The Shawshank Redemption -- Movie Review

There is no point in following my regular review style of giving a brief gist of the story, the cast, the music & other technical aspects for this movie. After all, this is no ordinary movie and it deserves much more thought process than the regular fare.

There would be very few movies that can instill hope and the courage to keep fighting against all odds as this one. When Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) is sentenced to two life sentences for a crime that he has not committed and sent to the Shawshank prison, life takes a dramatic turn for Dufresne. In the prison, he meets 'Red' Redding (Morgan Freeman), a long-timer in the prison. The way, in which Andy changes the prison from a dilapidated, decaying structure into a socialized place is at once endearing & uplifting. His never say die attitude is brought out well in the scene where he starts sending out 2 letters a week to the government instead of the 1 letter a week schedule that he followed for 6 years. And this happens after the Govt. approves of his proposal to get new books for the prison library. The serenity with which Andy moves around the prison unaffected by the surroundings & happenings is a lesson on obtaining peace from inside one's soul.

There are some soul-stirring dialogs that are bound to capture the heart of the viewers. "Salvation lies within", a dialog uttered by the warden is a simple yet powerful statement that encapsulates the teachings of the eastern philosophy. The conviction with which Andy says "Get busy living or get busy dying" is another strong statement whose importance cannot be overstated for it is about the choices that are presented to humans when leading their lives. The best line of the movie is reserved till the climax of the movie. In the letter to ‘Red’ Redding, Andy says “Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies”. I couldn’t have summarized the movie better than these lines.

Last Cut: I have ordered for a permanent copy of the DVD. The least that you can do is to watch it atleast once.

Rating: 9.5/10