May 19, 2004 02:12 PM
2735 Views
(Updated May 19, 2004 02:12 PM)
It?s always tough job to adapt best sellers onto silver screen because the director is always under pressure to keep the movie up to the expectations of the readers. There have been some amazing adaptations like The Green mile(Stephen King), A Beautiful Mind (Silvia Nasser), The Rainmaker (John Grisham), The Exorcist (William Blatty), The Godfather trilogy (Mario puzzo), The Lord of the Rings trilogy(JRR Tolkein) et al and some disastrous ones like The Chamber and the Harry Porter series. The Shawshank Redemption, an adaptation of Stephen King?s novel of the same name belong to the former category or so say the aficionados of Stephen King.
Though I haven?t read the book, the movie left me lost for words. It?s one most outstanding movies I have ever seen even in my most cynical terms. The reason? It portrays the ever enduring human spirit and resourcefulness.
The story evolves around Andy Dufresne, an soft-spoken banker whose wife and lover got killed on a bleak summer night and becomes suspicious for the murders due to obvious reasons. He failed to defend himself and was subjected for life imprisonment in Shawshank, one of the dense, medium security prisons in the modern day America.
Andy is a reserved and reticent type. He decided to confine himself in just reading books and carving stones. But soon he befriends with Ellis Boyd ?Red? Redding who claims to be the only guilty man in Shawshank. He has been there for more than half of his lifetime and has lost hope of walking out as a free man one day. If you have a habit of reading, keeping posters, smoking, Red is the man for you. He usually gets these stuff for the inmates.
The movie is narrated by Red throughout as he gradually uncovers the different facets of Andy?s extraordinary personality. Brooke is another character that stands out in the movie. He has been in the prison for almost his full life span. He carries a raven with him and hate to leave the prison.
Andy offered help to the Jail warden -whom Red describes as ? as straight as an arrow?- for filing his tax returns. As time passes Andy becomes famous in Shawshank. He helped other officers also in their tax problems. Before long, he becomes in charge of the prison library. He attempted teaching the small time crook Johnny reading and writing, who incidentally reveals one of many dark secrets of warden Norton ( which I am not going to tell as it?s a lead to movie?s climax) What follows is a dramatic escape of Andy from the Shawshank. Red once described the walls of Shawshank so strong that it will take 20 years for an ordinary man to tear it off. But then how did Andy escape? Or was Andy an ordinary man?
Red was being called for examining his rehabilitation status. Rejected many times, Red had only one reply '' Rehabilitated, it?s just a bull-shit word. So go on and stamp your forms sonny, and stop wasting my time, to tell you the truth, I don?t give a shit.? He was granted permission. Out after a long time, Red could not find any reason to live. If there was one thing that stopped him, it was a promise. A promise he made to his dear friend Andy. As told to him, Red went to a small Oak tree where he found the small box that Andy said he will keep.
It had a few bills and a letter. The letter said inter alia ?.....hope is a good thing and no good thing ever dies......? And Red could see where to find Andy.
Tim Robbins plays the delicate role of Andy Dufresne with such panache and excellence that one would think that no one can play Andy better than he did. Red was eternalized by Morgan Freeman, one of my favorite Hollywood actors. The style of his narration and the longevity he rendered to Red has a lot to do with the movie?s success. He is famous for his outstanding roles in Seven (with Brad Pitt), Urban Legend, Chain Reaction and many other movies. Gil Bellows of Ally McBeal plays a cameo as Johnny in the movie. Directed by Frank Darabond, the movie surprisingly missed out the Oscars completely.
The movie wont be better without the suspense of its climax. An unusual object sets on fire the climax scene- a poster of Rita Hayworth. That?s enough clues for the climax. If you haven?t seen the movie yet, I would recommend that you keep note of its dialogues also.
The movie has some of the most everlasting dialogues like ?Get busy living or Get busy dying? by Andy which was rated as one of top three most popular dialogues of all time( the first was ? I?ll be back? of Terminator II, indisputably) I have seen the movie 3 times over now. It was a wonderful movie that taught me that there?s no such thing as limit of human spirit. Nothing can stop human spirit, not even warden Norton or the Shawshank state prison.
