Empitomezzo
Posts: 1763
Joined: 24/10/2005
From: London
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I do not know where to start when praising this film. Let’s start with the screenplay- it was absolutely beautiful. Frank Darabont did an amazing job adapting from Stephen King’s short story, and he deserves as much praise for it as possible. Nobody, not even my favourite writers such as the David Lean or Billy Wilder could have achieved this amazing script, which completely uplifts and spellbinds the viewer.
Then, there’s the directing, which was again on the behalf of film genius Frank Darabont. What he creates here is a prison drama with a difference- it grips the viewer and teaches them to hope, to always hope. I love the style of his directing here, slow paced but not boring for a minute. A story about friendship that’s not at all cheesy or over-sentimental in anyway. He shaped this mystical masterpiece, and he deserves much more credit than what he got for it. People say that Collateral is the ultimate oxymoron – a claustrophobic road movie. They are wrong. If anything’s the ultimate oxymoron, it’s Shawshank – a feel-good, engrossing, prison drama.
Of course I have to give credit to those geniuses Thomas Newman and Roger Deakins, my favourites in each of their jobs. The musical composition in The Shawshank Redemption is my favourite film score of all time, and although I loved with a passion Thomas’ music in American Beauty and Finding Nemo, I honestly believe both of the two to have influences from The Shawshank Redemption, which fits the feel of the film perfectly. When we’re sad, the music is sad; when we’re excited or shocked, the music is thrilling. Newman is a genius and deserved the Oscar. And the cinematography is absolutely stunning, every single frame is shot with accuracy and precision, but also with beauty. Hopeful, sweet, beauty.
Of course, I’m not here to bash Forrest Gump, it’s a perfectly good movie, but while we’re at the subject, I would like the question the credibility of the Academy voters. The Shawshank Redemption was clearly, without a shadow of a doubt (great Hitchcock film, by the way) the best film of that year, even better than those near masterpieces called The Hudsucker Proxy and Pulp Fiction. So why didn’t it win? Well, bear in mind that this was the same board who claims that Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is a better film than Mystic River and Lost in Translation… ’nuff said.
So anyway, I’ve saved the best until last- the acting. I don’t know why people disagree with me (partly because they dislike me) but I strongly believe that the performances in this film made it amazingly special. Had they had all those other sectors and weak acting it still would have been a fantastic film, but the two leads here make it a film that is too amazing to describe, and I won’t even attempt to describe how amazingly powerfully uplifting I found this film, I just couldn’t. So yeah, the performances. The development of friendship between the two leads were marvellous, and had one of them been female, they would have won the couple of the century award. Anyway, Morgan Freeman was astonishing, this was probably his best performance in a long, long time. What he showed us with his character we could completely connect with and understand, and his performances should have earned him a lot more praise than it did. But the performance in the film that did it for me was Tim Robbins’ portrayal of Andy Dufresne. I mean, what a performance. His character development, facial expressions, air and everything about him was truly spectacular. I mean, this was THE performance of 1994, and how it went so unnoticed I’ll never know. This guy was Andy Dufresne, we could feel Andy’s pain, worry, grief, relief, joy, bitterness, and just about every other human emotion. Tim was so marvellously depicts this poor, sweet character that I feel I should commend him. Clap, clap. And another. Clap, clap, clap.
And I guess I’ve mentioned everything, but I need to just say something about The Shawshank Redemption and human life. We’ll all experience hard times, and moments of injustice. I should know, I’m picked on nearly everyday, if not by my classmates then by my teachers. And I know all of you out there have gone through something that is incredibly unfair, that’s just life. And look at Andy- he was sent to prison for 19 years for something this stupid man who didn’t brush his teeth did. But Andy hoped, he always hoped, that he’d get out, and look, he did. Remember that sequence where he crawls though the tunnel, then comes out the other side through the rain? Nearly brought tears of happiness to my eyes. Such a powerful scene, probably the best in the history of films. Or maybe I’m being too subjective…
But at the end of the day, I have three things to say to you. One- The Shawshank Redemption is not overrated. Two- The Hudsucker Proxy is another brilliant film from 1994 with Tim Robbins. Three- I’m fairly opinionated so if you hate me for this review, try to overlook it. And while I’m here, I’ll give you a number 4. There are three films that taught me the most about life. One of them is On the Waterfront. Another is Not One Less. But the one that taught me the most a film has ever taught me about life, about hope, about freedom, about everything, is The Shawshank Redemption. I cannot love this film anymore than I do. It is an affecting, beautiful, classy, determined, entertaining, funny, gritty, honest, inspirational, life-affirming, moving, nostalgic, optimistic, powerful, quintessential, redeeming, sad, thought-provoking, unsentimental, and wise. It’s a sheer joy just thinking about it. Enjoy.
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