Shawshank Redemption

Theatrical release poster.

Ok so let me just start by saying that people who haven't watched this movie, shame on you! No seriously, go watch it as soon as possible! I really love this movie and I thought it's a good choice for my first post. The plot is ingenious, the actors are fantastic. All in all, this movie ticks all the right boxes!
It's a 1994 American Drama film written and directed by Frank Darabont, starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman. It was adapted from Stephen King's novel Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption.This movie is the kind of movie that you really need to watch atleast once! Before you do, let me tell you it's not one of those "make you feel good" movies nor does it have a love story of any sort. And those of you under the impression that it's an action movie (I was before I watched it) sorry but it isn't. It's mentally taxing and you need to pay attention while watching it. So if you're planning to watch it after a long day of running around or working or if you plan on watching it with your boyfriend/girlfriend I'd advise you to not do so.. Unless of course the two of you really do wanna "WATCH" the movie! The basic plot of the movie is about a banker called Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins), he gets sent to Shawshank Prison for the murder of his wife and her lover. Adultery! The movie has you hooked right from the start while you're trying to figure out whether he did commit the murders or not. So anyway he gets sent to prison and befriends Ellis Boyd "Red" Redding (Morgan Freeman) who's a contraband smuggler and is serving a life sentence for murder. You see the difference in both their personalities, Andy is still hopeful and dreams of a life outside prison whereas Red thinks that it it's unrealistic to think that way. I think he feels that way because he got rejected twice before finally receiving parole after 40 years. Andy explains that he holds onto hope as it is the one thing the prison can't take away from him. Also Freeman has an authoritative presence and demeanor. Tim Robbins, on the other hand is reserved and also doesn't give off that vibe of nonchalance that Morgan Freeman does. The movie goes on to show us how he tries to improve the decrepit library at Shawshank by regularly sending the state government letters. He helps an inmate pass his General Education Development examinations and later Samuel Norton, the pious but corrupt warden of Shawshank Prison uses him in his money laundering operation. This film captures various facets of prison life like institutionalization, prison sexuality and most importantly how prisoners aren't able to survive once they're let out. The world moves too fast for them to keep up and after having other people make decisions for them, they're incapable of doing so for themselves much less living their own lives. It also made me think about how punishment in reality is something that the government imposes upon criminals to appease society, it doesn't really matter to them whether the criminal has been reformed or not.
So there's a lot that can be said about this movie and I'm not getting into the nitty - gritties or giving too many details because the twists and turns in the movie are just too brilliant! I'm sure you'll get a lot more from it because it is one of those movies that different people say different things about and I think that's what makes it a great movie. If you've already watched it then please leave comments and actually leave comments anyway because this is my first try at blogging and I would like to know what you think about it!