Misery and Stand By Me were the best adaptations up until this one, now you can add Shawshank to that list.
This is simply one of the best films ever made and I know I am not the first to say that and I certainly won’t be the last. So I’ll just skip all the normal praise of the film because we all know how great it is. But let me perhaps add that what I find so fascinating about Shawshank is that Stephen King wrote it.
King is one of the best writers in the world. Books like IT and the Castle Rock series are some of the greatest stories ever told. But his best adaptations are always done by the best directors. The Shining was brilliantly interpreted by Kubrick and of course the aforementioned Misery and Stand By Me are both by Rob Reiner. Now Frank Darabont comes onto the scene and makes arguably the best King film ever. He seems to understand what King wants to say and he conveys that beautifully.
What makes this film one of the best ever made is the message it conveys. It is one of eternal hope. Andy Dufresne, played by Tim Robbins, has been sent to prison for a crime he did not commit. But he never loses hope. He never gives up his quest to become a free man again. His years of tenacity, patience and wits keep him not only sane, but it gives his mind and a spirit a will to live. This film has a different feel to it. There has never been anything like it before and I don’t know if there will again.
I’m not going to say any more about this film, it has already been said, but just suffice to say that I am glad that Forrest Gump won best picture in 94. I would have been equally glad if Pulp Fiction or Shawshank would have won. It is that good of a movie and one that will be appreciated for years to come.
If you like a slow movie this is for you. If you like an inspirational movie this is for you. Shawshank redemption is a basically a story about a man who is wrongfully sent to prison, the relationships he builds up and the very reality of our society, about how the prisoners are isolated from the very society they are intended to be rehabilitated.
Liomovie 