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SPOILERS AHEAD
It's true that everyone has a 'comfort film'. You know, the film you always return to if you're feeling down, or you just want to put something on that you know you're going to enjoy. I have a few, of which The Shawshank Redemption is one. That may seem a bit strange, considering its content, but it is a story steeped in contagious hope.
I can't remember the first time I saw Shawshank. I have a feeling it was on the TV a few years ago, and my dad convinced me to sit down and watch it. I was peripherally aware of it beforehand, being the classic that it is, but I had never bothered to seek it out. I expected it to be dry and boring; just another typical courtroom turned prison drama that dragged on for far longer than necessary. Of course, as I'm sure you will agree, this assessment is completely inaccurate.
Shawshank is, undoubtedly, one of my favourite films of all time. As mentioned previously, it is absolutely one of my comfort films. I rewatched it recently for a podcast stream (the link is on all of my socials if you want to check it out), and as soon as it finished I was overwhelmed by the urge to press play and watch it again. It is, in my opinion, the perfect film. It is so beautifully written and directed in a manner that is not intrusive or overwhelming. Due to the epic scale of the film - in terms of both plot and set design - it would be easy for it to become a superficial caricature, with one-dimensional characters and base-level emotion. This is not the case; Frank Darabont adapts Stephen King's novella beautifully, allowing the characters adequate space to develop, emote, and carry the plot across twenty years.
I'm sure the majority of you reading this have already seen Shawshank. If you haven't, please stop reading this and watch it immediately. You need it in your life. You need to experience it.
Anyway, I'm sure you're familiar with the plot, but in case you've forgotten it goes like this. Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) is a banker who is falsely accused of the double murder of his wife and her golf-pro lover. He is convicted, given back-to-back life sentences, and sent to Shawshank State Penitentiary. The film follows the near-20 years that he spends there, the majority of which are spent orchestrating an escape.
One of Andy's defining traits is his humanity; something that he never loses, despite everything he goes through. This humanity is apparent from the beginning of the film; from his wide-eyed horror at being wrongfully convicted of murder to the compassion that he clearly feels for his fellow inmates, despite having hell inflicted upon him by others. With this I am of course referring to the 'Sisters'; three inmates, led by Bogs Diamond, who repeatedly assault Andy - both sexually and otherwise - for the first two years of his incarceration. Despite this treatment, Andy retains his humanity and continues to see the best in others; Tommy Williams, for example.
I think Tim Robbins' performance goes a long way in establishing Andy's humanity. He plays the role with such incredible poise and measure that it is all the more startling when he breaks, in the wake of Tommy's death. His performance is quiet and understated yet so arresting; he commands every scene he is in. I can't honestly imagine anyone else playing the role; it feels as though Robbins was born for it. He just is Andy Dufresne; he disappears into the role, embodies every aspect of the character. Rob Reiner - director of Misery, another King adaptation - was interested in Darabont's script, and wished to direct the film. He wanted to cast Tom Cruise in the role of Andy, which I feel would have given the film a completely different vibe. No offence to Cruise but I'm not a great fan of his, and I don't think he would've been able to give as powerful a performance as the one Robbins gives. I still cannot fathom the fact that he didn't receive an any award nominations for his portrayal of Andy (although, given the state of recent nominations for the Golden Globes, I probably shouldn't be all that surprised).
Of course, I can't talk about amazing performances without mentioning the other prolific Shawshank inmates. The group that Red is part of and that Andy eventually assimilates with don't say more than a few lines each, with the exception of Heywood (William Sadler). Either way, they all provide a solid backdrop for the development of the relationship between Andy and Red. Morgan Freeman puts in an excellent performance here, in my opinion, and plays Red with requisite despair and simmering hope. His voiceover is strong - by virtue of Freeman's dulcet tones, paired with Darabont's writing - and carries us effortlessly through the film.
Clancy Brown also features as Captain Hadley, a brutish, violent, volatile guard. Having grown up listening to him as Mr Krabs from SpongeBob, it is so strange to hear that same voice dish out vile threats to inmates. Brown does an excellent job in this role; he is imposing and frankly, at times, terrifying. His relationship with Andy is interesting; he nearly throws him off the prison roof, but also assaults Bogs Diamond in retaliation after the Sisters beat Andy. This is likely out of necessity rather than sentiment; Andy is seen by the guards and the Warden as a commodity, due to his expertise in finance. They come to him for help with their personal finances, and he ends up involved in a money laundering scheme for the Warden.
The film is very well paced; despite the fact that it spans across almost twenty years, it doesn't feel overlong or drawn out. The film is well balanced with impactful, high-energy sequences - like when Hadley hangs Andy over the edge of the roof - and steadier, contemplative moments. Many of these come in the form of quiet conversation between Andy and Red, which is at times despairing and at others painfully and delicately hopeful. Their dynamic is beautifully developed over the course of the film, providing the motivation that Red needs to pull himself through the end of the film.
It's impossible to talk about Shawshank without talking about Brooks (James Whitmore). He is possibly the sweetest inmate that we meet; an elderly man who works in the prison library and takes care of a crow named Jake. He serves 50 years before he is paroled, but he struggles to accept this news. He takes a knife to Heywood's throat in the hope that assaulting another inmate will mean that his stay is extended. The others - Red, Andy, and the rest of their group - talk him down, and he seems to come around to the idea of being released. One of the most difficult parts of his release is the need to free Jake, whom he has looked after for years. Jake is symbolic of the concept of freedom; he and Brooks are released at the same time, after all. However, in a deleted scene, Jake's dead body is found on prison grounds by the other inmates. Despite his release, he is irrevocably connected to Shawshank; indicated by the fact that his body is found there, and remains there after his death.
*tw - suicide - in the next paragraph*
Brooks himself struggles to cope with life on the outside; in a heart-breaking sequence, he admits: "I don't like it here. I'm tired of being afraid all the time." He has regular fantasies of killing his manager in the hopes that he will be taken back to Shawshank, which he refers to as "home". In a similar manner to Jake, he finds himself drawn back to the prison even after he has been granted freedom. Eventually, Brooks commits suicide by hanging himself, after carving 'Brooks was here' into one of the roof beams of his rented room. His friends back at Shawshank infer this from a devastating letter he sends them prior to his death; the funeral that they give Jake is a substitute for the one they could not give Brooks.
Another inmate that we meet and have an extended association with is Tommy Williams (Gil Bellows). He comes to Shawshank in 1965, at which point Andy has been there for eighteen years. Andy becomes something of an advisory figure for Tommy, coaching him through his high-school diploma. His existence provides Andy with purpose - the very thing that has kept him going throughout his incarceration. Andy is rarely seen not doing something; he is always mobile, always working on something that will keep him occupied. As mentioned previously, the film is kept afloat by a lingering sense of hope; this is heightened with Tommy's admission that he had previously met an inmate that had gloated about killing Andy's wife and lover - and getting away with it.
Andy takes this information to the Warden - played by Bob Gunton - who is reluctant to do anything about it. It is during this scene that we see a crack in Andy's careful composure. Realistically, he has been broken since his sentence was issued at the beginning, but this is the first time that we really see the toll the years have taken on him. The realisation that he could - finally - be free is too much for him, especially when the Warden refuses to do anything about it. He raises his voice - for potentially the first time in the film - and shouts, fraught with desperation: "This is my chance to get out! Don't you see that? It's my life! Don't you understand?" It is the nuances in Robbins' performance that make it so great; the subtle changes in his expressions the more desperate he becomes, the harsher intonations as he begs the Warden to act. His hair, usually neat, hangs over his forehead, and his shirt, usually pristine, is unbuttoned and creased. Andy is frantic, frenzied with hope that dissipates before him at the behest of another. The Warden doesn't want to lose Andy, who has been laundering prison profits for him. In fact, his need to keep Andy is so strong that he has Tommy killed under the guise of an escape attempt. This scene is particularly heart-wrenching; not only has an innocent young man been wrongfully murdered, but Andy's hope for release dies along with him.
Andy is resigned in the wake of this experience, significantly more dejected than he was before. He and Red have an emotional scene in the prison grounds, two figures dwarfed by the scale of the prison as it stretches upwards behind them. It is during this scene that Andy utters the immortal line: "Get busy living, or get busy dying." His actions, mannerisms and general aura worry Red and his friends; they are terrified that he will, in his despair, take drastic action. When he doesn't emerge from his cell the following morning, Red fears the worst. But, he need not worry: Andy has escaped.
There are a few small but incredible details of Andy's escape that I want to draw to light. The first is when the Warden flicks through Andy's bible and finds the space for the rock-hammer; the adjacent page indicates the beginning of the book of Exodus. The literal meaning of 'exodus' is a departure or escape. This is just a small yet beautiful nod to the rock-hammer's instrumental involvement in Andy's own exodus.
Further, the safe that Andy has been storing the money-laundering documents in for the Warden is hidden behind an embroidery of a line that is not found in the Bible, but seems to emulate the style of a Bible verse. It reads: 'His judgement cometh and that right soon.' Andy reveals details of these documents, along with those of the general corruption and abuse of power that existed at Shawshank, to a newspaper upon his escape. In the end, the Warden's judgement lay in the very papers hidden behind the embroidery.
Andy's escape scene is beautifully shot, by virtue of Roger Deakins's genius behind the camera. The moment when Andy makes it out of the sewage pipe and into the river at the other end is a beautiful culmination of his physical and emotional journey, not only over the course of the night but over the course of his entire incarceration. He rips off his shirt and feels the rain on his skin, throwing his arms out in sheer relief. He is illuminated by a flash of lightning, and cuts an incredible image. We feel every single one of Andy's emotions in this shot; it is extremely powerful, and is undoubtedly the image that everyone thinks of when they think of The Shawshank Redemption.
Red is released the following year, and follows a similar trajectory to Brooks. He ends up in the same rented room as Brooks - indicated by the carving on the roof beam - and even works the same job. Red is candid about the effects that forty years of incarceration have had on him; his arc is an honest exploration of what it means to be institutionalised (or, as honest as it can be in a Hollywood production). However, Red has something that Brooks did not: hope. Hope, in the form of Andy.
Andy had given Red purpose; something to search for, something to cling onto in the uncertain abyss of life after incarceration. This is something that Brooks didn't have; the only thing he had that maybe resembled that was Jake, but they were forced apart even before Brooks' release. In my opinion, the film ends beautifully; Andy and Red are free - somewhat - from the shackles of Shawshank, and can move on together. They embrace, soaked in sunlight, and it is the happy ending we have hoped for from the beginning of the film. It may seem a little far-fetched, all things considered, but I am willing to put that aside for the sake of their contentment.
I think that The Shawshank Redemption is a masterclass in filmmaking. It is the combination of perfect screenwriting, direction, cinematography, editing, acting, production design, score, and every other aspect that goes into making a film. I haven't talked much about the score throughout, but it is yet another triumph from Thomas Newman that punctuates the film beautifully.
Shawshank is often hailed as one of the greatest films of all time, and I believe it to be more than deserving of that title. It is a film that could easily be extremely miserable, but this emotion is undercut by a fierce hope that glitters even the darkness. I haven't had the chance to read the short story yet - titled Rita Hayworth and The Shawshank Redemption - but believe me, I am planning on it. I personally cannot say how the film weighs up against the source material, but I think Stephen King's endorsement is evidence enough.
What is your opinion of Shawshank? Do you think it deserves the - albeit retrospective - acclaim that it receives? Let me know, social links can be found below! Thanks for reading, and have a good one.
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