"The Shawshank Redemption" (1995)

This is one of the best films out there. Set in the 1940s, his amazing adaptation of Stephen King’s novella “Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption”, centres on Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins), who has been accused of killing his wife and her estranged lover, is sent to Shawshank Prison with two life sentences – one for each of “his” victims. Andy is a quiet and unassuming person and once at the prison keeps to himself mostly. However, he soon gains the respect of his other inmates and befriends Red (Morgan Freeman), the prison ‘fixer’. Throughout his time in prison Andy keeps hold of his unquenchable hope showing us there are two choices: “Either get busy living, or get busy dying”.

I remember the first time I watched this film a few years ago. Mum and Dad had been telling me it was once to watch for a while. I knew there was something good about it when Mum was recommending it since this was really not a genre she would normally insist upon viewing. So I sat down with them and by the time the credits were rolling I was completely amazed.

The plot is unreal. It’s the subtle details that seem like nothing at the time, just a means of passing the time in the prison, build up and the ending is just an amazing twist. I’ve never seen anything else like it. The first time I watched it I was like “Whoa!!!” – Stephen King is an unreal story teller. Frank Darabont wrote the script in eight weeks, and took a pay cut in order to be allowed to shoot his own script!

I really like Morgan Freeman’s narration throughout the film. More so due to the fact it’s Andy who is the main character as opposed to Red. Clint Eastwood, Harrison Ford, Paul Newman and Robert Redford were all considered for the part of Red before Morgan Freeman was chosen. Morgan Freeman is a brilliant actor, although personally I always find his roles extremely similar to each other. Of the roles I have seen him doing, this one would be my favourite. I haven’t read the novella (though I would love to someday to experience how this amazing story was written) but in the original novella, Red is described as a middle-aged Irishman. – Morgan Freeman would not have been obvious casting at all based on this description, haha. But I can’t imagine anyone else playing the character.

Originally, all of Morgan Freeman’s voiceover was recorded before any of the film was shot. I find this really interesting. The fact that much of it syncs up to the onscreen action was apparently not simple editing but instead, this recorded voiceover was in fact played back on set during each take for the actors to specifically play off the audio. I think that is pretty class. I’ve never heard of that being done on any other film. However, the audio quality of his voiceover was too poor to include in the movie due to tape hiss, so Freeman had to re-record the entire voiceover in post-production. (which is possibly why I haven’t heard of this technique done anywhere else….But even so!)

The scene where Andy first approaches Red about the rock hammer as Red plays catch in the main yard took nine hours to shoot. Can you imagine? Apparently Morgan Freeman continued to play catch for the whole nine hours without complaining and showed up the next day with his arm in a sling. Another interesting fact is that the mug shot of young Red isn’t actually Morgan Freeman, but rather, a photo of his son. And one more intriguing fact to come your way – Red’s cell number and the cursed hotel room in The Shining are both 237. Dun, dun, dawww!

Tom Hanks, Kevin Costner, Tom Cruise, Nicolas Cage, Johnny Depp and Charlie Sheen were all considered for the part of Andy Dufresne. Tom Hanks turned it down because he was committed to Forrest Gump (1994) at the time. I feel like it would have been a hugely different film if any of those actors had been given the part. I like Tim Robbins’ portrayal of Andy and I’m glad he was chosen. He plays Andy with a kind of innocence, but simultaneously you can see the clever glint of a man who knows what he’s doing. To prepare for the role Tim Robbins actually spent some time in solitary confinement.

Apparently the moment when Andy barricades himself in the Warden's office and plays Opera over the intercoms around the prison was not in the original Stephen King novella. I have to smile at this considering this moment is one of the highlights (if not one of the signature moments) of the entire film! It was Tim Robbins’ idea for his character to turn up the volume of the record player. In addition, every picture, except for the big posters, in Andy's cell were all supposed to have been hand-picked by Tim Robbins himself.

In the scene with Andy arriving in the library as Brooks' assistant while Brooks' crow Jake is squawking, Tim Robbins had to time his line, "Hey, Jake. Where's Brooks?", so that the crow wouldn't squawk over him since the bird could not be trained to squawk on cue. Apparently Tim Robbins was able to adapt to this and time his line perfectly by learning the bird's squawking patterns! Supposedly as you’re watching the scene Tim Robbins' improvisation is actually noticeable as he watches the bird carefully while approaching it, waiting for it to squawk, and doesn't begin his line until after it does so.

None of the close-up shots of Andy’s hands or feet are Tim Robbins’. They’re director Frank Darabont’s! For example, in the close-up of Andy's hands loading the revolver in the opening scenes, the hands are actually Frank Darabont’s. Also later in the film, while Andy carves his name into his cell wall, Frank Darabont's hands are used again for the insert shot. These close-ups were filmed during post production.

The film became one of the highest grossing video rentals of all time, and was the most rented video of 1995. Despite being widely considered as one of the greatest movies of all time, it didn't actually receive a single Oscar win, although it was nominated for 7 including Best Picture.

This film is amazing. Just…there are no words. You just have to watch it. For me it’s the plot. Being a writer, one day I would love to be able to write a plot like this. I just think the detail is impeccable. I cannot go on about this enough. As I say there are just no words. If you have not yet seen this film you must come out from beneath your rock and do so immediately because it is just…A really special film.

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