How “Great” Is It?
IMDb Top 250: #1
AFI Top 100: #72
AFI 100 Most Inspiring: #23
“It is deeper than most films; about continuity in a lifetime, based on friendship and hope.” – Roger Ebert
“The Shawshank Redemption is all about hope and, because of that, watching it is both uplifting and cathartic.” – James Berardinelli
If I were oblivious to everything, I would never guess that The Shawshank Redemption would be one of the most beloved films of all time. It’s a relatively straightforward movie, but down the stretch it packs a wallop that most every film in history could only dream of. It’s a glowing example of nearly flawless simplicity, a story devoid of all cynicism and (for the most part) pretension. Nobody saw it in theaters, but was nominated for several Oscars without winning any. Since then it has grown into an audience-pleasing behemoth that sits atop the Internet Movie Database Top 250, meaning the internet population of film fans has deemed it the greatest film of all time.
Is it? I don’t think so, but it is a great film. The thing is, for me it lacks that special intangible quality that one finds in most of the so-called “greatest” films of all time. My reservations are few, and if I was writing on The Shawshank Redemption in a typical review format it would come off as a rave. Instead for this feature I am looking at movies and whether or not they deserve to be considered one of the best of all time. For me it doesn’t quite measure up to the rest.
The Shawshank Redemption follows Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) after he is sent to prison for murdering his wife and her lover. We never get inside his head too much, and we know why by film’s end, but instead the narrator is Ellis Redding, or “Red”, played by the man who could narrate If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and make it sound transcendent, Morgan Freeman. The film chronicles their time in Shawshank Prison, and their quest to get out and find peace.
This film is able to stay cognizant of the darker side of prison life without letting it take over, a challenge many prison films face. In fact, parts of The Shawshank Redemption are just gosh-darn heartwarming. The reason is that most of these characters aren’t your typical “White Power Bill” prison stereotypes, but genuine people who (mostly) regret the decisions they’ve made that got them there. That doesn’t mean they’re willing to admit guilt out loud, as Red puts it: “Everyone in here is innocent.” It’s too late, though, as they’re now in prison with no way out.
Dufresne seems determined from day one, knowing his ultimate goal. He’s living on a different plane than the rest of the more complacent. He claims he is innocent, but he does not make it everybody’s business. Instead, he uses his own confidence to his advantage, and creates the roadmap to salvation in his head. Red describes it best: “He had a quiet way about him, a walk and a talk that just wasn't normal around here. He strolled, like a man in a park without a care or a worry in the world, like he had on an invisible coat that would shield him from this place.” He turns out to be more right than he could have imagined.
The direction by Frank Darabont is admirable in the way that it stands back and lets the story tell itself. The acting and screenplay (which he wrote himself) are good enough, and adding any visual tricks would have come off as unnecessary frosting on a darn good cake. In the traditional sense there isn’t much here you haven’t seen before, but there also isn’t much to complain about either.
SPOILERS AHEAD
The film’s most magnificent achievement comes at the end, and the twist ending somehow works in just about every way, against every conceivable odd. At face value it’s ludicrous. Instead it provides an incredibly satisfactory catharsis after two hours plus of repression and imprisonment. Think about it: a man spends every night for 20 years building a tunnel out of his jail cell, yet because of the acting and the believability of the rest of the film, somehow it seems natural. It’s the rare film that pulls off the twist you don’t see coming brilliantly.
Perhaps it also works because that there is still a great deal of story after the twist. It is not just that Dufresne made the escape, but Red pulls it off in a slightly more diplomatic way. After being denied parole countless times, Red is finally released after serving 40 years. He is forced to live out a banal existence doing grunt work for a grocery store. After a while, he instead runs for the border and meets up with Dufresne. To them the only worthwhile existence is one that is lived without restriction. Even in alleged freedom, Red feels trapped inside a form of prison.
On some levels The Shawshank Redemption is a little too conventional, and on that count I need to take a few points off. I love watching it, and the finale is inarguably one of the most rousing in recent memory, but I hesitate to defend its position at #1 on the IMDb Top 250. I understand why many people feel that way, because it is as satisfying a motion picture experience as one could have. It’s a great story, well-told, and undoubtedly a 4-star film, but never goes into wholly uncharted territory. Instead it approaches it from a different angle, and it works brilliantly. We spend the entire film trapped with these characters, and we cannot help but root for them as they yearn for an ultimate freedom.
No comments:
Post a Comment