The Shawshank Redemption

The poster of the film

A 1994-released film listed 4th in Empire's '500 Greatest Movies of All Time. A film directed by Frank Darabont, placed 72nd on the American Film Institute's '100 Best American Movies'. A film starring Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins ranked first by the user-generated Internet Movie Database. With 9/10 reviews on multiple online review sites, The Shawshank Redemption is one hell of a film.
    This review is about my favourite film of all time, one which I have seen twice, the most recent of which just a few weeks ago. The acting is brilliant, the conveyed message is deep and effective and the plot is fantastic.
    The Shawshank Redemption is a film about Andy Dufresne - played by Tim Robbins - a man convicted of murdering his wife and the lover he found her with. Rightly or wrongly, we never completely find out, though Andy maintains his innocence throughout. In fact, one unique factor of this film is that the establishing of the convicted man's guilt is highly irrelevant to the overall plot. Andy is in prison for the best part of 20 years.
    Andy enters the prison and meets Red - played by Morgan Freeman - who is referred to as the "man who gets things" in the prison. High up in the black market of the prison, Red is able to get anything a man wants; cigarettes usually. Andy requests a rock hammer, supposedly to carve chess pieces, and a poster of the then-popular Rita Hayworth, supposedly to look at. We find out the significance of these requests later in the film.
    "The Sisters", a gang of nasty homosexual men, take a shine to Andy in the wrong sort of way, and assault him for refusing to cave in to their demands. The assaults become a regular occurrence whilst Andy is working in the laundry, before repair work needs doing on a building. Red proves his worth by swinging things so that he, Andy and their mates get the job.
    Whilst on the job, Andy overhears a guard complaining of tax worries, and offers (at great risk) to sort things out, as he used to work as a banker. He helps the guard and gets free beer for all of his colleagues, resulting in a beautiful moment with the men sipping beer in the sun, feeling like free men for the first time in decades. Andy then gets a rough beating from "The Sisters", leading to the culprit being sent to another prison - this is the end of the abuse.
    Andy is given a job in the library with an elderly man named Brooks, and not only helps solve multiple financial problems of prison workers, but is also put in charge of the prison's finances, the significance of which comes into play later in the film. He write numerous letters to the Council until he is given funds to renovate the prison library.
   Brooks is released from prison after 50 years, and hangs himself, unable to adjust to life outside of the prison. This scene reflects on the fact that for some men, the prison walls have become their home, and a symbol of safety; as though they are keeping the real world away from the prisoners rather than the normal view of vice versa.
   Hope is fully introduced when Andy plays a heavenly, timeless song over the prison public address system, causing every man to stop in their tracks. These are the first notes of music any of them have heard in years, often decades, and the beauty of it fills their hearts with hope and wonder. Andy spends a week in solitary confinement for this act, but feels that this is worth the satisfaction it brought.

    Andy tutors a student called Tommy to pass an exam, who reveals to Andy that he knows the true murderer of his wife. Shocked, Andy relays the information to the warden, who refuses to listen. He secretly has Tommy killed, knowing that Andy cannot be released from prison, due to the fact that he has taken part in the scam with the prison's finances. After Andy is blackmailed to continue working on the finances, he tells Red of his hope of living in Mexico one day, and instructs Red to go to Buxton and look for a package should he ever be released.

Andy's escape: The incredible moment of freedom

    Red grows increasingly worried about what Andy is planning, and spends a sleepless night in his cell before roll call the next morning, where Andy is found missing. The audience discovers the true use of the poster and the rock hammer. The poster is ripped off the wall, revealing a tunnel, dug with a rock hammer of the course of two decades. Andy had escaped from prison, and bankrupted the prison by stealing it's money through fraud in the process. It is an unbelievable escape, cleverly and subtly crafted over the course of the film. Clues which seemed innocent at the time now make perfect sense.
    Andy has also planted evidence of the prison's fraudulent ways, enough to convict high-up members of the prison. The police come and the warden commits suicide rather than face arrest.
    Red is released after 40 years, and like Brooks fails to adjust to the real world. Remembering his promise to Andy, he makes his way to Buxton and retrieves a letter from Andy, sent from Mexico. Happiness fills the old man as he travels to Mexico, finally feeling the hope which Andy felt all along.
   The final scene of the film is a sensational and powerful one which will always stick in my memory: the two friends reunited on a Mexican beach.
   I love this film because the messages of hope and fighting spirit are effectively conveyed through a gripping and incredibly innovative plot. Morgan Freeman's commentary throughout the movie is brilliant and moves the plot on well, whilst the amazing escape of Andy is so ingenious that it makes you laugh. Not only has he escaped over the course of 20 years, he also wrecks a corrupt regime at the prison. Incredible!

The powerful last scene where the two friends are reunited.