The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

When you become known as the local film nut, the one who is obsessed with all things movie, you tend you get given stuff. I was always being given torn out newspaper articles about film projects or statistics, and among these were plenty of "100 Films To See BEFORE YOU DIE", which is a grisly idea if you think about it. One of the films always on these lists is The Shawshank Redemption, and I'd never seen it before now despite the fact I've been meaning to for a long time. I think it was probably part of project "Don't Let Baby See Scary Films", which is fair enough since I've always wanted to see films far and above the BBFC limitations. My Six year old self has never quite gotten over not seeing Romeo + Juliet upon its first release.  Now that I have, the lists say I'm ready to die, so I'm not sure what I'm living for. I guess I'll just have to make it up as I go along.

It deserves its reputation as a classic; it's very difficult to think of anything wrong with this film: it has flawless acting, cinematography, plotting, characterisation, direction and editing. It has deep moral themes without being preachy and it illuminates an aspect of history in a way which reflects upon modern day society. The only wriggle-room I could see for improvement is if the characters were see to age a little better, but it's a very small thing. Where does that leave the critic? Sitting on her sofa stuck for something to say, is where. (Sidenote: lots of sibbilants there!)

My favourite thing about the script was its careful laying down of looping structures. I love these. My favourite is actually purely visual: in Trois Coleurs: Rouge the protagonist is a model, and her image is up on billboards throughout the film advertising chewing gum. In a completely haunting bit of looping, the final shot is a perfect mirror of that image, although in very different circumstances. It does sound like much if you haven't seen it, but I get chills just thinking about it. I've got them now writing about it!

In Shawshank, it's things like the room where both Brooks and Red stay - it feels more like a unified whole. And then there's the signposting which makes the twist (or more like reveal I suppose, since it's never revealed that Andy is dead...) both surprising, but also make sense. There's nothing worse than a twist you can't understand, because rather than making the film look clever it just makes you feel stupid. I know this because I've written those scripts, and they've been rubbish. A good twist is clever, but of the "why didn't I think of that before!" kind. It's a tricky balance between obvious and incomprehensible.

I do expect that I'll watch this again, probably many times. The mise-en-scene create the kind of atmosphere which very special films do (I'd count The Godfather and Bladerunner too) which draws you in and immerses you in that world for 90 or 200 minutes. It's not necessarily a pleasant world, in fact, its brutality feels more realistic - real enough to get lost in. It's engrossing, and it only comes from a brilliant script well executed - that elusive combination! I was engrossed by The Shawshank Redemption, so that I didn't really want it to end despite the perfect note of the end.

On that subject, I think the addition to the ending was a good decision. It needed that confirmation - I couldn't bear the thought of Red possibly being apprehended on the border, or of him arriving to find that Andy wasn't there. Not patronizing the audience is all well and good, but I do actually like to know what the writer thinks happened - especially when it's a writer who has guided me through a film so well.