The Shawshank Redemption

The movie has been called one of the greatest movies since the 80's. It has been one of the most debated upon movies with critics fiercely divided over its greatness. I swear, this would be a classic dining table conversation between any two critics. Everyone acknowledges it's a great movie, they're just not sure if it is as great as everyone says. I've consulted a lot of people about this and i'm sure you would find it too, people have varying levels of respect for the movie. So, I saw this movie with great expectations, as would any idiot who searches for "Greatest movies of all time" and opens the IMDB link. Was it worth 700 MB of my data usage? I guess it was.

To The Ignorant

The Shawshank Redemption is a movie directed by Frank Darabont (the guy who brought you the green mile). It stars Tim Robbins ( Director of Dead Man Walking), Morgan Freeman ( do you even need to introduce this guy? ) and Bob Guntan ( I just felt like mentioning him for this great performance, i haven't seen him in any movie since ). So, shawshank redemption is a Prison drama about a young banker Andy Duffrene (Tim Robbins) who is accused of killing his wife and her lover and is sentenced to lifetime imprisonment. The movie essentially encompasses his stay in prison, wher he makes friend with the local conman Red (Morgan Freeman) and a bunch of his buddies. Bob Guntan plays the corrupt warden, who uses Andy's skills with the banking system for money laundering.

My Perception

While any person usually gives his perception of this film, they generally have to give it in two parts, the 2hr 15 minute movie and the last 15 minutes. That's how it is going to be here. For me, the first part is what makes this movie so good. The slow pace of the film essentially makes you feel like you've been in prison for a long time. For me though, my first month at IIT would have been exactly like that of Andy's first 3 years at Shawshank. I swear to god, more than half the time if felt i was like this in the entire place. 

Anyway, we see Andy using his skills as a banker to be of use to him in prison. He becomes like the "Machau Freshie" of the shawshank prison. For me though, the highpoint of the film was when Brooks dies. A very real and touching depiction of how a prisoner's mentality can make them dysfunctional in society. For me, the whole movie's charm is Red and his heart-rendering narration. That is essentially, one of the things  that kept me going in what could have been a highly boring movie. The other thing that was pretty special was the way in which the warden was shown. I couldn't make up my mind about the guy until about midway in the film. Now, in the last portion of the film, i get that the director was trying to hint at suicide on Andy's part and i think i would have liked the film more if that had actually happened. They had to be true to the tagline i guess (Fear can keep you prisoner, Hope can set you free). There have been people who have absolutely hated the ending, saying that it ruined the drama and other stuff, but if you see the film closely, Andy was all about escaping. Like that conversation he had with Red about hope. It was a glaring example of how Andy had still not taken on the prisoner's mentality. I saw the film and i was like "OK.. i mean.. i get it.. but the suicide ending would have felt right." I guess you get this feeling beacuse for a movie this slow you don't expect a sudden jump right at the end. Most guys would like to see it just fizzle out at the end. This ending sort of felt like when you have a firecracker which is burning out really slow and the it just bursts suddenly. That sort of stuff will piss you off. Of course for those who have been getting bored for the whole movie, the ending would be a huge relief.
My main problem with the movie was that the movie meandered a lot in the first 2 hrs 15 minutes. It was like watching different episodes of a TV show. I still feel that the Shawshank redemption story would have been more complete if it had been made into a TV mini series. That was not the only thing. There were a few plot points left undiscussed. eg. Did Andy seriously have the same cell for 19 years? How did he survive under the sewer for that long? (seriously, he should have been dead) The problem with this film is when you start to see it as a prison escape. Then all the minor details with the escape start to grab your attention and the Shawshank Redemption does not answer all these questions faithfully. This is one of the basic reasons i put it under a prison drama not an escape thriller. The movie essentially highlighted the importance of "Hope".

Final Verdict

The Shawshank Redemption is a good movie, not great, not nearly the greatest movie since the 80's but yes, a good film in its own right. A meandering script and a sort of forced escape plan are definetily let downs which does not make it a masterpiece but do not take much away from a kick ass Morgan Freeman performance.