowing in for the prison library, helped a few get their high school graduation, polished rocks and kept books for the warden. When he sees his only chance of proving his innocence being mauled by the warden , He begins to burn out. For a While he had us thinking that he lost hope.
This is a movie that shows how hope, no matter how gray things may be, can be your comrade . A friend of mine once wrote in his poem ’’ My Hope came to my Rescue, In the confidence I had found’’.
The prison and the redemption are two representations of a spiritual life, if you may take it that way.
The message of hope in this movie hits you hard, too hard. Probable reason , I might argue is that lot of hope involved even in the making. In commercial terms, this movie was not a blockbuster. The same year 1994, There was Pulp fiction and Forrest Gump. But where did this movie end up ? Frank Darabount, the director and the producer , did not give up hope despite the fact that his movie bombed commercially on big screen. definitely this movie did not end up in the dust. This movie made a commercial windfall in Video tapes and VCD’s.
Just ignore the Pros and cons I mentioned. Watch this movie. Be inspired, and learn something in your life where you can be redeemed of hopelessness. Thus the River stops flowing here, But let your hope flow on in your lives.