"When hope can grab a man insane"

I still remember the first time I watched the movie for the very first time. I think I was 13 or 14 year old, but I can't forget the scene when "Andy" was escaping from prison, and he was waiting for thunder to strike so he can hit this cylinder and find his way out. Years pass and I couldn't remember the name of this movie, 5 years again pass and I watch "The Shawshank Redemption" by accident.

"The Shawshank Redemption" is a long American movie that was produced in 1994 by Niki Marvin and directed by Frank Darabont. It's based on a Stephen King novel "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption", Starring Tim Robbins as Andy Dufresne, Morgan Freeman as Red, Bob Gunton as William Sadler as and music by Thomas Newman.

The movie came out with the lowest budget in the history of American cinema, and it has the highest rate on the IMDb website, although it didn't achieve much when it comes to the box office. Surprisingly, it's the only movie with no cinematic mistakes –not even one.

 Andy Dufresne the banker is accused of killing his wife and her lover. Despite the claims of being innocent, he got sentenced to life in the shawshank redemption where he meets Red and become friends.  Andy suffers from being bullied until his relationships strengthened with the prison officials and tells them about means to avoid paying many taxes.

Andy knows that he's innocent, so he spends twenty years planning to escape by digging a tunnel in the wall. Although new evidences proves Andy's innocence, the prison director hide them and kill the witness so Andy keeps his taxes records under control, so he takes his plan to escape into action.

The settings of the movie are in a prison most of the time. The time interval is between 1930's and 1950's. The mise en scene is suitable for the theme of the movie; the lighting too is terrific throughout the whole movie. The movie was shot in the early 1990's in Ohayo.

As for cinematography, the cinematographer is the genius Roger Deakins. He used all his genius tools to make a piece of art out of a typical story. He used the right angles to make frames in consistency with each others, also repeating the same frames in order to show how time changes one's personality, and this appears by comparing the frames of the scenes when Morgan Freeman meet the committee in order to release him.

 

One of Thomas Newman's best music pieces ever is the musical theme of this movie. The music is so classical and classy, it mainly reflects Andy's personality; as he is different and unique although his misfortune with his marriage and his imprisonment. 

The movie is mainly based on the narration with the voice over of Red telling the story of his friend. The voice over of Morgan Freeman, the amazing cinematography and the musical background makes you feel like you are standing in front of a classical painting in the Louvre with a Bach's music in the background.  

 I think The Shawshank Redemption is a reflection for reality; every one of us is living in their own redemption, either a place or a job or a couple. It's all the things we get attached to and lock ourselves in, so when they change or leave life never returns the same again.