The Shawshank Redemption". Write this review, aiming to show detailed understanding of Darabont's themes and techniques, writing in an interesting, thought-provoking way.
Media Study - Coursework By Thomas Lock
AQA, the examination board, has asked selected pupils to submit written reports on possible films to be studied for the media section of the GCSE English exam, specifically of the "The Shawshank Redemption". Write this review, aiming to show detailed understanding of Darabont's themes and techniques, writing in an interesting, thought-provoking way.
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"I suppose it comes down to a simple choice really, get busy living or get busy dying."
The Shawshank Redemption is a superb piece of film making from first-time director Frank Darabont, made in the summer of 1994. This modern classic, set in the mid 20th century and based on, professional horror author, Stephen King's 1982 novella Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, features golden cinematography from Roger Deakins, a touching score from Thomas Newman and is filled with impressive acting, especially from Morgan Freeman (Red). However, possibly the most imposing character in the film, is the oppressive Shawshank State Prison itself, which looms in every scene.
The Shawshank Redemption builds considerable impact as a prison drama that defies the conventions of the genre (violence, brutality, riots) to illustrate its theme of faith, friendship, survival and most importantly hope. "Fear can hold you prisoner, hope can set you free."
Although The Shawshank Redemption was nominated for seven Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Actor (Morgan Freeman), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Original Score and Best Sound, it failed to impress and was very disappointing at the Box Office. Even though The Shawshank Redemption had a relatively small budget, after initial box office sales, it had still made virtually nothing in comparison to other films of the same time such as Forest Gump. There are several reasons for this unexpected Box Office failure. At the time, the Cold War had just ended and America was in high spirits. There was no demand whatsoever for gritty prison dramas, that were perceived as depressive and inappropriate. Americans' wanted to watch feel-good films, such as Forest Gump (which was much more successful, making in excess of $300 million compared to the less than $30 million made by Shawshank). Secondly, as Darabont himself said "'Redemption' sounds religious and no one knows what a 'Shawshank' is."
It wasn't until Shawshank was released on VHS that it flourished. Home Video sales rocketed, and it was the most rented film of 1995, after all, The Shawshank Redemption is the only real classic that gained it status by word of mouth. The first Hollywood heard of this belated success was when the film came third in an widely recognised internet poll, falling behind only to the likes of The Godfather and Citizen Kane as peoples' favourite ever film. From then on, Shawshank was widely appreciated as one of the greatest ever films, and finally it began to receive the praise it deserved. It has managed to continually top internet polls and has consistently maintained its huge rental market, so, like most classic films The Shawshank Redemption unsurprisingly has a huge fan base and many seek inspiration from this filming legend. The film has enjoyed unprecedented long-term success and I am sure it will continue to do so for a very long time.
Andy Dufrensne is a high flying city banker, that is until the day he finds out his wife is having an affair. Andy is charged with the brutal murder of his wife and her lover, which he contests with relatively weak evidence that is dismissed by the court. He is given two life sentences and sent to Shawshank Prison which is where the real drama unfolds...
The acting in The Shawshank Redemption is absolutely first class and the casting is perfect. Morgan Freeman, who plays Red, was nominated for Best Actor, but the acting in this film is good all around.
Tim Robbins gives a fantastic performance as Andy. On the surface, it seemed that I could see who Andy was and how he was reacting to what was going on around him. As the film built toward its climax, however, it became apparent that Andy was a multi-dimensional character. For example, near the end of the film, Andy is sitting in his cell with a length of rope, immediately we think he is going to hang himself, but Darabont has deceived us. Andy is going to escape through a tunnel through the wall. Deliberate, too, is the dialogue. Tim Robbins makes Andy a man of few words, quietly spoken. He doesn't get worked up. He is his own man, capable of keeping his head down for years and then indulging in a grand gesture, as when he plays an aria from Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro." (The overhead shot of the prisoners in the yard, spellbound by the music, is one of the film's epiphanies). Because he does not volunteer himself, reach out to us or overplay his feelings, he becomes more fascinating; I feel it is often better to wonder what a character is thinking than to know.
Morgan Freeman, also gives an inspiring performance. Red is the carrier of the film's spiritual arc. His portrayal as the prison handyman who can get anyone just about anything is faultless. Right from the beginning, when he is taking bets on which of the new prisoners in Andy's group will be the first to break, Red comes off as a hardened man. By the end, however, we can see the great heart that lies within him. Freeman doesn't convey this by breaking down or making comments about the injustices of the prison system. Instead, he is a man ...
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Morgan Freeman, also gives an inspiring performance. Red is the carrier of the film's spiritual arc. His portrayal as the prison handyman who can get anyone just about anything is faultless. Right from the beginning, when he is taking bets on which of the new prisoners in Andy's group will be the first to break, Red comes off as a hardened man. By the end, however, we can see the great heart that lies within him. Freeman doesn't convey this by breaking down or making comments about the injustices of the prison system. Instead, he is a man who shows little reactions to events which should be fraught with emotion. We see Red at three parole hearings, after 20, 30 and 40 years. The first hearing involves storytelling trickery; the film has opened with Andy's sentencing, and then we see a parole board, and expect it's about to listen to Andy's appeal. But, no, that's when we first see Red. In his first appeal he tries to convince the board he's been rehabilitated. In the second, he just goes through the same motions. In the third, he rejects the whole notion of rehabilitation, and somehow in doing so he sets his spirit free, and the board releases him.
There's an underlying problem. Behind bars, Red is king. He's the prison fixer, able to get you a pack of cigarettes, a little rock pick or a Rita Hayworth poster. On the outside, he has no status or identity. We've already seen what happened Brooks, the old librarian, lonely and adrift in freedom. When he is released he doesn't know what to do, he has become so adjusted to prison life, he has depended on it and learnt to love it. He even tried to kill a fellow prisoner so they "will let me stay." When Red is released we begin to see the same pattern. He gets the same job and the same bed-sit. As Red said "at first you hate these wall, then you get used to them, after a while you depend on them." The last act, in which Andy helps Red accept his freedom, is deeply moving - all the more so because Andy again operates at a distance, with letters and postcards, and is seen through Red's mind. Andy is, in fact, Red's savoir.
Red is also the narrator, his calm, observant voice is used to include us in the story of men who have formed a community behind bars. It is deeper than most films; about continuity in a lifetime, based on friendship and hope.
There are lots of sub-plots along the way, involving both Andy and Red as they interact with other prisoners as well as the guards and the warden. All serve the purpose of building these characters toward the payoff moment.
Warden Norton is played by Bob Gunton. He is a very "Nixonian" and deceitful character. The Warden likes speaking about God's judgement, however in the prison the Warden represents the Devil. In one of the early scenes, when the Warden is talking to the new prisoners, he makes a comment that, "You are convicted felons, that's why they sent you to me." It is a well supported belief that the good among us go to God and Jesus Christ, and the bad go to the Devil. He then goes on to say, "Put your trust in the lord, but your ass belongs to me." The trust is represented by the soul and the ass is represented by the body. This shows that although your body can be imprisoned, you soul will remain free, as Andy believes. What is rather ironic, is that the safe in which the Warden keeps the books on his tax scams, is hidden behind a framed quote from the bible.
The Warden is a crook. As Andy said "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." As we later found out, Andy was innocent. He was a hard-working honest man before he came into prison. It was when he arrived that he began to do some tax scams for the Warden and help the other guards out with financial problems. The Warden threatened Andy by saying that if he didn't continue to run these scams for him, making him remarkably rich, he would make his life very difficult. It was the Warden's evil and twisted mind that made Andy a criminal. Even if he does something nice (letting Andy help fellow inmates), his sole purpose is to profit and be in charge. He shows off his power many times and in the cruellest ways. For example, his power and cruelty can be best seen when he discovers that the Tommy's testimony may free Andy. The warden's solution is to kill the young inmate and get the matter out of the way. Losing Andy would be devastating to him. The warden basically adds the bad guy dimension to the movie.
This is similar to what happens in I am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang, the great prison classic of the 1932. James Allen has escaped from prison and fled to another state. The state (Georgia, although its never named) in which he was imprisoned promised him, that if he came back, he would receive a full pardon. This was a lie and Allen was sent back to work in the Chain Gang. The difference is, that in Chain Gang, the system itself is the villain, not just one evil man and his henchman.
Hayward, also puts in a heart warming performance. He adds a comical spark to the film and shows considerable acting talent. For example, when Andy is sorting through the books that have been donated to his newly built prison library. Hayward and the rest of Andy's beloved friends are helping Andy. When Hayward is reading out one of the authors of the front of the book , being not the greatest reader, he misreads one of them and consequently "Alexandre Dumas" becomes "Alexandree Dumb-ass!" They laugh together and once again we get this moment of great emotion and the men, if only for a brief moment, become human.
The cinematographer in The Shawshank Redemption was Richard Deakins.
He used cold, dark colours to portrait sadness and inhumanity within the prison. For example, in the scene where Andy first enters the prison, everything is grey; the sky and the prisoners uniforms included. At the beginning of the film, Deakins gives us a sweeping helicopter shot of the whole prison and we see that the setting was perfectly chosen and suit's the style of the film excellently. The buildings are grey, plain and distressing. This was done by Deakins to show depression and routine. Also, the bleak colours of the prison are emphasised by lighting to show loneliness, because when Andy first enters the prison he is alone. In contrast, during the roof tarring scene, the sky is blue and the sun is bright. Andy has managed to make a deal with Captain Hadley (a guard) and has got him and his friends some beers. We are given a shot of them sitting on the roof, the sun in their faces, drinking ice cold beer. Red says "we could have been tarring out own roof". The men felt free and the sun shining on the their happy faces showed us a sense of humanity. We saw these men aren't all bad. For that short period of time, they broke the routine. The colours were bright and colourful so it gave us a sense of liberation. Also we can see a contrast of colour between the inside and the outside of the prison. Before Andy was sent to Shawshank we could see bright colours, for example the red dress his wife was wearing which represents heat, passion and love. On the other hand, when Andy enters the prison we see dark, cold tones of grey and black to signify hatred, brutality and coldness. The opening shots of the prison as Andy arrives to begin his two life sentences, are ones of an expanse of grey lifeless concrete blocks and bars. Outside the prison however, the colours are picturesque and show beauty and passion.
The lighting in The Shawshank Redemption is also very cold and harsh. Inside the prison it is dark, lit only by natural light from the windows. This creates long shadows which give an eerie, cold feeling and we get the suspicion that all is not as it should be, shadows hide secrets. However, when the prisoners are tarring the roof, the lighting is bright and the weather is sunny. This represents liberty and happiness. The shadows inside the prison, on the other hand, give a sense of sadness and loneliness.
The setting of The Shawshank Redemption is a character in itself, it was so ideally chosen that the film is so real. The sheer size of the prison is emphasised by a crane shot near the beginning of the film. As the setting was a prison in real life, the cold sense of loneliness caused by the stone walls and floors, the bare, plain decor give a sense of sadness and betrayal that was not created by the film crew.
The camera movement is brilliant and adds and extra flare to the movie. The camera shots and movement can change the film in positive ways and give us a better perspective of the storyline. For example, in the scene where Andy first enters the prison, a crane shot shows us the prison from a bird's eye view, the sweeping views establish and emphasise the prison's size. We see the prison through Andy's eyes as he enters. The camera moves from a low angle of the entrance to an undershot which gives the impression that he is entering a place of misery and will not emerge for a long time. Again the sheer size of the place is shown in an imposing way. When Andy is exiting the van that brought him to the prison and walking through the prison courtyard, a high angle, sweeping helicopter shot is used. This emphasises the vulnerability of Andy as the one of the new prisoners, alone. Also, the variety of the camera shots means no scene is ever the same and this contrasts to the theory that prisons are based around routine. The camera movement is very gentle towards its subjects and we see slow panning and tracking shots which suggest humanity and gentleness within the prison, and makes the prisoners seem kind and positive, not violent and mean as would usually be expected in a prison film. The director, Darabont and cinematographer, Deakins have worked together to create a sensational film, enhanced by the many camera angles. They use helicopter shots, tracking shots, panning shots and many more. In the roof scene the camera angle shows the audience that the boundaries between the guards and prisoners are still evident. Andy shows no signs of fear when he decides to cross the boundary, even though the other prisoners warn him of the consequences. As the guard holds Andy over edge of building, the camera angle shows the drop that he faces, making the audience nervous. Fast movement of the camera is used creating a more intense atmosphere. Once Captain Hadley agrees with Andy's deal, the camera no longer shows the height of the building but instead shows both prisoner and guard as equal. Andy had successfully secured the deal, giving him more hope about his future.
Darabont's mis en scene is very effective. He always fills the screen, and everyone is doing something. There are no stationary characters in any scenes. For example during the prison meals, the camera focuses on the table at which Andy, Red etc. are sitting, but we still see people in the background, moving, everyone has a job and no one is static. In the scene where we first see the prison, at first the prison takes up the whole of the shot, but then as Darabont switches to the crane shot, we see all of the prisoners in the yard. Again, everyone is doing something, and the men stretch off into the distance, all moving and doing something different. This is similar to LeRoy, who directed I am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang, he filled every scene, and made sure there was no space in the shots.
The sound and music featured in The Shawshank Redemption are very touching. Although music isn't used that often, when it is used, it is very effective. There is, however a lot of background noise and non-diagetic sounds used. Thomas Newman, the mind behind the music, used harsh, metallic, non-diagetic sounds, to show sadness and loneliness within the prison. Especially, when the bars of Andy's cell are slammed shut for the first time, it dawns on us that Andy is trapped, and he is not getting out for a long time. As Red said "when those bars slam home, that's when you know it's for real. Old life blown away in the blink of an eye. Nothing left but all the time in the world to think about it."
Thomas Newman's music enhances rather than informs, and there is a subtle touch in the way deep bass rumblings during the early murder are reprised when Tommy, the young prisoner describes another man's (the guilty man's) description of the crime. The lonely piano that is played throughout gives a feeling of depression, and sadness. It plays on its own, unaccompanied and very gently so it shows humanity, but humanity locked within an inhuman place. In contrast to the slow, depressing music used in the rest of the film, the sound effects used during the rooftop scene is very up beat and has a quick tempo. Country and western music was used in this scene which reflects the happy mood and atmosphere of the scene. This scene shows a strong feeling of hope within the prisoners because they feel free once again. This short encounter with freedom renews the hope that Andy started the film with.
There is a scene in which Andy is in the Warden's office, and among the book donations for his library, is an old record. There happens to be a record player in the office, and Andy plays the duet from the Marriage of Figaro. The music, written by Mozart, is beautiful and the playing of it changes the environment, lifting the men above the walls. Andy, puts it through the speakerphone so the whole prison can hear it, and suddenly everyone, stops everything they are doing, they fall silent and listen to the music. As Andy says "That's the beauty of music. They can't take that away from you." Red said "I have no idea to this day what those two Italian ladies were singing about. Truth is, I don't want to know. Some things are better left unsaid. I'd like to think they were singing about something so beautiful, it can't expressed in words, and it makes your heart ache because of it. I tell you, those voices soared higher and farther than anybody in a grey place dares to dream. It was as if some beautiful bird had flapped into our drab little cage and made these walls dissolve away, and for the briefest of moments, every last man in Shawshank felt free." The music that they haven't heard for years, has transferred them away from the prison, into another world, indeed, they felt free.
Many of sound bridges are used in this film. It gives the film a continuous flow. For example, there is a sound bridge between Warden Norton's speech and Hayward listening to hillbilly music in the library. The music is intended to undermine the Warden.
Editing played a fairly large part in The Shawshank Redemption. The editing gives the film pace and it can determine the speed of the film. For example, in the beginning of the film, there are quick edits between the house, car and murder scene and the trial. This part of the film is very fast, determined by the quick edits. Alternatively, during the rest of the film the pace is slow, the edits are few, and many are slow fades.
The directing in this film is some of the best I have ever seen. Darabont has a very special talent and has created a fantastic film. But, The Shawshank Redemption is more than a film because it also has a spiritual meaning. When Andy has escaped from the prison through a sewage tunnel, he lands in a river of muddy water. However the water is purifying. He rips off his clothes, cleansing him from the foes of the prison and he holds his hands into the air, as if reaching for God. He is being cleansed by the water, like baptism or rebirth. The clothes he was wearing, that represent prison life are removed - his is free, ready to make a new start, a new life.
Darabont has created The Shawshank Redemption so that it carries no political implications, unlike many other films of the same genre. Although the Warden is a very Nixonian character and this may have some political importance, it does not carry the same political influence as I am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang does. Chain Gang was attacking the American justice system and is based around the injustice of James Allen.
One of Darabont's trademark techniques is to lead us down a false path. He does it so often in the film, but it works every time. For example, in the scene where Andy plays the music, the Warden bangs on the door and demands that he turns it off. Andy reaches over to the record player and we think he is going to turn it off, like the Warden asked, but to our great surprise he turns it up. Andy had to spend some time in "the hole" for that stunt. The night Andy is going to escape, he asks Hayward for a length of rope, and as nightfall arrives, he is sitting on his bed, the rope in his hands. Again, we immediately think that he is going to hang himself, like Brooks, but again Darabont has deceived us. Andy is going to use the rope to escape. This is very effective as it leaves us on the edge of our seat every time. We can never relax because, although we think we know what is gong to happen, we never do.
The Shawshank Redemption is an artistic masterpiece that announced the arrival of a promising new director in Frank Darabont. Darabont works with Deakins and Newman to create first rate screenplay. The film contains top acting and fully deserves the praise it is now beginning to receive which is long overdue. With its call of "get busy living or get busy dying" The Shawshank Redemption is a modern fairytale that has had success through the video rental industry. It defies the trademarks of its genre to show Andy Dufrense's self determination , confidence, and hope. The film has a happy ending, that brings a tear to the eyes of its lovers. Andy's friendship with Red shows compassion and humanity, the story of two friends who met in a high security prison, and we reunited on a beautiful, sandy beach.
The film has a spiritual meaning, and Darabont's flare for directing has created a not only a cracking film, but an art form. The Shawshank Redemption creates a warm hold on our feelings because it makes us a member of a family, a family that will be remembered for a long time to come.
