shawshank redemption review essay

The Shawshank Redemption Movie Review

Twenty-six years after its release, The Shawshank Redemption maintains its top position in the IMDb’s rating of top 1000 movies of all time. This fact alone makes the film unquestionably unmissable and worth paying for watching; however, there is more to it than that. A banker Andy Dufrense is wrongfully given a double life sentence for killing his wife and her lover. In the following 19 years of his life, Andy experiences the hardships of prison life and develops a mesmerizing friendship with another inmate, Red. Unlike many movies relying on spectacle and action, The Shawshank Redemption provides emotionally charged conversations and a well-developed look at humanistic emotion. Based on King’s novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption and directed by Frank Darabont, this drama is neither experimental nor bold, but the smooth plot flow continues to bring the audience odd satisfaction upon watching.

The Shawshank Redemption does not feel personal but resonates with viewers. Most of our daily hassles and obstacles are nowhere as insurmountable as Andy’s, yet everyone observes an undeniable connection with the protagonist. Through various themes and problems, we all share the similar human experience of dealing with dilemmas, fighting against unjust treatment, struggling to find perseverance and our way of living. Andy’s story is a tale of hope that begins with his arrival at Shawshank State Penitentiary. From this moment on, it no longer matters whether the man’s sentence was unjust or undeserved; instead, how he deals with challenges defines him as a strong person. Andy and Red are two characters with different states of mind regarding their situation. What I find incredible about the movie is how the bond between these two souls keeps their hope eternal. The points of view of a senior convict and a newcomer seem to balance each other, and their friendship helps the men eventually redeem themselves.

The inner strength of the protagonist cannot but captivate the audience. I must state that while Morgan Freeman deserves all the praise for his performance as Ellis Redding, the portrayal of Andy Dufresne by Tim Robbins is remarkable as well. He managed to present a subtle, introverted, and yet powerful and charismatic character with a piercing intelligent look. Andy’s inner strength is undoubtful, and the viewer can see it from how persevering the man is towards his goals. Whether it is stocking the prison library with books or accomplishing his escape plan, Andy is consistent and indefatigable. His courage allows him to work his way towards his dream and leave the prison without becoming institutionalized and repeating Brooks’ tragic fate. Furthermore, redemption eventually comes for two friends as Red joins Andy in Mexico after carving his name next to Brooks and leaving the house for good. Both men decide to “get busy living,” and this message is the source of the audience’s inspiration and the reason for feeling complete and satisfied after watching.

The Shawshank Redemption is thus a must-see movie that brings out the will to live and overcome obstacles in viewers. This feeling is universal and eternal in humans, and the story of Andy will resonate with many, despite the difference in their circumstances. I would rate The Shawshank Redemption solid four out of four stars for its acting, the right amount of friendship and hope, timeless life lessons, and magical watching experience. The impression of the movie in viewers will last long after the final scene.

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Submitted on 29/01/2000 02:46

The ending leads to one of the most satisfying and touching finales in history. Many people have different theories about this movie, whether it is symbolic or not, but i shall not dwell into those. But one thing is for certain. It is one of the greatest cinematic masterpieces of all time.

29 January 2000 2:46AM

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The Shawshank Redemption Review

17 Feb 1994

143 minutes

Shawshank Redemption, The

This movie is based on a novella by Stephen King, but don't let that put you off. It's not a horror film, rather a thumpingly good ode to friendship, hope, wit, wiles and wisdom, brimming with crackling characters and topped with the most twisteroo of twists since The Crying Game. Found guilty of killing his unfaithful wife and her lover in a fit of passion, sullen accountant Andy Dufresne (Robbins, casting off his goofball image to display more layers than the proverbial onion) is shipped to the gothic wind-swept corridors of the Shawshank State Prison for life. It is here the movie gracefully unfolds. With a beautifully rounded script, writer/director Darabont conjures up a spellbinding personal odyssey stretching through the years from 1946 to 1967.

Dufresne, all the while protesting his innocence, slowly overcomes the hellfire tortures of the prison system - an unblinking range of beatings, rapings and abject humiliations - while managing to inspire his fellow inmates to lift their degraded horizons. Among them is Red (Freeman, in a matchless supporting role), the lifer who can, given time, provide virtually anything. And for reasons best known to himself, Dufresne requires 40s starlet Rita Hayworth, provisioned in poster form.

The mood swings rigorously through every emotion as the cranky, wiseguy and downright crazed array of criminals bare the brunt of the turbulent life within the doomy Shawshank catacomb. Then it gets really mean, gearing up for its injury-time shockers. Dufresne, a whiz with figures, is bullied into running the warden's (Gunton) petty accounting scams, giving him the chance to execute his and the film's final, greatest miracle.

If you're miserable enough to look for gripes then, yes, it does drift on too long and who needs prison buggery again? Yet the ending has such poetic completeness you're too busy contentedly chuckling to worry about sore behinds. This may have confounded American audiences - it flopped big-time on planet Yank - but a more divine movie experience you will not find this side of Oscardom. Spread the word.

Buy now on Amazon.

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The Shawshank Redemption

1994, Drama, 2h 22m

What to know

Critics Consensus

Steeped in old-fashioned storytelling and given evergreen humanity by Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins, The Shawshank Redemption chronicles the hardship of incarceration patiently enough to come by its uplift honestly. Read critic reviews

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Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) is sentenced to two consecutive life terms in prison for the murders of his wife and her lover and is sentenced to a tough prison. However, only Andy knows he didn't commit the crimes. While there, he forms a friendship with Red (Morgan Freeman), experiences brutality of prison life, adapts, helps the warden, etc., all in 19 years.

Rating: R (Prison Violence|Language)

Genre: Drama

Original Language: English

Director: Frank Darabont

Producer: Niki Marvin

Writer: Frank Darabont

Release Date (Theaters): Sep 1, 1994  wide

Release Date (Streaming): Aug 15, 2008

Box Office (Gross USA): $27.3M

Runtime: 2h 22m

Distributor: Columbia Pictures

Production Co: Columbia Pictures, Castle Rock Entertainment

Sound Mix: SDDS, Dolby A, Stereo, Surround, Dolby Digital, Dolby SR

Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

Cast & Crew

Tim Robbins

Andy Dufresne

Morgan Freeman

Ellis Boyd "Red" Redding

Warden Samuel Norton

William Sadler

Clancy Brown

Captain Byron Hadley

Gil Bellows

Tommy Williams

James Whitmore

Brooks Hatlen

Mark Rolston

Bogs Diamond

Jeffrey DeMunn

District Attorney

Frank Darabont

Screenwriter

Niki Marvin

Liz Glotzer

Executive Producer

David V. Lester

Roger Deakins

Cinematographer

Richard Francis-Bruce

Film Editing

Thomas Newman

Original Music

Terence Marsh

Production Design

Peter Smith

Art Director

Michael Seirton

Set Decoration

Elizabeth McBride

Costume Design

Deborah Aquila

Kokayi Ampah

Production Supervisor

Unit Production Manager

Sue Bea Montgomery

John R. Woodward

First Assistant Director

Sound Editor

News & Interviews for The Shawshank Redemption

Sterling K. Brown’s Five Favorite Films

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Critic Reviews for The Shawshank Redemption

Audience reviews for the shawshank redemption.

Based on a novella by Stephen King, The Shawshank Redemption is a harrowing tale about the triumph of the human spirit. The story follows a banker named Andy Duphrane who's wrongfully convicted of killing his wife and her lover, and is sent to the Shawshank maximum security prison where he befriends another inmate named Red. Starring Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, John Sandler, and Clancy Brown, the film has an impressive cast that gives good performances. Additionally, screenwriter/director Frank Darabont does an excellent job at developing the characters and relationships; making the audience care about them and their plight. The set and costume designs too, are especially well-done; capturing the time-period and giving the prison a real, lived-in feel. Also, the score by Thomas Newman is emotionally evocative and has a soulfulness to it that heightens the material. The Shawshank Redemption is a remarkably compelling film with a powerful message.

One of the most satisfying films of all time, which holds its 'classic film' vibe strongly from start to finish.

Beautiful story filled with emotion and is a true testament to the human spirit

The Shawshank Redemption has great performances, extremely well written script and story all leading to a deeply emotional climax! One of the best dramas of all time!

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The Shawshank Redemption

By frank darabont.

• The Shawshank Redemption Summary

The year is 1947. A young Portland banker, Andy Dufresne , is convicted of the murder of Linda Dufresne and Glenn Quintin—his wife and her lover, respectively. Andy is adamant in defending his innocence, but the evidence is overwhelming and he is sentenced to two life sentences in Shawshank Prison. In prison, he strikes up a friendship with a fellow inmate, Red, who has been in Shawshank for 20 years. Red is known as the “ man who knows how to get things” and can get almost anything a prisoner could want from the outside world. Andy approaches Red after a month of incarceration requesting a rock hammer in order to pick up his old hobby of rock collecting and shaping.

Shawshank is a cruel and unforgiving environment, with merciless guards, violent outbursts, and frequent instances of sexual assault. Early on Andy becomes the target of persistent rape from a gang called the “The Sisters” and their leader, Bogs. As a way of avoiding this abuse, Andy takes up a week-long job tarring the roof of a nearby factory. While working, he hears the captain of the guards, Byron Hadley, complaining about an exorbitant tax on his inheritance, and Andy sees an opportunity. As a former banker, Andy offers to help Hadley avoid taxation and earns some protection from the bullyish captain.

When Bogs and the Sisters next attack Andy, they beat him up so bad that he is put in the infirmary, but Hadley, newly ingratiated to the former banker, avenges his attack by beating Bogs to a pulp, to such an extent that Bogs gets transferred to a hospital. When Andy returns from the infirmary, he requests a poster of Rita Hayworth from Red, which Red dutifully procures, and which Andy soon hangs on his wall.

As word of Andy's financial expertise becomes more widely known, the warden, Norton, offers Andy a position working in the prison library, where he can better help guards (and Norton) with their financial concerns. There Andy takes an interest in improving the library and helping to educate his fellow inmates, writing to the Senate everyday requesting more books, until they finally cave and meet his demands. At some point, an older inmate, the gentle Brooks, is released from prison into the real world. While it seems as though freedom is all he can ever have wanted, the real world does not agree with the older man, who finds himself in a halfway house after 50 years of imprisonment, and hangs himself in his room.

After Norton institutes a program through which the prisoners can begin working on infrastructure outside the prison walls, he begins accepting bribes from local businesses who fear that prison labor will take away opportunities for their business. Andy hides the money away in a bank account under a fake name, helping the warden launder money for many years.

In 1964, Shawshank welcomes a new inmate, a likable man named Tommy Williams , who becomes a friend of Red and Andy. Andy helps Tommy learn to read and get a diploma, and it eventually comes to light that Tommy knows the person who actually killed Andy’s wife and her lover. Seeing a way to freedom, Andy informs the warden of the evidence, hoping for a second trial, but the warden needs to protect his investment and has Tommy killed and Andy put in solitary confinement for 2 months.

When Andy finally gets out of confinement, he tells Red about his dreams of freedom, to live in Zihuatanejo, a Mexican coastal town. Red says it would never happen, but Andy maintains hope and tells Red that if he ever gets out of Shawshank he should go to a place in Buxton to retrieve a package buried under an oak tree.

The next day, Andy’s doesn’t come out for roll call, having escaped through a hole he has been digging with the rock hammer for many years. He poses as the fake person in whose name all of Norton's money has been deposited, takes the money, and flees to Mexico. In the process, he also tips the police off to Norton's shady business dealings. When the authorities go to arrest the warden, he shoots himself.

After 40 years, Red finally makes parole, and visits the place in Buxton that Andy told him about. He digs up a box full of money and a letter from Andy telling him to come to Zihuatanejo. He does and the two friends reunite.

The Shawshank Redemption Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for The Shawshank Redemption is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

What item in Andy cell represents his character

Rocks, crystals, and concrete represent Andy Dufresne's persistence, which he uses to survive the prison environment and nspire others.

What caused the whole prison to come back to life in 1967

Andy's escape was in 1966 so I think you might be meaning that.

List three things Red suggests slowed Andy down in breaking through the wall.

I don't recall Red trying to slow Andy down.

Study Guide for The Shawshank Redemption

The Shawshank Redemption study guide contains a biography of Frank Darabont, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About The Shawshank Redemption
• Character List
• Director's Influence

Essays for The Shawshank Redemption

The Shawshank Redemption essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of The Shawshank Redemption by Frank Darabont.

• Receiving Redemption: The Transformative Power of Hope
• Ropes of Oppression: Escaping the Noose
• How Journeys Challenge and Broaden Understanding of the World: "Father and Child," "Spring Hall," and The Shawshank Redemption
• Shawshank: The Injustices of the Justice System
• Patience and Persistence: Andy Dufresne’s Long Game

Wikipedia Entries for The Shawshank Redemption

• Introduction

Film Analysis: The Shawshank Redemption Essay

Shawshank Redemption is a 1994 film which stars Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman and is based on Stephen King’s novelette Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption .

Log line: the film chronicles a young banker’s prison sentence which he is serving for the murder of his wife and his wife’s lover and his eventual escape from prison.

Protagonist: the protagonists of the film are Andrew “Andy” Dufresne and Ellis Boyd “Red” Redding.

The major theme: perseverance is the major theme in the film. This is evidenced by the lengthy periods of time that Andy takes to meet his goals; from small goals like getting books for the library to his major goal of escaping prison.

Inciting incident: the event that sets the story rolling is the sentencing of Andy Dufresne to two life sentences to be served back to back in Shawshank State Prison.

Forces against them: major forces against the protagonists are the prison administration and the changes that come with life in prison. The prison guards are especially brutal towards the prisoners and do not respect the prisoners’ rights.

Act structure: the film has a 3 act structure. The first act covers Andy’s trial, his introduction to prison life and his initial interaction with Red, Brooks, Heywood and “The Sisters”. Act two covers Andy’s tribulations brought on him by “The Sisters”, his time doing taxes for the guards, Andy laundering money for Warden Norton, Red developing a friendship with Andy, the release and suicide of Brooks and the murder of Tommy by the warden. Act three comprises Andy’s escape, Red being released on parole and the two of them meeting in Zihuatanejo as Andy had planned.

Act climaxes: the climax of the first act is Andy getting sentenced to two life sentences to be served back to back. The climax that ends the second act is the death of Tommy after he is shot by Captain Hadley and the climax of the entire film is Andy and Red meeting in Zihuatanejo.

Complications: the first complication is Andy’s encounters with “The Sisters” who are a prison gang that rapes and beats Andy. The second complication is Warden Norton’s unwillingness to let Andy appeal his case.

Physical symbol: Zihuatanejo is an island in the Pacific Ocean and it is a symbol of hope and freedom in the movie. The Pacific Ocean in this film is used as a symbol too. Andy regards the Ocean as having no memory and this is a symbol of him leaving behind the past and having a fresh start, free of his past.

A moment that shows character through action: Andy is calculating and this trait is clearly shown in the scene where he is explaining how he launders Warden Norton’s money using accounts in the name of someone who only exists in his imagination. After escaping prison Andy uses the identity he created to withdraw the money he was laundering for Warden Norton.

Interesting narrative techniques: the story of Brooks is a subplot in the main plot that supports Red’s hopelessness about getting out of prison but juxtaposes Andy’s hope that he will one day leave prison.

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IvyPanda. (2022, March 29). Film Analysis: The Shawshank Redemption. https://ivypanda.com/essays/shawshank-redemption/

"Film Analysis: The Shawshank Redemption." IvyPanda , 29 Mar. 2022, ivypanda.com/essays/shawshank-redemption/.

IvyPanda . (2022) 'Film Analysis: The Shawshank Redemption'. 29 March.

IvyPanda . 2022. "Film Analysis: The Shawshank Redemption." March 29, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/shawshank-redemption/.

1. IvyPanda . "Film Analysis: The Shawshank Redemption." March 29, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/shawshank-redemption/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Film Analysis: The Shawshank Redemption." March 29, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/shawshank-redemption/.

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FILM REVIEW

FILM REVIEW; Prison Tale by Stephen King Told Gently, Believe It or Not

By Janet Maslin

• Sept. 23, 1994

There are standard ways to stage a prison film and standard ways to tell a story by Stephen King. But "The Shawshank Redemption," based on a King novella and set in the correctional institution of the title, succeeds in avoiding the familiar.

Without a single riot scene or horrific effect, it tells a slow, gentle story of camaraderie and growth, with an ending that abruptly finds poetic justice in what has come before. The writer and director, Frank Darabont, tells this tale with a surprising degree of loving care.

There are times when "The Shawshank Redemption" comes dangerously close to sounding one of those "triumph of the human spirit" notes. But most of it is eloquently restrained. Despite an excess of voice-over narration and inspirational music, Mr. Darabont's film has a genuine dignity that holds the interest. It is helped greatly by fine, circumspect performances from Morgan Freeman as a rueful lifer named Red and Tim Robbins as Andy, the new kid on the cellblock. The film spans nearly 20 years of friendship between these two.

When Andy is convicted of his wife's murder, the judge pronounces him "a particularly remorseless and icy man." He sustains that chill when he first arrives at Shawshank, remaining aloof from other inmates even when those inmates threaten him with physical harm. "I wish I could tell you that Andy fought the good fight," says Red, who knows Andy has been gang-raped by fellow prisoners, in one of the film's only halfway-brutal episodes. "I wish I could tell you that, but prison is no fairy-tale world."

Needless to say, the heroes of such stories usually do succeed in defending themselves, at least when Hollywood is telling the fairy tale. But "The Shawshank Redemption" has its own brand of iconoclasm, with Mr. Darabont's direction as quiet, purposeful and secretive as Andy is himself.

Eventually Andy begins to fit in, especially after he wows the guards with skills left over from his pre-prison banking career. From the first time he advises one guard to make a one-time-only tax-free gift to his wife, Andy gets a new lease on life as "a convicted murderer who provides sound financial planning."

Andy does special fiscal favors for the warden. ("You know, the funny thing is, on the outside I was an honest man, straight as an arrow," he says about this. "I had to come to prison to be a crook.") He also makes the occasional dramatic gesture, like commandeering the prison's loudspeaker and playing a Mozart aria for all his fellow inmates. The film has a tendency to wax romantic at such moments, but more often it sustains an intelligent reserve.

Mr. Freeman is so quietly impressive here that there's reason to wish Red's role had more range. As written, he spends his time observing Andy fondly and describing prison life. But Mr. Freeman's commanding presence makes him a much stronger figure than that. Mr. Freeman is especially moving when he suggests how dependent Red has become on the prison walls that give shape to his life. Even so, Red has kept his ruefulness. "Only guilty man in Shawshank," he jokes about himself.

Mr. Robbins has the trickier role of someone whose still waters run deep, but whose experience doesn't add up until an exposition-packed denouement. (The film's swift, enjoyably farfetched closing scenes are a sharp reminder of who is the author of this story, after all.) Andy's is the more subdued role, but Mr. Robbins plays it intensely, and he ages effectively from newcomer to father figure during the story. One of Andy's projects is improving the prison library, which once contained nothing but the equivalent of books by Stephen King.

To raise funds for this undertaking, Andy is steady and patient, writing weekly letters to state officials until he gets what he wants. Mr. Darabont, a screenwriter making an impressive directorial debut, works in much the same quietly persistent way. "The Shawshank Conspiracy" takes shape slowly and carefully, displaying an overall subtlety that's surprising in a movie of this genre. In the end, like Andy and Red, it gets to where it wanted to go.

"The Shawshank Redemption" is rated R (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian). It includes profanity and occasional violence, including a scene that discreetly suggests homosexual rape.

THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION Written and directed by Frank Darabont, based on the novella "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption," by Stephen King; director of photography, Roger Deakins; edited by Richard Francis-Bruce; music by Tom Newman; production designer, Terence Marsh; produced by Niki Marvin; released by Columbia Pictures. Running time: 142 minutes. This film is rated R. WITH: Morgan Freeman (Red), Tim Robbins (Andy), Gil Bellows (Tommy), Clancy Brown (Captain Hadley), Bob Gunton (Warden Norton), Mark Rolston (Bogs Diamond), William Sadler (Heywood) and James Whitmore (Brooks Hatlen).

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Critical Analysis of The Film "The Shawshank Redemption"

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Published: Mar 18, 2021

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Cinematography, mise-en-scene, the most depressing apartment ever, zihuatanejo.

• Goodykoontz, B. & Jacobs, C.P., (2014). Film: From Watching to Seeing, 2nd ed. Bridgepoint Education, Inc.
• imdb.com, (2015). Shawshank Redemption Andy entrance. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mR8hHqDygYQ
• imdb.com, (2015). Memorable scenes: Shawshank Redemption morgan freeman-red is free from prison-best scene. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWQYVYvoqDA

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The Shawshank Redemption: The Review of the Movie and Its Characters

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"The Shawshank Redemption" is a movie about time, patience and loyalty -- not sexy qualities, perhaps, but they grow on you during the subterranean progress of this story, which is about how two men serving life sentences in prison become friends and find a way to fight off despair.

The story is narrated by " Red " Redding ( Morgan Freeman ), who has been inside the walls of Shawshank Prison for a very long time and is its leading entrepreneur. He can get you whatever you need: cigarettes, candy, even a little rock pick like an amateur geologist might use. One day he and his fellow inmates watch the latest busload of prisoners unload, and they make bets on who will cry during their first night in prison, and who will not. Red bets on a tall, lanky guy named Andy Dufresne ( Tim Robbins ), who looks like a babe in the woods.

But Andy does not cry, and Red loses the cigarettes he wagered. Andy turns out to be a surprise to everyone in Shawshank, because within him is such a powerful reservoir of determination and strength that nothing seems to break him. Andy was a banker on the outside, and he's in for murder. He's apparently innocent, and there are all sorts of details involving his case, but after a while they take on a kind of unreality; all that counts inside prison is its own society -- who is strong, who is not -- and the measured passage of time.

Red is also a lifer. From time to time, measuring the decades, he goes up in front of the parole board, and they measure the length of his term (20 years, 30 years) and ask him if he thinks he has been rehabilitated. Oh, most surely, yes, he replies; but the fire goes out of his assurances as the years march past, and there is the sense that he has been institutionalized -- that, like another old lifer who kills himself after being paroled, he can no longer really envision life on the outside.

Red's narration of the story allows him to speak for all of the prisoners, who sense a fortitude and integrity in Andy that survives the years. Andy will not kiss butt. He will not back down. But he is not violent, just formidably sure of himself. For the warden ( Bob Gunton ), he is both a challenge and a resource; Andy knows all about bookkeeping and tax preparation, and before long he's been moved out of his prison job in the library and assigned to the warden's office, where he sits behind an adding machine and keeps tabs on the warden's ill-gotten gains. His fame spreads, and eventually he's doing the taxes and pension plans for most of the officials of the local prison system.

There are key moments in the film, as when Andy uses his clout to get some cold beers for his friends who are working on a roofing job. Or when he befriends the old prison librarian ( James Whitmore ). Or when he oversteps his boundaries and is thrown into solitary confinement. What quietly amazes everyone in the prison -- and us, too -- is the way he accepts the good and the bad as all part of some larger pattern than only he can fully see.

The partnership between the characters played by Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman is crucial to the way the story unfolds. This is not a "prison drama" in any conventional sense of the word. It is not about violence, riots or melodrama. The word "redemption" is in the title for a reason. The movie is based on a story, Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption , by Stephen King , which is quite unlike most of King's work. The horror here is not of the supernatural kind, but of the sort that flows from the realization than 10, 20, 30 years of a man's life have unreeled in the same unchanging daily prison routine.

The director, Frank Darabont , paints the prison in drab grays and shadows, so that when key events do occur, they seem to have a life of their own.

Andy, as played by Robbins, keeps his thoughts to himself. Red, as Freeman plays him, is therefore a crucial element in the story: His close observation of this man, down through the years, provides the way we monitor changes and track the measure of his influence on those around him. And all the time there is something else happening, hidden and secret, which is revealed only at the end.

"The Shawshank Redemption" is not a depressing story, although I may have made it sound that way. There is a lot of life and humor in it, and warmth in the friendship that builds up between Andy and Red. There is even excitement and suspense, although not when we expect it. But mostly the film is an allegory about holding onto a sense of personal worth, despite everything. If the film is perhaps a little slow in its middle passages, maybe that is part of the idea, too, to give us a sense of the leaden passage of time, before the glory of the final redemption.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

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Film credits.

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

142 minutes

Tim Robbins as Andy Dufresne

Bob Gunton as Warden Norton

William Sadler as Heywood

James Whitmore as Librarian

Clancy Brown as Captain Hadley

Gil Bellows as Tommy

• Frank Darabont

Writer (short story "Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption")

• Stephen King

Cinematographer

• Roger Deakins
• Richard Francis-Bruce
• Thomas Newman

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