Frank Darabont’s prison-set directorial debut The Shawshank Redemption wasn’t appreciated upon its original theatrical release. Due to competition from fellow 1994 classics Pulp Fiction and Forrest Gump and the fact that prison movies rarely become blockbusters, The Shawshank Redemption initially bombed at the box office. However, it has since been re-evaluated as a timeless gem that audiences can enjoy to this day.
Thanks to ageless elements like Andy and Red’s endearing friendship, Roger Deakins’ gorgeous cinematography, and the iconic final scene, The Shawshank Redemption still holds up today.
10 Morgan Freeman & Tim Robbins’ Impeccable Chemistry Created An Endearing Friendship
Although The Shawshank Redemption is a large-scale epic that spans years of its characters’ lives, Darabont tells the story through the intimate lens of Andy Dufresne’s friendship with fellow inmate Red. Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins shared impeccable chemistry in the roles, making Andy and Red’s friendship ring true.
When they’re done right, like Stand by Me, Frances Ha, or indeed The Shawshank Redemption, cinematic portrayals of friendship never get old because they’ll always be relatable to viewers with their own close friends. Freeman and Robbins’ endearing chemistry as best buds makes Shawshank universally identifiable, despite its prison setting and hardened criminal protagonists.
9 Frank Darabont’s Sobering Portrayal Of Prison Life Is Refreshingly Realistic
Most prison movies present a Hollywood fantasy of prison life with gang warfare and contraband smuggling and fistfights in the yard. By contrast, The Shawshank Redemption is refreshingly realistic, focusing on a regular everyman who finds himself in way over his head with a jail sentence.
The characters of Shawshank aren’t tough-as-nails pulp archetypes. On their first night behind bars, a bunch of inmates can be heard weeping. Darabont doesn’t shy away from depicting violence, but it’s not stylized; it feels soberingly real.
8 Roger Deakins’ Naturalistic Cinematography Hasn’t Aged A Day
Many contemporary reviews for The Shawshank Redemption singled out Roger Deakins’ cinematography for praise. He even won an award from the American Society of Cinematographers for his work on the movie. The lifelike aesthetic that Deakins brought to the movie hasn’t aged a day.
He didn’t overstylize the lighting: he utilized naturalistic lighting in the daytime scenes and ominous lighting in the darker night-time scenes, like Andy being assaulted by a prison gang in an eerie, dimly lit wide-angle long take. Deakins’ sharp eye gave Shawshank’s visuals a haunting sense of realism.
7 The Brooks Subplot Is Just As Heartbreaking Today
While the focus of The Shawshank Redemption is on Andy and his friendship with Red, James Whitmore’s Brooks is the star of an engrossing subplot. The Brooks-centered B-plot offers a different perspective on life behind bars and the psychological effects it can have. Andy’s story has a happy ending, but Brooks’ story turns out much bleaker.
After being released and struggling to readapt to civilian life, he etches “Brooks was here” on the wall of his room at the halfway house before solemnly hanging himself. This storyline is still just as heartbreaking today because Darabont conveys the tragedy visually instead of spelling it out.
6 Foreshadowing Makes The Movie Endlessly Rewatchable
Darabont foreshadows the twist in The Shawshank Redemption so subtly throughout the movie’s first two acts that viewers don’t catch the spoilers on their first viewing.
Red tells Andy that escaping from Shawshank is a “sh*tty pipe dream,” and Andy ends up escaping through an actual “sh*tty pipe.” The warden points to Andy’s Bible and says, “Salvation lies within,” and that Bible turns out to contain the hammer that Andy is using to tunnel his way out. These little hints of foreshadowing make the movie endlessly rewatchable.
5 The Ambiguous Morals Still Provoke Audience Discussions
The morals of the characters in The Shawshank Redemption are complex and ambiguous. None of the characters are 100% good people: Andy is heavily implied to be guilty of the heinous crime he’s imprisoned for and even the guards are ruthless and corrupt.
Morality is a complex issue and, despite the black-and-white stories Hollywood is known for, very few real people fall neatly into the category of “good” or “bad.” Most human beings are somewhere in the middle, like Andy and Red, and those complicated ethics still prompt audience discussions today.
4 It Takes A Few Viewings To Catch The Religious Symbolism
Movies that offer nothing beneath the surface of the story will only ever hold up to a single viewing. But the movies with subtext and symbolism hold up forever because it takes the audience a few viewings to catch it and even more viewings to dissect it.
The most common symbolic reading of The Shawshank Redemption is that Andy is a Christ figure. Red notes that he gives off a protective aura; The Marriage of Figaro record has been compared to the Holy Grail; and Andy bringing beer to his fellow inmates while they tar the roof can be seen as a parallel to Jesus serving wine to his disciples at the Last Supper.
3 Morgan Freeman’s Voiceover Narration Is Unceasingly Captivating
When voiceover narration is used to do the script’s legwork, the movie will age like milk. But when it’s used to complement the visuals and deepen the themes, the movie will age like a fine wine. Fortunately, thanks to Frank Darabont’s poetic writing and Morgan Freeman’s captivating voice, Shawshank falls into the latter category.
As a seasoned inmate who’s seen it all, Red is the wise observer who relates the story to the audience. His voiceover is never used lazily to cut corners on the storytelling, as the technique is often accused of; it’s always used to enhance the moment with some philosophical subtext.
2 Andy’s Escape Is A Triumphant Movie Moment
While movies need to hold up as a complete work, a couple of unforgettable moments will go a long way toward making a movie great. From the “tears in rain” monologue at the end of Blade Runner to the Jack Rabbit Slim’s dance contest in Pulp Fiction, classic movie moments can make their films timeless gems.
The Shawshank Redemption has its own iconic movie moment. Nothing compares to the triumph of Andy finally escaping from prison and basking in his newfound freedom in the pouring rain. Audiences can enjoy the glory of that moment again and again.
1 The Happy Ending Is Well-Earned
According to CinemaBlend, Darabont originally planned to end The Shawshank Redemption the same way as Stephen King’s source material. It would’ve shown Red taking the bus, but left it uncertain as to whether or not he reunited with Andy in Zihuatanejo.
Thankfully, the studio talked him out of it and the ending was changed to show Andy and Red’s reunion on-screen. After everything they’ve gone through, the audience deserves to see the two friends embrace one another on the beach. This well-earned happy ending provides the perfect conclusion to the movie. With Darabont’s original ambiguous ending, the movie might’ve been too disappointing or at least too confusing to hold up after all these years.
from ScreenRant - Feed https://ift.tt/3yZFKmt
No comments: