Introduction

Commentary

The Murder

• 
  Soundtrack song reflects Andy's mood of disillusion and fatalism.
  
• 
  Car and clothes suggest 1946. Red later says that "Andy came to Shawshank Prison in 1947 for murdering his wife and the fella she was banging."
  

• 
  Andy is depressed because of the failure of his marriage, but the film gains a lot of its appeal by not telling us things such as this for some time. As with the poster of Rita Hayworth later, the penny takes a very long time to drop.
  
• 
  Immediately, therefore, suspense is a hallmark of this thriller.
  

• 
  The darkness mirrors his mood. The shattering of the bottle = the shattering of his dreams of "love beyond compare."
  

• 
  CUT and AURAL BRIDGE to the courtroom without completing the previous action, leaving us suspended in mid-plot - the scene outside the cabin is intercut with the trial scene.
  

• 
  this both economically compresses events and heightens suspense
  

• 
  It will take several minutes for the courtroom drama to fill in the pieces for us.
  
• 
  Having found out about her affair, Andy angrily refused to give her a divorce in Reno, Nevada, where state laws permit divorce after only six weeks residency, whereas other states demand several years.
  

• 
  V.O. from the trial melds the three scenes together: the two having steamy sex, Andy pondering in the car and the courtroom: smooth CROSS-CUTTING giving variety in story telling.
  
• 
  Andy claims to have thrown the gun into the Royal River on his way home – "I feel I’ve been very clear on this point" (said with calm assurance) but "the police dragged the river for three days and nary a gun was found."
  
• 
  Since Andy’s gun cannot be matched with the bullets found in the two bodies, the prosecutor adds "And that, also, is very convenient, isn’t it, Mr Dufresne?"
  
• 
  LOW ANGLE CU of the prosecutor, raised voice and leaning forward, accentuating his menace.
  

• 
  A nice use of contrasting opposites in the script.
  

• 
  Throughout, a piano tinkles with suspenseful strings, heightening the tension.
  
• 
  "Not a hot-blooded crime of passion" because eight bullets were used and the gun fires only six, so it had to be reloaded. Prosecutor holds up a similar gun for theatrical effect. Evidence all points to Andy: footprints, fingerprints on the bourbon bottle and bullets strewn on the ground, tyre tracks, showing he was there and "most of all, we have a beautiful young woman and her lover lying dead in each other’s arms."
  
• 
  CU LOW ANGLE of Judge heightens his forbidding demeanour; his words come slowly and precisely: "You strike me as a particularly icy and remorseless man, Mr Dufresne. It chills my blood just to look at you."
  

• 
  This slow, formal, frigid atmosphere is aptly contrasted with the immediately preceding hot, hurried, passionate romps of the pair of naked lovers.
  

• 
  HIGH ANGLE CLOSE on Andy, stressing his helplessness before the power of the law: "By the power invested in me by the state of Maine, I hereby order you to serve two life sentences back to back, one for each of your victims. So be it!"
  
• 
  His gavel thumps down in symbolic representation of the law’s awesome force, Andy closes his eyes in hopeless resignation and the screen goes black, representing the awful fate that awaits him.
  

• 
  the audience is left deliberately in the dark re Andy's guilt; indeed, we probably share the judge's distaste for this seemingly cold, unemotional man. A PAN across the jurors suggests they do too.
  

INT. PRISON – DAY

Noisy, iron bars slide open, and another door opens into a room where five men sit at a table. This is the parole hearings room of maximum-security Shawshank Prison, where a black prisoner/lifer (#30265) named Ellis Boyd "Red" Redding, after serving 20 years of his life sentence, receives his cursory annual review.

Reviewer:	You feel you've been re-habilitated?
Red:	Oh yes sir. Absolutely, sir. Yeah, I've learned my lesson. I can honestly say that I'm a changed man. I'm no longer a danger to society. That's the God's honest truth.

A mechanical stamp marks "REJECTED" in red ink on his parole records, suggesting that no notice is actually taken of what is said by the con. Or perhaps that the panel can see that Red says what he thinks they want him to say, rather than speaking honestly.

• 
  An unexpected scene juxtaposed with the previous – again, a panel sits in judgement
  

• 
  An unexpected scene now follows, seemingly totally unconnected to the previous one, though the smooth transition suggests this is where we are going.
  
• 
  Red enters a parole board hearing. Red’s body language shows his nervousness.
  

• 
  We never learn details of his crime – one of the many unanswered questions in the film that make for suspense and force us to think for ourselves.
  

• 
  The red "Rejected" = pun on his name?
  

• 
  Note the mechanical stamp - there’s no human touch at Shawshank.
  

• 
  CLOSE in on Red – he is the other main character, clearly identified.
  

• 
  Red steps into the prison yard and we get our first look at Shawshank Prison. Grey walls.
  

"Same ol’ shit, different day."

Then, in a telling insight into their attitude to the system, one remarks, "I’m up for rejection next week."

Red begins the V.O. narration that anchors the film. He is the prison's respected retriever:

There must be a con like me in every prison in America. I'm the guy who can get it for you. Cigarettes, a bag of reefer if that's your thing, a bottle of brandy to celebrate your kid's high school graduation, damn near anything within reason. Yes sir, I'm a regular Sears and Roebuck.

Red recollects: "So when Andy Dufresne came to me in 1949 and asked me to smuggle Rita Hayworth into the prison for him, I told him 'No problem.'"

An aerial (helicopter) shot moves up from the arriving bus, ascends the main tower of the prison, and peers down into the prison courtyard where ant-like prisoners swarm towards the main gate to gawk and jeer while the new arrivals - "the new fish" – disembark

V.O.	Andy came to Shawshank Prison in early 1947 for murdering his wife and the fella she was banging'. On the outside, he'd been vice-president of a large Portland bank. Good work for a man as young as he was.

Andy, dressed conspicuously in his banker's suit, is seated in the back of the bus.

Commentary

A sweeping helicopter travelling shot of the approach to the prison (actually Mansfield Prison, Ohio) and the prison yard behind reveals the massive Gothic Victorian towers and high walls, the immense area of the compound, in comparison with which humans are puny and insignificant.

• 
  the shot is highly symbolic, reflecting how it is impossible to escape, how crushing the system is. The system is awesome and forbidding.
  

• 
  Subsequent shots emphasise the intimidating nature of the surrounds – steel mesh fencing, grey walls, a bleak sky, ruthless guards, gates guarded, tight security, guards on high with machine guns – while in contrast, green fields and trees lie beyond.
  

Life is so humdrum that arrival of new prisoners is a highlight.

As the bus turns the corner into the prison, there are five blue-uniformed guards waiting there - the chief captain of the guard, Byron Hadley, motions the bus into position. Chained together, the prisoners exit from the bus, walk in single-file, and are lined up for inspection. Andy appears tormented and terrified as he nervously walks into his new surroundings while surrounded by shouting spectators who shake the fence.

The old-timer inmates bet "smokes" on the new 'horses' and who will break first - Floyd bets on "that little sack of shit - eighth from the front, he'll be first." Heywood chooses "that chubby fat-ass there, the fifth one from the front." Red votes for Andy - "that tall drink of water with a silver spoon up his ass" - at the end of the line:

V.O.	I must admit I didn't think much of Andy first time I laid eyes on him. Looked like a stiff breeze would blow him over. That was my first impression of the man.

Andy glances up at the imposing walls above him - walls that will close in on his life - as he is marched in.

Commentary

• 
  Jeering inmates rattle the steel mesh fencing like caged animals in the zoo. In other words, they are beasts.
  

• 
  The crude, prison vocabulary lends authenticity to the scene, suggests the brutality and inhumanity prisoners show to each other and makes for an original, fine script.
  

• 
  Poetic imagery makes this no ordinary script and the statement implies that something will happen to change Red’s opinion, so creating tension.
  

• 
  The main characters are quickly characterised: Heywood has a slight stammer and sweeping blond hair; Hadley looks as if he would be at home in a Nazi concentration camp.
  

In an admitting area, the prisoners meet Samuel Norton, the self-righteous, Bible-carrying Warden:

The Warden finishes his short, pompous introduction: "I believe in two things - discipline and the Bible. Here you'll receive both. Put your trust in the Lord. Your ass belongs to me. Welcome to Shawshank."

To remove all vestiges of their identity in - or contamination from - the outer world, the new cons are made to undress, are hosed down in a steel cage with high-pressure water spray, and deloused with scoops of white delousing powder. As part of their degrading processing, they are given prison clothes and a Bible, and marched exposed and naked to their individual cells, their new homes in the cellblock- a three-tiered structure of concrete and steel.

Commentary

CUT to a yellow line as the prisoners file in, the line symbolising the rules they will have to follow. Door clangs behind them. The only light comes from behind the men, stressing forbidding darkness - hence menace. They are facing blackness. Warden Norton steps out of the shadows, foreshadowing the evil side to his character and the hatred with which he will be regarded by the prisoners. Ironically, he talks of lightness, God the light of the world. Lovely antithesis.

• 
  More irony, Norton speaks as if he is a tourist operator greeting pleasure seeking guests.
  
• 
  The brutality of the place is quickly revealed as Norton nods permission to Hadley to beat and threaten the outspoken prisoner.
  

• 
  But would a cowed prisoner ask such an insolent question on arrival? It is rather unsubtle as a quick illustration of the brutality.
  
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  The language reflects the coarseness of life here – though Hadley does not actually blaspheme. Contrast with Norton's pleasant, "Welcome to Shawshank."
  
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  The nudity emphasises brutalising and demeaning; the force of the water hosed on them indicates power and cleansing from their sins. Cold realisation dawns on the men.
  
• 
  Norton has his quick identifiers: suit and tie, round glasses, a gold cross on his suit.
  

A wonderful WIDE EST. shot of the prison, with the only sound those of frogs; CUT to

"Lights out!"

"The boys always go fishing with first timers and they don’t quit until they reel someone in. Most new fish come close to madness the first night. Somebody always breaks down crying. Happens every time."

The one nicknamed 'Fat-Ass" is mercilessly teased by Heywood:

"This place ain't so bad. Tell you what. I'll introduce you around. Make you feel right at home. I know a couple of big ol' bull queers that'd just love to make your acquaintance, especially that big white mushy butt of yours."

When the squeamish, hyperventilating victim wails and pleads despairingly: "Oh God! I don't belong here! I wanna go home," the prisoners chant: "Fresh fish!" Heywood’s "horse" has won his bet "by a nose". The oppressed Fat-Ass blubbers his complaints to Hadley and is beaten with an unceasing rain of baton blows and kicked in the face until he lies still on the cold floor. The captain of the guard commands his lackeys: "Call the trustees. Take that tub of shit down to the infirmary."

Red loses his cigarette bet to Heywood: “His first night in the joint, Andy Dufresne cost me two packs of cigarettes. He never made a sound.”

BLACK

Commentary

Lights out. Red plays with a ball. He is an impassive observer of what happens next.

• 
  The slamming of doors emphasises the fact of incarceration.
  
• 
  The implied buggery and the use of the animal metaphor highlight how bestial the place is.
  
• 
  Hadley's blasphemy is ironic given Norton’s statement that there would be no blasphemy in prison. He is above the law. He pays no attention to the rules. He is a law unto himself.
  
• 
  Andy's silence impresses Red; his admiration for him begins.
  
• 
  "Nothing left but all the time in the world to think about it." - Lovely antithesis again.
  

The next morning after a head-count in front of their individual cells in the cellblock, the prisoners are marched to the mess hall for breakfast. As Andy, # 37927, moves through the room, one of the 'bull queer' inmates named Bogs Diamond gives him a salacious glance. As he begins eating a scoop of oatmeal on his metal tray, Andy picks out a squirming white maggot with his fingers. A neighbouring, elderly inmate Brooks Hatlen inquires: "Are - are you going to eat that?"

With everyone expecting that Brooks will eat the wiggling creature, he instead offers the "nice and ripe" maggot to a baby crow (named Jake) nestled in the inside pocket of his droopy blue sweater - he is its caretaker until it matures and flies away to freedom: "Fell out of his nest over by the plate shop. I'm going to look after him until he's big enough to fly." Illustrates human need to love someone or something.

Heywood gleefully gloats about winning the bet and collects cigarettes as payment from everyone: "I want 'em all lined up just like a pretty little chorus line." Need to compare this with the outside world; stresses the bleak life they live.

But his victory is won with a deadly toll and price for Fat-Ass: "Dead," says a trustee. "Hadley busted his head up pretty good. Doc had already gone home for the night. Poor bastard laid there till this morning. By then, hell, there was nothing we could do."

Commentary

PAN around prisoners as camera tracks Andy.

Breakfast. Andy walks past Bogs, who shows an obvious interest in him; homosexuality is thus reaffirmed. The looming menace for Andy grows. An MS focuses on Bogs Diamond, so foreshadowing the menace.

Andy finds a maggot in his porridge – more testing of the newcomer – and Brooks asks for it, "nice and ripe."

• 
  We are repelled by the implied horror of men stooping so low as to eat maggots because the food is so horrible but then, in one of the many twists Darabont gives us, we realise that Brooks is feeding the maggot to his pet bird, a small crow, Jake, hidden in a pocket of his sweater.
  

• 
  There is someone with humanity in the place after all.
  

• 
  The remoteness of the imagery stresses how far removed they all are from outside life.
  

• 
  But Fat Ass is dead - murder has been committed and the culprit will never be punished.
  

• 
  Andy is humane, wanting to identify the dead man as a person. But the prisoners have been so brutalized that they do not care. What does a life matter in prison?
  

A lone mournful clarinet wails his obsequies while Andy reflects.

INT. SHOWER ROOM – DAY

Bogs - one of the prison's Sisters - asks Andy a leading question: “Hey, anybody come at you yet? Anybody get to you yet? Hey, we all need friends in here. I could be a friend to you. (Andy breaks away without responding) Hard to get. I like that.”

Andy's assigned job is to work in the prison laundry room, where he "kept pretty much to himself at first. I guess he had a lot on his mind, trying to adapt to life on the inside. It wasn't until a month went by that he finally opened his mouth to say more than two words to somebody."

• 
  Heightens tension, plus signpost for future. Makes Andy's naïveté in the next scene more obvious.
  
• 
  Bogs identified by his slightly receding red hair.
  

While Red plays catch in the prison yard, Andy ("the wife-killing banker") ambles over to break the month-long silence: