Shawshank Redemption is probably one of my favorite movies. After watching the film over 10 times, it still never gets old. Even though I wrote a film review a few weeks back, I just had to mention another one. I watched the movie about a week ago and I just had to talk about it. Jon Sandys wrote a well informed explanation and summary of this movie, so I use some of his writing to give you all, the reader, a great understanding of the movie.
Wrongly accused of a double homicide he didn't commit, a banker named Andy Dufresne is sent to Shawshank Prison for life. In prison he befriends an inmate named Red who is able to smuggle things from the outside. He asked Red for a rock hammer (saying he liked geology). He later asks for a poster. After he befriends the guards by giving them financial advice, the warden takes an interest in him. Andy builds a prison library and helps the warden do shady financial scams. One day a newcomer named Tommy tells Andy that in prison he talked to an inmate Ernie who said he killed a banker's wife and her boyfriend but that it was framed on Andy. Andy tells the warden who is skeptical. The Warden then has Tommy shot. Andy doesn't want to help the warden with his scam anymore, but the warden blackmails him into further help by threatening to destroy the library. One morning, Andy is gone. The Guards search his cell and eventually find that he dug his way out of the wall with the hammer and hid the hole with the poster. This process took Andy nearly twenty years. Andy then takes the money acquired from the scam (a banker’s salary for 20 years) and leaves town. The police attempt to arrest the Warden, who commits suicide. Red passes his parole board and reunites with Andy in a Pacific Mexican Town. What makes this film one of the best ever made is the message it conveys. It is one of eternal hope. Andy Dufresne has been sent to prison for a crime he did not commit, but he never loses hope. He never gives up his quest to become a free man again. His years of tenacity, patience and wits keep him not only sane, but it gives his mind and a spirit a will to live. My favorite quote is said at the end of the movie. Right before he escapes, Andy says to Red, “I guess it comes down to a simple choice, really. Get busy living or get busy dying.”
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