“Remember Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.” – Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins)
If there’s any question of how The Shawshank Redemption has endured the test of time, look no further than the number of hours devoted to it by television channels. In 2013 it accounted for 151 hours of basic cable airtime, the most any film has ever received. Part of that is due to its long runtime (more than two hours flushed out with commercial breaks turns it into an afternoon-long affair), and, as the Wall Street Journal said, it’s a film that can bee seen over and over again. But what makes it a repeat watch has a lot to do with the power of the story and empathy of its characters.
The Shawshank Redemption is a story about hope, friendship and endurance. As cheesy as all that could sound, these themes are wrapped in an intriguing plot with deep characters originally penned by horror master Stephen King.
In the 1940s, banker Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) is convicted of shooting his wife and her lover, even though he insists he had nothing to do with the murders. Thrown into Shawshank Prison for life, he develops a friendship with Redd (Morgan Freeman), a man who continues going to the board hearings in hopes of getting out. Together they face prison gangs, corrupt officers, a dubious warden (Bob Gunton) and the loss of friends as Andy gains hope and Redd starts losing hope that there’s a life waiting for them beyond the jail walls.
Robbins turns in his finest performance as Andy, a man who enters a prison with no hope and slowly chips away — literally and figuratively — at the walls that keep him from dreaming of another life. His relationship with Redd, portrayed as a dreamer-turned cynic by the impeccable Freeman, enables viewers to recognize the foil of the two characters. Andy is proactive in making his dream of freedom a reality, but Redd is far more pessimistic, thinking his only way out is through the parole board. The film is essentially a race to see what approach works best.
But Redd and Andy aren’t the only two characters worth watching. James Whitmore appears and Brooks Hatlen, a man finally released after decades in prison but unable to cope in the real world. He’s the portrait of a very real scenario — the rehabilitated criminal who can’t make it without the structure and discipline of prison life. Although his tale ends tragically, his character is one of the lasting personalities that sticks with people long after the credits roll.
The Shawshank Redemptionis the quintessential character development film, a literary masterpiece in celluloid rather than novel form. Where King’s short story was good, Frank Darabont’s direction makes it a keystone in the American film canon.
2014: A Film Odyssey 