Introduction
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Contents
Introduction The Shawshank Redemption is an impressive, engrossing piece of film-making from first-time director/screenwriter Frank Darabont who adapted horror master Stephen King's 1982 novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption (first published in Different Seasons). The inspirational, life-affirming and uplifting, old-fashioned style Hollywood product - resembling The Birdman of Alcatraz (1962) and Cool Hand Luke (1967) - is a combination prison/dramatic film and character study, abetted by the golden cinematography of Roger Deakins, a touching score by Thomas Newman, and a third imposing character - Maine's oppressive Shawshank State Prison itself (filmed at the transformed, condemned Mansfield Ohio Correctional Institution). Posters for the film illustrate the liberating, redemptive power of hope and the religious themes of freedom and resurrection, with the words: "Fear can hold you prisoner, Hope can set you free." It is a patiently-told, allegorical tale - unfolding like a long-played, sometimes painstaking, persistent chess game - of friendship, patience, hope, survival and ultimate redemption by the time of the film's finale. Peter Beale
The director and actors see the film as about "being able to retain a sense of self, a sense of hope, a sense of dignity in the face of appalling conditions", about "finding a way to cope, to survive in the face of hopelessness." The prison is a "metaphor for life", says the producer. Tim Robbins, many years later, said the film was a celebration of the power of friendship, of (non-sexual) love between men. The Shawshank Redemption
Main Cast
Based on the short novel by Stephen King, "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption." 1994; 136 minutes The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor (Morgan Freeman), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Original Score, and Best Sound - and failed to win a single Oscar. The film's director Frank Darabont was not nominated, and nor was Tim Robbins, even though his superb performance anchors the film. But that's the Academy for you! NB: the film is R16 in NZ, which makes it illegal for anyone to show it to children under that age. © 2004, Peter Beale © Judy Lewis, editor and additional material Artemis Enterprises, 16 Ritchie Pl, Havelock North, New Zealand; [00 64] 6 8776 405, fax 8776 408 artemis.enterprises@clear.net.nz www.artemis-film-guides.com This teaching guide is sold for the exclusive use of the department or individual who purchases it. It is a breach of copyright if all or part of it is given to any other person. The Film: Action and Commentary DVD Chapter 1: Opening Credits Summary A scratchy car radio (on the soundtrack) plays the song: "If I Didn't Care," performed by the Inkspots: If I didn't care, more than words can say,
FADE IN
EXT. NIGHT - OUTSIDE CABIN; PULL BACK, TRACK to a car parked outside a cabin [belonging to a golf pro engaged in an affair with an adulterous wife], a dark, quiet night in a wooded area [in the year 1946]. The driver, the woman's husband, reaches for his oily, rag-wrapped gun in the glove compartment - a gun and bullets are concealed within. To fortify himself, he takes a swig of bourbon from a glass bottle. CUT to a courtroom trial scene where the driver, now identified as Andy Dufresne, is interrogated by the D.A. and charged with murder: "Mr Dufresne, describe the confrontation you had with your wife the night that she was murdered." Chapter 2: Courtroom Opening The well-dressed, mild-mannered defendant calmly speaks: "It was very bitter. She said she was glad I knew, that she hated all the sneaking around. She said she wanted a divorce in Reno... I told her I would not grant one." The D.A. re-phrases Andy's response with his actual words: "'I'll see you in Hell before I see you in Reno.” Those were the words you used, Mr Dufresne, according to the testimony of your neighbours." Andy had discovered his wife was having an affair with Glenn Quentin, the golf pro at the Snowdon Hills Country Club. According to Andy, he felt confused and drunk, loaded his gun with bullets, but then after quickly "sobering up," he had second thoughts. On his way home: "...I stopped and I threw my gun into the Royal River." The next morning, the bullet-riddled bodies of Andy's wife and her lover - in bed - were discovered. Andy's "very convenient" testimony and unbelievable profession of innocence, coupled with the fact that "the police dragged that river for three days and nary a gun was found," seem rather suspicious to the DA. The water washed away all evidence of his innocence. His closing summary to the jury, illustrated with a brief flashback-montage of the adulterous couple's passionate love-making, points to Andy's undeniable guilt: “We have the accused at the scene of the crime. We have footprints, tyre tracks. We have bullets strewn on the ground, which bear his fingerprints. A broken bourbon bottle, likewise with fingerprints. And most of all, we have a beautiful young woman and her lover lying dead in each other's arms. They had sinned. But was their crime so great as to merit a death sentence? A revolver holds six bullets, not eight. I submit that this was not a hot-blooded crime of passion. That, at least, could be understood if not condoned. No - this was revenge of a much more brutal and cold-blooded nature. Consider this. Four bullets per victim. Not six shots fired but eight. That means that he fired the gun empty and then stopped to reload so that he could shoot each of them again. An extra bullet per lover, right in the head.” The "icy and remorseless" man is sentenced by the Maine judge (John Horton) to "serve two life sentences back to back - one for each of your victims." The gavel marking the sentence pounds the screen to black. |
