The Shawshank Redemption is the story of Andy Dufrane (Tim Robbins), a man sent to prison for life for the murder of his wife and her lover. He maintains his innocence, but hey, who doesn't in Shawshank prison? Only Red (Morgan Freeman) freely admits to his crime -he is the "only guilty man in Shawshank." As the story goes, Red and Andy strike up a friendship, pass the time, find work to do, and deal with both guards and dangerous inmates.
But of course, there is much more than that. (as a fair warning, I'll be spoiling absolutely everything about the plot in this review.)
Shawshank is a story about life. Sure, it all takes place in a prison, but really the movie is about the human condition and our need for redemption. We may not be trapped by stone walls, but we are all trapped on this earth. In many ways we on the "outside" are not more free than those on the "inside." Ultimately, our basic problem is the same -in a world of pain and hurt, where there does not appear to be the possibility of anything better coming down the line, is there any reason for hope?
Andy Dufrane, after a compellingly beautiful rebellion against the powers-that-be, gets thrown in solitary for a while. Upon emerging and cheerfully greeting his friends, they ask him why he can do time in "the hole" so happily. He replies that he has something deep in him that sustains him. He urges them not to forget that "There are places in this world that aren't made of stone. That there's something inside they can't get to, that they can't touch! That's yours." To this, Red replies, "What are you talking about?" Andy: "Hope." Red scathingly replies: "Let me tell you something my friend, hope is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane."
Here we have the core of the movie: do we hold onto hope, or do we become institutionalized? Do we anticipate a day of freedom to come, or do we begin to get used to our prison? Do we desire to leave the prison, or has our walled world become home?
Brooks, the old man of the prison, is the great example of the institutionalized man. Through his experience we the audience see the horror of the man who, having spent the chief portion of his life in Shawshank prison, is forced to leave and rejoin society. But how can he rejoin society? It is a world he doesn't understand, a world he left far behind. His only home is Shawshank, and he considers re-offending just to get back. He faces a stark truth -he is unable to go home to what is comfortable, yet unable to fit in on the "outside." He is free, but prefers the cage. That's institutionalized. Is it possible to think that this "institutionalization" process can happen to us as well? What if we are made for another world, yet because of our crimes we are trapped in the prison of this one instead? What if we come to accept our cage, then come to depend on it, then come to love it? What if we get to that point where we are unable to imagine that we even could live in true freedom?
That's the need we have for redemption. Without it, even freedom is captivity and a horror. Without redemption, heaven becomes our hell. It's just too much for Brooks; unable to handle freedom he commits suicide.
And then the parallels start stacking up, and we realize that this movie is really about Red, and not about Andy ("Red" is spelled with the first three letters of "redemption" after all). Red is also a lifer, a guilty man who has a hard time remembering life outside Shawshank prison. He needs redemption, a reason to live, not just exist, even if he never leaves the confines of those stone walls. That's where Andy comes in. Andy brings the possibility of redemption, and the good news that all the condemned men might still have hope.
Since redemption is such an important plot element in literature and film, there is often a character who represents a type of Jesus Christ. Andy is that character in The Shawshank Redemption. He is an innocent man who enters the world of the condemned. He suffers as a condemned man, though he is innocent. He performs "miracles," bestowing favors and tastes of the free world on those who are still inside. He pulls together a band of disciples, teaches them of the outside world again, and after his "death" and (SPOILER!! but you've been warned) "resurrection" those disciples tell and retell his stories. And all he asks from his disciples is that they have faith, and keep hope alive.
So when Red is finally released on parole, we are left to wonder if he will follow the footsteps of Andy, or the footsteps of Brooks. Andy has invited him to travel to Mexico, to a town on the Pacific named Zihuatanejo, and find him there. What will Red choose? Will he have found redemption, or despair? The final monologue of the film, narrated by Red, are among the most beautiful lines that I know of in film: "I find I'm so excited I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head! I think it's the excitement only a free man can feel, a free man at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain. I hope I can make it across the border. I hope to see my friend and shake his hand. I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams."
"I Hope."
Those last two words of the movie resound with meaning. It has been quite the journey, and not an easy one. But Red has found redemption.
Now, it needs to be said that this movie deserves its "R" rating. The sheer volume of vulgar language is astounding. Furthermore, it deals head-on with such uncomfortable prison themes like homosexual rape, brutality, corruption, and suicide. The main antagonist is a man who spouts Christian lingo and Bible verses, while all the time hypocritically acting in an antichrist way. I wish I could unreservedly recommend it, but the content of the film makes that impossible. However, even such content does lend power to the film's resolution.
This is a movie exceptionally well put together, with hardly a line or moment out of place. It has so much that is memorable, so much that is inspiring, and an ending you'll never forget. Along with Red, the audience is taken from walls of stone to a limitless horizon at the ocean. Like Red, we long for the Pacific. We long for a place with no memory, a place of true freedom, a place where our Savior has gone to prepare a place for us.
Entertainment: 7/10
Artistic Value: 10/10
Technical Merit: 8/10
Overall: 9.5/10
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