Fear Can Hold You Prisoner. Hope Can Set You Free

“Fear can hold you prisoner. Hope can set you free”.

A Movie Review

Fear can hold you prisoner. Hope can set you free. This is the central theme of this 1994 prison drama. Frank Darabont directed ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ is a story where hope wins against rigid pessimistic walls of a prison and the desire for liberation survives to life against all kinds of beating odds. The Shawshank prison is seen as a place that’s kept too brutal and horror in its services and treatment towards prison inmates or ‘fellas’ as prisoners call themselves, that are however masked under the term ‘discipline’ by the prison captain Hedley played beautifully and authoritatively by Clancy brown and the prison warden Samuel Norton, portrayed by the American actor Bob Gunton. It shows that it takes an array of hard prison routines from talking to asking permissions to go to bathroom every time, for an ordinary culprit to even survive a breadth here. And the routine often include living in a matchbox hole for weeks besides regular vocal tortures. The film Starr Tim Robbins as Andy Dufresne and Academy winner Morgan Freeman as Ellis Boyd "Red" Redding, the fixer- who is known to locate certain things of the outside world inside the tall and inescapable prison walls from time to time. Plot and the acting: The plot of the film revolves around a banker, Andy Dufresne, who is wrongly convicted of murdering both his wife and her lover and is sent to a notoriously harsh Shawshank Prison. Over the initial years of his imprisonment, Dufresne works in the prison laundry service, and is dogged by threats and harassment. Andy's former life as a banker and his knowledge of accounting and income taxes makes him popular among prison guards who settled their financial queries through him. The warden has an image that’s kept sarcastically incontrovertible and professional in some understandable meanings. No one can question him, but follow. Prisoners, captains and guards alike pay an unaltered respect to him while all hide their personal fears of facing him.

He soon capitalises on Dufresne's ability and deduces a program to put prison inmates to work for local contracts in construction. He employs Dufresne corruptly to hide his embezzled funds, who does this by creating an alternate fraudulent identity. However, having being instrumental in the changing the atmosphere of the prison by setting up a library and helping fellow inmates complete their graduation, Dufresne scripted a prison escape for himself. Following the events that led to his departure, it becomes clear that Andy Dufresne escaped the prison having tunnelled through the walls with the rock hammer given to him shortly after his arrival by his friend Red. Having chronicled the corruption within the prison, he sends his notes to a local newspaper, and walks away with Norton's fortunes, dressed as the man 'with the bank accounts'. This part of the movie reflects a very strong message to the youth community of today. No matter where you are, infact you can never be at a place worse than the prison shown, you can always add wings to your unshared dreams. What all is required is to believe in the possibilities of unexpected amid disdain hopes and all harsh circumstances. Work and believe is the true salvation. Camera angles: The plot of the movie slowly evolves and it has been given great attention from the director. The cinematography of the movie is grand and impressive. The camera angles at which the prison shots have been taken show the sheer magnitude of the daunting, Shawshank Prison life. Background score: The Movie runs in a light but a distinctively clear background score, right from the start. The best background score is felt when Andy finally escaped out of the prison walls after crawling to a 500 yards of shit, to come out clean and free. But what dominates the score and effects is the impetus narration throughout that reveals meanings of every act and conversation going on in a sense that reflects some kind of messages every time they are made. Plot and Act: The acting in the movie has been world class. Morgan Freeman has proved his mettle once again and the maturity shown by Tim Robbins in his character is unmatched. The whole plot of the movie rotate around categorical conversation and clear thoughts of Morgan who suppose ‘he’ll never be able to come out of it’ and Dufresne’s will and hope to see the blue pacific one day as a free man. The movie also gradually saw a small community of friends developing inside the prison who share everything other than their deep buried desires to one day face the parole board and come out liberated. A late but appealable appearance of James Whitmore as Brookes Hatlen gives more subtle meanings to the story of prisoners. It is based on the novella, Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption. The film is an example that not every movie needs to be a box office hit to make it to an all time best gallery. Although at the time of its release it was overshadowed by the success of ‘Forrest Gump’ it slowly proved its worth. After having seven academy nominations it failed to won even a single award only later to be known as the best all time movie ever.

The movie highlights the strength of hope and belief. The protagonist of the movie, the banker, shows how the skills of your trade help you in trying circumstances. Although in jail and in boundations once will power can set him free. The real audacities of the movie: •

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Andy proved what’s once said to him by the warden when the Warden handed his Bible to him that ‘Salvation lies within’. Andy always kept the rock hammer by which he has made his way to tunnel through the wall to escape inside the bible, a turn that brings the movie right to the place from where it started, and gave all the dialogues and acts, a more than perfect conclusion. Brooks Hatlen’s last days of life figure out the minute and bitter complexities of an old age that is destined to live in some kind of fears even after getting out of the prison. He commits suicide in a place that’s to be occupied by Red, in the later part, only to prove what Andy once said to him “Fear can hold you prisoner. Hope can set you free. They both meet in the world, outside the walls, in the middle of an island surrounded by the blue Pacific ocean, as Andy once hoped of.

Some Best Shots: • • • •

Andy Escape scene, A scene when Andy managed to buy icy cold bear for his growing friends in lieu of some will-assistance to the guard. Brooks Hatlen journey, from his successful Parole to his suicide. Morgan’s discovery of Hope in the last, beneath the shadows of a tree.

But the one thing which makes THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION stand above all other films is the attention given to the story. The film depends on the story and the way in which it unravels. The twists were unexpected, although this film had a familiar feel, it wasn't even slightly pretentious or clichéd, it was original. It's a powerful, poignant, thought-provoking and a challenging film like no other. If I was to comment on this film, I would not bash an eyelid in saying "Get busy watching this film, or get busy dying.”