Day 10
Film 8
I had heard a great many good things about this movie. It was enough to get me to watch it at 4 something in the morning when I could not get to sleep. I had seen the ending to this film a couple times and maybe some of the innards from time to time on television, but never sat through it from beginning to end.
I will say this from the start, Shawshank is a good piece of cinema. It has some respectable performances, although the only memorable one was Robbins' quiet, broken, performance as Andy Dufresne. The screen play was top notch, stitching together a powerful and challenging story with an array of tidbits to attack critically. The only problem I can think of was that it just would not end and I wonder if I would have liked the film even more if when Dufresne escapes from jail and screws the warden if it ended right there. That is a minor problem when compared to the rest of the film.
From a critical standpoint it does feel as if Darabont was focusing on criticizing corruption from every facet of society. He builds the prison as its own little universe detached from the rest of the world. The Warden forms himself into a god like character who gives life to the inmates, or forces their death through his army of angelic guards. Through the warden's actions Darabont seems to be sniping at God fearing Christians, making them the murders and the monsters while having the inmates be the human ones.
It all feels very Cuckoo's Nest like.
I could go on and on, making up shit about the film, but I will not. The film really could use a couple re watchings, and until I get around to that I cannot really come to any true conclusions.
Here is the bottom line: The Shawshank Redemption is a great piece of cinema, blending a complex and challenging message into a deep story. If you have not seen it you should.
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