The Shawshank Redemption
Double Sided US One Sheet, Rolled, 27 x 40 inches
Based on a Stephen King short story, The Shawshank Redemption went from being a relatively unheard of cinematic flop (a small domestic gross of around $28m) to a home viewing juggernaught that captured the imagination of the public and became a firm favourite. At the time of writing (Sept 2011), the film sits at the top of the IMDB top 250 films list and has had over 640k people give it a rating on the site. Despite a host of Oscar nominations (it didn’t win any, mainly due to the domination of Forest Gump that year), I’ve found some critics to be rather cynical and sniffy towards it, perhaps because of the slightly sentimental tone, but I love the film. I think if you watch it with an open mind, it’s hard not to be charmed by the friendship between Andy Dufresne and Red that’s at the heart of the film. There’s much to enjoy: Morgan Freeman’s wonderful voiceover guiding the narrative, a good supporting cast, the warm matinee feel it has, the spectacular prison set, a suitably nasty warden, the lows of life in prison (‘the sisters’, weeks in the hole, Brooks’ death, Tommy’s murder), contrasted with the uplifting moments (Mozart on the intercom, the library, the Rita Hayworth twist). I don’t understand the criticism of the ending either (King’s short story ends with Red on the bus saying he hopes to find Andy and some have a problem with the ending of the film being too explicit), but I think that the way the camera pulls out as Andy and Red greet each other on that beach provides a privacy that is respectful to the two characters and it’s a fitting and heartwarming conclusion. This poster is for the 10th Anniversary cinematic re-release (in 2004) and has beautiful art by the great Drew Struzan. |