Film Critique: The Shawshank Redemption

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The Shawshank Redemption written by Stephen King is a movie that entertains and teaches. Superb directing and acting make the movie an outstanding success. This study aims at analyzing the various features that make the movie one of the most watched movies on cable.

The salient factors that make this movie outstanding are discussed in detail in this study, and they include storytelling, acting, themes and directing among others.

Story telling in the Shawshank redemption

The movie is excellent in the way the story of self development and hope is crafted to give an array of hope to all watchers and critics. The Story revolves around Andy Dufresne a man convicted of murdering his wife and lover and condemned to two consecutive life sentences at Shawshank Penitentiary.

Prison life dominates the early scenes of the story with prisoners and their gangs who will do whatever they can in their power to be dominant. These include use of beatings and rape to break their opponents will to survive.

Despite all these, Andy has a hope and a future to live for hence he schemes and plots his way out in an interesting twist. This gets him favors and acknowledgement from prison staff and prisoners (Spignesi, 2001).

The prison library is improved by him and adds dignity and meaning to the prisoner’s lives including the crafty Red (Morgan Freeman). It is through these struggles, tension and a hope for a future that Andy finds true peace and self reliance.

After twenty eight years, Andy escapes prison, exposes money laundering activities and clears himself from the killing of his wife and lover. Red who helped Andy is also freed at the end and the two friends reunite at the Mexico beach and together get their wish, freedom.

Acting

Two of the most exceptional actors in the Shawshank Redemption are Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman. They are able to tell the story of hope and redemption in the gentlest way.

Tim Robbins plays the part of Andy Dufresne in a journey that takes him to prison for nothing other than what he never did, killing his wife and lover. Robbins marvelously acts the part of calm, collected and controlled man throughout the scenes even in the direst circumstance (Spignesi, 2001).

Morgan Freeman acting as Red is a spectacular choice in the movie and makes the movie a superb watch. He comes out as a righteous man entangled by a wrong deed in the past.

He brings about sincerity and cynicism at the same time through the narrations he makes mainly about Andy. This act in Shawshank Redemption caps up another superb performance in the life of Morgan Freeman.

The cast of supporting characters, each with a story to tell in a way that blends to the main story is fantastic. Bob Gunton acting as Warden Norton is pious and devout at the start but is merciless, corrupt and callous as the story unfolds.

Bob acts out the part superbly and manages to bring out the villain in Norton in a masterly way and helps give continuity to the story. James Whitmore acts brilliantly in his part as the librarian trustee and long-serving convict.

William Saddler acting as prisoner, Clancy Brown as a vicious guard and Gil Bellows as Tommy Williams give superior supporting performances to the main characters (Spignesi, 2001).

The conclusion is superb, acting with minor characters aiding the major to develop and bring out the salient facts in a story of hope and redemption.

Impact of society on the film and vice versa

The society has an impact on the film because the film aims at exposing evils in the society. The main evils the film manages to expose are brutality and corruption in prisons. In addition, the society impacts on the film through the penal system which is portrayed to be inefficient and unjust. The injustices of the penal system in 1930’s had on the movie are vast.

The movie has an enormous impact on the society through the inspiring story of Andy. People get inspired through watching the movie because it has the potential of touching people’s lives, challenging them and redeeming their will to survive.

The main themes in the movie; hope, redemption, and friendship have an impact on improving the society. This is a depiction of a fantastic movie that has the ability to give someone, a new beginning and a hope for the better hence has a vast and positive impact on society.

Cinematography

Shooting of the Shaw shank redemption is done in the realistic view which is clearly demonstrated by various scenes and their photography. Part of formalism is also visible in the shooting of the movie hence the movie can be described as classical.

A combination of formalism and realism in the shooting makes the characters have more intimacy with the audience. Formalism in the film is a prominent feature to show different stages and power of different characters in the film. The use of low angles in shooting scenes on prison staff, having them invisible and portraying togetherness helps demonstrate their powerfulness.

Use of high angles and loneliness depict powerlessness in prisoners. Close up shots for Andy and Red are used to distinguish them from other prisoners. The main reason is because of their hope for a future and the ability to hold on their friendship (Spignesi, 2001).

Lighting in the film is also used to demonstrate the different degrees of freedom in the movie. Dark lighting in prison cells represent a lack of freedom by prisoners and improves when they are outside to represent improved freedom.

This particularly is the freedom to move around, but the ultimate freedom is seen when Andy crawls out of prison to the real world and the lighting is very bright. To summarize, cinematography and lighting plays a vital part in ensuring closeness between audience and characters and serve to depict the main themes in the movie.

Overall textual themes

The main theme in the movie is hope for a future that is worth living for in the most of hopeless situations. Andy portrays this theme at the beginning of the movie when he holds on to remaining shreds of hope after he is convicted of double murder and sentenced to life in prison.

He is rewarded at the end of the movie, but it is through patience and a great deal of sacrifice. The hope all in prison dream of is freedom, which the two main characters Andy and Red achieve in the end.

Their hope is apparent throughout the movie despite having to spend 28 and 40 years in prison respectively, hence hugely inspiring theme all. Andy within the prison system, through inner resolve and strength, aids in development of the theme of hope (Spignesi, 2001).

Another theme brought out exceptionally well in the movie is friendship mainly between Andy and Red. The two characters are willing to take any risks and sacrifices for each other for a friendship that spans almost two decades.

This is depicted in the narration by Red of his association with Andy and their life together. It is also evident where Red narrates Andy’s escape from prison. Despite the fact that he rejoices that his friend is free, he confides on the emptiness and loneliness he feels from losing a friend.

The other main theme in Shawshank Redemption is liberation, which is the hope of all the characters. Andy and Red get liberated at the end of the film from the severance of a prison wall. Brutality, corruption, hopelessness and despair in the prison that all the prisoners hope to be liberated from are evident throughout the Shawshank Redemption.

In the end, Andy, Red and Hatlen manage to achieve this at the expense of the conniving warden Samuel Norton. Brutality, corruption, despair and abuse are the other themes the Shawshank redemption manages to reveal (Spignesi, 2001).

Analysis

Shawshank Redemption has a classical narrative structure, which is dominant in the movie. Frank Darabont wrote and directed the shawshank redemption in a manner to depict the three part format classical structure of setup, development and resolution.

The setup of the Shawshank redemption is the introduction of the characters, their aspirations, fates and challenges facing them. The main focus is Andy, wrongly convicted for double murders have the audience pitying him hence his innocence is not lost on the audience.

His moral character and ambition radiate to the other characters in his circle and the story develops from that innocence. It also aids in the creation of Andy’s character and aim to clear his name and recoup his freedom.

Meeting the warden, Samuel Norton one would believe in his Christianity and Virtue from his speeches and quotes from the bible. As the story unfolds, Norton turns out as the villain in the Shawshank Redemption and is depicted as corrupt, brutal and merciless. He destroys the only other chance of Andy proving his innocence apart from escaping, through killing Tommy and revealing his character.

Hadley in one scene is compassionate but in others is a merciless and brutal guard. Hardley and Norton aid in development of the story and act as impediments to Andy’s aim to prove his innocence leaving him with only one option, escape.

At Shawshank, we are introduced to Red and Brook, where Red is an inmate who has lost hope of a future but Red regains it with Andy’s help. Brooks is a long-serving inmate who has been institutionalized and serves to develop the theme of hope.

The resolution of the movie is when the two protagonists in the movie Red and Andy are reunited at the Mexico beach with a hope of a better life after prison.

This reinstates the fact that the film has a classical structure where the protagonist manages to overcome all obstacles, challenges and all conflicts are resolved. The audience is left chanting, and he lived happily ever after at the happy ending always common in classical movies.

Style and Directing

The movie mostly makes use of flashback which turns out to be a powerful tool to keep the audience glued. The flashback also creates suspense and makes the viewers want to know what actually happens. At the beginning of the movie, Andy’s innocence is suspended for the audience to decide.

It is revealed at the end and shows how valuable suspense is used in the development of the main theme and the whole story. The use of tension and slow pacing shoots in some parts of the movie are also styles to note.

Another style that features incredibly in the movie is character development. The plot revolves around the development of the main characters Andy and Red and the directing marvelous. He succeeds in developing characters loved by the audience and with the ability to drive the storyline.

This makes the movie an exciting watch and the director brings out the humanity compassion and care in the characters. He is able to move even the hardest cynics through the humanly portrayal of the movie Shawshank Redemption. It is this lovely human touch that adds brilliance to the movie.

Editing and Sound

The Editing style employed by the movie is continuity which involves a smooth transition from one scene to the next. The use of objective shots by the editor serves to give others a chance to give their views. L-cut editing technique is also employed in coordination with a sound that is synchronous to action on screen.

L-cut technique of editing allows the movie to have continuity and merge the sound of music and action on screen. Camera movement in the film fits the tempo of music in the movie. The eye line match technique is also evident in the movie and serves to develop the plot and make the audience part of the storyline in the movie. Generally editing and sound in the Shawshank redemption are used to create continuity of the movie.

Genre

The Shawshank Redemption falls into the genre of thriller and has two subgenres crime and drama thriller. It is a crime thriller because most scenes are set in a prison and entail the various crimes committed in or outside the prison. It details the crimes claimed to have been committed by the protagonists in its development of the story and its main focus is on the actions in these scenes hence a crime thriller.

The movie falls in the subgenre of a drama thriller through the focus on narration and on each character’s environment. Emphasis on character development is another characteristic that makes the Shawshank Redemption fit the subgenre drama thriller.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the various parts and characteristics were brilliantly combined to produce one of the best movies. Character development, editing, sound and music and the best directing aided in making Shawshank Redemption a must watch for movie lovers.

The brilliancy of storytelling, superb acting, matching of different styles and themes covered by the movie are some of the factors that make the watching of the film exciting, thoughtful and provoking. I would always recommend this movie due to the high caliber it put itself in the movie industry.

Reference

Spignesi, J. (2001). The Essential Stephen King: A Ranking of the Greatest Novels, Short Stories, Movies, and Other Creations of the World’s Most Popular Writer. New York: Career Press.

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