In the Chain Gang Prison we see anger at the prison system. The conditions are awful and the men are severely morally degraded. We see prisoners who are too ill to work getting beaten, sometimes to death, and they are treated as third grade citizens, their food is virtually inedible, but because they have to work they eat anything that they can get.
On Allen’s first day at the Chin Gang, when at the breakfast table, he notices one of the convicts breaking down in tears. Allen looks at him with seeming pity, from the camera angle, it seem as though Allen is the only one to notice this, the other convicts don’t notice at all and continue eating their breakfasts.
Allen realises that the only way to get out of the chain gang is to serve his sentence, which he did not deserve, or to die. However it is Allen’s determination to escape and beat the system that forces him to get out. It is this determination to succeed and live the “American Dream” that makes his career after his first escape. He becomes a well-respected citizen of Chicago and finds his dream of construction
“Shawshank” is less politically minded, or severe political anger is concealed. It is set in the 40’s to the 60’s. As time goes by, the prison does not change a bit, Red narrates, “Prison life is very routine,” this applies to the prison completely. In twenty years, the prison still operates under the same sadists and megalomaniacs in the Chief of the Guards Hadley and Warden Norden. “Shawshank” is really a protest against the American judicial system. The Warden controls everything and he has supreme power over everything. However, no one watches out over the Warden, which means he can do exactly what he likes. There are many “suspicious” deaths in the Shawshank Prison, where men are beaten to death or shot many times, yet this is never questioned by the Prison trust as we see no action taken against Hadley or Norden until Andy contacts the Press which results in Hadley being arrested and Norden killing himself.
Corruption is rife in Shawshank, from the top of the prison pyramid (i.e., the Warden) to the bottom (Red), and as a man’s power increases, so his evil and corruption increases. The Warden is completely corrupt. He made thousands of dollars due to his “inside-out” deal, which was basically using the prisoners as slaves to construct things. He is bribed by other constructors to move to a different project because that constructors company was falling into bankruptcy.
Building Contractor: “Now, why don’t you have some of my wife’s fine pie, she made specially.”
Building contractor opens up box, inside is an envelope, the Warden fingers the envelope to reveal a substantial amount of money.
Warden Norden: “I wouldn’t worry if I were you, as far as I’m concerned, we’ve already moved on from here.”
Warden takes “Pie” and another corrupt deal is done.
Andy is the person who covers up all the corruption from the government using his banking skills, he filters the money made by putting it through shares and banks, via the name of an imagined person Rendall Stevens, whom Andy “conjured out of thin air.” WE see more evidence of the prison system when Andy says,
“You know what the funny thing is… on the outside I was an honest man, straight as an arrow. I had to come to prison to be a crook.”
“Shawshank” expresses more anger, when the film moves away from Andy Dufresne and concentrates on Brooks Hatlin. Brooks Hatlin was a seventy year old prisoner who had been in Shawshank for fifty years. When he finds out that his parole had been approved, he despairs. He immediately, takes a knife to a prisoner’s neck, knowing that if he killed this prisoner, then Hatlin would spend the rest of his days in Shawshank Prison. We see Andy act negotiator for Brooks and Brooks drops the knife before breaking into tears.
This piece of dialogue is significant in explaining the ineffectuality of the judicial system
Red: “What have you done Heywood?”
Brooks: “He hasn’t done anything, it’s what they’ve done. I got no choice. It’s the only way they’d let me stay…”
Brook was completely institutionalised by the system, and when he was given parole, he had nothing to hold onto. Red says:
“These walls are funny. First you hate them, then you get used to them, enough time passes and you find you depend on them. That’s institutionalised.”
We see Brooks turn from the educated librarian he was in prison, with dignity and pride, to a grocery-bagger, with no dignity, struggling to bag the groceries because of arthritis. In the end Brooks ends up hanging himself.
“Fugitive” does not reflect much on institutionalisation, but focuses on the life of James Allen, however there is an important scene where we see a man leaving the prison, full of enthusiasm, but permanently crippled and disabled by the chains; he could not walk properly having spent all that time in chains. Arguably, this is symbolic of the fact that prison leaves most people worse off for going there, and will never “fit in” with society. The man whose legs are crippled will go into society and be taunted and ridiculed because of his legs. Instead of paying however many years of sentence he served, he will end up paying his whole life for a crime, because of his disabilities. The scene then cuts to a truck with a coffin in its trailer. Allen realises that the only way to get out of the chain gang is to serve his sentence, which he did not deserve, or to die. However it is Allen’s determination to escape and beat the system that enables him to escape.
Friendships and Humanity
“Fugitive” and “Shawshank” differ greatly when it comes to the subject of friendships. Red narrates that at first he did not think much of Andy and thought that “a good wind would blow him over,” but when at last Andy speaks to Red about acquiring a rock hammer, Red immediately likes him. Red describes Andy having a cloak on that shields him from all the depressions of prison, sub consciously Red is describing the humanity of Andy and strength of this humanity. Andy was thought to be a snob and a “cold fish” by Red’s gang, but later they realise that this is Andy’s strength of character showing and they soon come to respect him. They can appreciate that Andy is different, coming from a different background to them. Yet Andy never seems to look down on them, despite him being so much more educated then them all.
Their liking of Andy is due to Red. Red, although not very educated in terms of how his schooling, is very sharp witted and is a good judge of character and people’s motives for their actions. This is evident, where Andy negotiated a deal with Hadley where Andy would use his banking skills to help Hadley protect the $35’000 that he inherited, Andy in return wanted three beers apiece for each of his “co workers”, when they were tarring the roof of a building.
Red comments on why Andy did the deal with Hadley.
“You could argue that he did it to curry favour with the guards. Or maybe make a few friends amongst us cons. Me, I think he did it just to feel normal again.”
This opinion is well backed-up, as we see Andy just sitting in the sun, smiling to himself, even when he is offered a beer by Heywood, he declines, saying that he does not drink alcohol, and continues smiling to himself, watching the other convicts drink “his” beer. This is not the only act of kindness Andy shows towards his fellow convicts, Andy tries to improve the prisoners’ education by improving the library, he writes one letter a week and after doing this for six weeks, he finally gets a letter back and cheque for two hundred dollars and many more books. In the books given, there is a 12” vinyl of Mozart. He plays this through the intercom, so that all the prisoners can hear it. Andy’s intentions were to “remind everyone that there was something that prison can’t take away from you-hope.” His intentions clearly did affect both prisoners and guards alike, for a short while, every single prisoner and guard stood still, listening, and so he did achieve his goal: to remind people of good things in life, and it worked.
The only person to disagree with Andy’s intentions was Red. Red tries to denounce hope, saying
Red: “Hope is a dangerous thing, in these walls it can drive a man crazy. Get used to the idea.”
Andy: “Like Brooks Hatlin did?”
This episode brings a new dimension into the relationship between Red and Andy, whereas Red was influencing Andy and advising him before, Andy is advising Red and changing Red’s views on hope, and indeed it is true because in the final scenes Red is ecstatic by the prospect of seeing Andy again, he has broke parole and is hoping that he can get over the border, all his previous opinions are changed, and indeed at the end, roles are changed.
At the beginning, Andy knew no one and sought salvation in Red; now at the end Red knows no one and seeks salvation in Andy. There is a kind of brotherly love between the two, especially consider the lifeline that Andy threw to Red by telling him to go to Buxton to search for the box. Andy knew that Red would have no hope on the outside, but trusted Red to go there, because he knew Red would have to “hold onto” Andy if he ever got out of Shawshank. If Andy hadn’t told Red about the tree in Buxton, then Red would have almost certainly have killed himself, just like Brooks Hatlin. I think that Red considers Andy a kind of saviour, Red lives for nothing else but the hope of meeting Andy, and it was indeed Andy that changed Red’s views on hope!
Andy’s relationship with Tommy is also of a similar nature. Tommy was in Shawshank for robbery for two years, Tommy shows real willingness to learn and he does achieve gaining a C+ for his college education. Tommy sought education in Andy and Andy provided for him, I feel that the relationship between these two is a kind of father-son relationship, however when Andy learns of Elmo Blatch and Blatch’s confession to killing Andy’s wife and lover, Andy relies upon Tommy to testify, just as much as Tommy relies upon Andy for education and a father figure who will get his life sorted and make him a “civilised” person. However, Tommy is murdered by the Warden to give Andy absolutely no chance of getting parole and keeping Andy in Shawshank to do the books.
In the end, Andy has Red as a true friend and Red has Andy, them meeting up is significant for both as it represents many things. It represents Andy’s trust in Red being very well placed, it also represents Red’s quest for salvation in the form of Andy finished and his institutionalisation ended, because he has found Andy. One might argue, that Andy was testing Red as a friend, a friend who listened to everything that Andy spoke of. I could not remember the place in Mexico that Andy went, but Red never forgot it. This friendship is in direct contrast to “Fugitive.”
Allen has no true friends through out, similar to Romeo and Juliet, he seems to select his wife on looks rather than the content of their character. His first wife blackmails him, when she finds out about his escape from the Chain Gang and is then incarcerated again. In a very dramatic ending, Allen makes a brief farewell to his fiancée.
Allen: “But I haven’t escaped. They’re still after me. They’ll always be after me. I hide in rooms all day and travel by night. No friends. No rest. No peace. Keep moving. That’s all that’s left for me. Forgive me Helen. I had to take a chance to see you tonight. Just to say goodbye.”
Helen: “Oh Jim. It was going to be so different.”
Allen: “It is different. They’ve made it different…I’ve got to go.”
Helen: “I can’t let you go like this! Can’t you tell me where you’re going? Will you write? Do you need any money? But you must Jim. How do you live?”
Vanishing into darkness
Allen: “I steal.”
This dialogue represents a situation completely different than Andy Dufresne. Allen has no trust in anyone, not even his fiancée. Andy Dufresne had a very good friend in Red, but Allen has no one. He has been chased down so much and is always looking over his shoulder, that he has no faith in anybody. Andy Dufresne went to Mexico to escape the system, but Allen hasn’t got the resources to get there. He could get his fiancée to sell everything and move to Mexico, but he can’t trust his fiancée to sell everything without catching attention from the police. He has been chased down so much and is always looking over his shoulder, that he has no faith in anybody.
Cinematography
“Shawshank’s’ cameraman was Roger Deakins, and was nominated for an Academy Award. The film contrasts golden light with severe darkness. This is evident in Red’s attempts for parole. The committee is in golden light in the background, whereas the foreground is the darkness of the prison doors. This is evidence that light is used as a device of showing freedom or humanity. The scene on the roof is symbolic of this, despite Hadley, the brutal captain of the guards being in the presence of the convicts, nothing can spoil that morning where they all have three beers to drink and feel liberated from the prison.
Straight away from the beginning of the film, we see this eerie atmosphere created. In the courtroom, the cameraman uses flashback to tell the story of what happened that night, and when Andy gets convicted and comes to the prison, we hear the harsh metallic clanging and bangings immediately with the slamming of prison doors.
Lack of light represents evil, where evil people like Hadley, Boggs (the homosexual rapist) and the Warden emerge slowly or appear from the darkness. This is evident in Warden’s opening speech, where the new convicts are lined up and Warden starts to deliver the prison with maximum pomposity. The cameraman uses lighting that is set at approximately thirty degrees to the ground, so when the dim light comes through the window and hits the men, it makes a long shadow, and creates an evil, eerie atmosphere.
Artificial lighting in “Fugitive” is minimal, but when it used, it is used to the greatest and powerful effect to convey a strong message. In the final scene of the film where Allen is backing away from his wife, because he heard rustling, by pure chance the lighting failed, but LeRoy recognised the beauty in this and kept it. In my opinion, Allen’s fading into the light represents, many different characteristics of himself, the way his life has faded away all together, him not trusting anyone, including himself, so he has to retreat back to the underground.
Considering that this films was made in 1932, some of the cinematography is amazing, the camera is fairly mobile, the opening scenes on the boat, the camera is able to pan out from the card game to Allen’s face without cutting. However, the best use of cinematography is definitely Allen’s first escape, after having his irons hammered at by the big coloured man, where he had to stay absolutely still, he couldn’t have screamed or flinched, if he had of done either, then he would have been shot by the guards no doubt or have the bones in his legs completely shattered. He does these things and manages to escape. The guards soon notice he is gone ad see him running through the woods with bloodhounds. The camera cuts dramatically to Allen, running, running, running, his breathing growing heavier and heavier and then to the dogs yelping. Allen notices an entrance to a lake and he dives in. Carefully, he takes a reed and blows through it making a snorkel and then one last breath before he goes down. Silence. Silence. Once again, the camera cuts to the guards and the yelping bloodhounds who have now got Allen’s scent. They stop at the entrance, the camera cuts again to under the water where Allen look helpless, like a baby in amniotic fluid. From Allen’s viewpoint, we see the guard look through the water and comes within feet of Allen and then the search moves on. I feel that the absence of sound adds more suspense to scene, with modern films, we can usually guess what is happening by the mood of the music, but here the audience has no idea and it works superbly.
Sounds
Music in “Fugitive” is never used to the same extent as it is in “Shawshank,” because it was considered less important, however this does not make it inferior to “Shawshank, ” considering Shawshank was a story of good triumphing over bad, music is very lyrical, however “Fugitive” is a very angry film. It is about Allen fighting a constant losing battle with The Authorities, over a crime he did not commit. It is a realistic film that was based on a real story. Leroy wanted to install realism into “Fugitive,” so there is no music and the only sounds we hear are those of real life. The scenes were Andy has escaped the first time and is in the city have got a constant sound background of the city. This does create a realistic sense to the film and is effective. If this was a modern film, then scenes were Allen is angry and breaking down in tears would have music created, but in my opinion, this is what makes “Fugitive” such a good film. It is raw emotion in its purist form and does not need music to emphasise the point. When Allen has achieved as a building contractor, there is a constant 30’s Jazz, it is unclear whether this is diegetic or not, because it has no relevance on what is happening in the film at that moment.
Metallic “bangings” of prison doors are exaggerated, to reinforce the harsh reality of being incarcerated and synthesised sounds are used to great suspense or menace, this is evident in the opening scenes where synthesised sounds are played over “If I didn’t care.” As well as that kind of harsh sound, sad sounds are used well to create pathos. The slow violins play with lots of vibrato, which makes the piece more expressive. The music sympathises with the prisoners. There are several key scenes where music is used to great effect, one is when the camera is pans over the whole prison and we see the prisoners scuttle like ants to assess the new convicts for betting purposes, or simply just to torment the new ones, the music is that of violins and piano, interestingly in this scene, the only other object to make a noise is Shawshank’s flag that rustles greatly. This scene represents the way that the prisoners are like ants and have no power, the rustling of the flag could represent the way that Shawshanks power or corrupted power and evil controls every aspect of all of them. The other powerful scene is where Andy plays Mozart’s “The marriage of Figaro,” over the prisons intercom. Despite the cons not knowing what the two Italian ladies were singing about, the beauty of music liberates them from the morally degrading spirit of Shawshank. The Warden is an intelligent man and knows full well what the motives behind Andy’s actions were. He orders Andy to turn the music down, but Andy in defiance or resilience turns it up. The camera pans across all the prisoners who are transfixed and stunned almost by the beauty and humanity of the music. The scenes of the prisoners fade slowly into the next, which creates calmness and strengthens the ongoing them of humanity and freedom.
