RETROSPECT: "The Shawshank Redemption" or, A Film for Life

Get busy living, or get busy dying.

I understand you're a man who knows how to get things.

Fear can hold you prisoner. Hope can set you free.

Those are just some of the many taglines or quotes that have stemmed and endured over the last quarter century from a small prison drama based on, of all things, a Stephen King novella.

Voted by IMDb as the number-one rated film of all-time, The Shawshank Redemption spans two decades while following the growing friendship between inmates Red Redding (Morgan Freeman), a convict who has a reputation for "getting things" on the inside, and Andy Dusfrane (Tim Robbins), a mild-mannered banker wrongfully accused of murdering his wife and her lover.

Adapted by first-time director Frank Darabont from King's novella, "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption," the structure of the film is quite remarkable and timely. (Darabont would later brilliantly adapted another King novel, The Green Mile, starring Tom Hanks, in 1999.) The story chronicles life inside (and the world of) the prison: its ethics, economics, lifestyles, masculinity, personalities, profane nature, routines, and trends, including the theme of fighting the world and what it does to you; elements of rape (a hard scene, and one that comes close), violence ("Prison is no fairy tale world"), conspiracy, and, in particular, the theme of institutionalization (illustrated, for one, in the film's saddest sequence). It also chronicles how Andy makes a difference in the lives of others (whether by making chess pieces out of rocks or building a library), even earning their trust, by bringing in things that aren't "normal" in this world, or perhaps things they've never seen or heard.

Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins

This film arguably made Freeman a household name (as Pulp Fiction did for Samuel L. Jackson that same year). His narration throughput the film is a great example of how to do narration effectively and necessarily (not to mention great). Plus, the parallel character arcs of his Red and fellow lifer Brooks (the late James Whitmore) represent those who've come to believe the lie that one cannot make it in the world after a life sentence, not to mention a sense of fear in the world.

If the film has any disadvantages, it's in its portrayal of women. In fact, the only women seen on screen are through posters of famous Hollywood bombshells as Rita Hayworth, Marilyn Monroe, and Raquel Welsh. Then there's the brief sexual moment in the film's opening, which is unfortunately the only time we actually see Andy's wife and lover) Some viewers may also take issue with some of the film's complicated use of religion, biblical references and spirituality (Bible and a pick ax, anybody?), especially in the case of the Warden from his first scene ("Put your trust in the Lord. Your a-- belongs to me"). Despite some intriguing Bible passage exchanges between Andy and the Warden, the latter's true character proves hypocritical. (At least some of the references on display do ring true, such as the frame in the Warden's office which reads, "And His judgment that cometh right soon.")

For the briefest of moments, every last man at Shawshank felt free.

In spite of these elements, the film does stand as a metaphor for hope for man. The change that Andy initiates (some would argue or even agree) echoes elements of eternity, and that this life is temporary, yet remembering what we once could do, and who we were/are, and what freedom is. Remember the classic scene of Andy playing an aria record over the loud speakers? Thomas Newman's unforgettable score (which I listened to a lot in college, and which could qualify as a "perfect" score) hits all the right notes and emotions.

Despite generally great reviews and seven Oscar nominations at the time, Shawshank was not a commercial success on its initial release in 1994. But like other similar classics as 1939's The Wizard of Oz and 1946's It's A Wonderful Life, audiences caught up with the film in time, and it's now declared one of the greatest films ever made. It may be the most unforgettable prison drama in film history. There are very few films that have a certain kind of magic (E.T., anyone?), that trigger certain memories and emotions. And though Shawshank is not for everybody, it does otherwise stand as one of those films.