‘Get busy living… or get busy dying…’
I honestly can’t remember when I first saw The Shawshank Redemption. It’s just always been in my life. It’s certainly not a kids’ film but like many of my generation, I saw it as a kid. Whenever people ask me what my favourite film is, a question that I loathe, Shawshank is always on the tip of my tongue. Despite watching it constantly growing up, this rewatch was my first for a good five years. Somehow, with some kind of divine magic, it just keeps getting better…
While it was never marketed as such, The Shawshank Redemption is adapted from a Stephen King novella, and like many of King’s works, the plot is beautiful in its simplicity. Following the murder of his wife and her lover, jilted husband Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) is sent to the fictional Shawshank prison in the fictional town of Castle Rock (both the prison and the town appear regularly throughout King’s work). Upon arrival, he befriends fellow lifer and man who has been known to locate certain objects from time to time, Ellis ‘Red’ Redding (Morgan Freeman). From this jumping-off point, director and regular King adapter Frank Darabont weaves a tale of hope, companionship and occasional intense cruelty.
What makes Shawshank so good? Roger Deakins’ cinematography is unimpeachably gorgeous. Witness the oranges and reds during the rooftop scene, or the blues and greys in the film’s unforgettable final act. It’s a masterclass in camera work and lighting that not only brings the film to life but provides it with its own visual language. You can pause any frame during Shawshank and show it to someone on the street and they’d be able to tell you what movie they are looking at.
Thomas Newman’s stirring score fits perfectly to the point that I only need to hear a few seconds of it and I am transported to Shawshank Prison within moments. It’s never too saccharine. It doesn’t insist on itself. As with all great scores, it compliments the action without overpowering it.
In terms of performance, this is not only Freeman and Robbins at the height of their powers (although neither of them would top their respective performances here), everyone else is firing on all cylinders too. Even the bit parts. Bill Bolender is only on screen for a few seconds as the grotesque murderer Elmo Blatch but his portrayal is etched in my brain nevertheless. Clancey Brown is so commanding that even the other guards cringe from him. Bob Gunton could so easily have made Warden Norton a caricature. Instead, he is the epitome of bureaucratic evil. William Sadler inhabits Andy’s fellow inmate Haywood to such a degree that I can’t separate him from the role (despite his exquisite performance as Death in Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey). And that’s without mentioning James Whitmore as Brooks Hatlen. Just typing that sentence and thinking about Whitmore’s performance almost brought me to tears.
The Shawshank Redemption is one of those rare moments when everything came together perfectly to create something truly magical. This is Sgt. Peppers. It’s The Sopranos. To paraphrase the immortal words of Bret Sergeant Hart (that is his real name… I was surprised too), The Shawshank Redemption is the best there was, the best there is and the best there ever will be.
Cinema’s greatest masterpiece.
