The core behind Shawshank

I haven’t had the chance to sit down and watch a movie in some time. I decided to go back to one of my all-time favourite, The Shawshank Redemption is definitely one of my top 10. This got me wondering what made this movie, to me, a masterpiece. I haven’t sat down and break down a movie for some time, the set-up, the inciting incident and so on. This surprised me, why haven’t I done this for one of my favourite movies? Not a great deal happens in the movie, action wise (apart from a few scenes, the brutal bashings from the “sisters” and the ending) But What makes it work? I think it boils down the characters, Red, Dufrane, Brooks, the sisters, the warden, the major etc. This is where Stephen King is, King. His characters are without a doubt the most interesting, complicated, conflicted and last but not least, believable. I think Frank Darabont did an amazing job (won an Oscar I believe) in translating the novel to film. He also wrote the green mile, another masterpiece. Frank also wrote on AMC’s “The walking Dead” and was a main writer for the show for a couple of seasons. Back to Shawshank, I always believed that the main character in the movie was, Andrew Dufrane (Tim Robbin’s character) But I believe that it is fact Red’s story (Morgan Freeman) He is the narrator of the movie and he is telling us how he met Dufrane during their time in shawshank. It’s interesting how it takes nearly an hour to show the audience that the main core of the story. The story isn’t about Shawshank or Dufrane, but Hope. The story is about Red, who after spending more than 30 years being (Red’s words) institutelized by the wall surrounding Shawshank, he is able to learn how to hope again. And this would never have happened if he never met, Andy Dufrane. A Masterpiece.