This movie was recommended to me by a close friend a few months ago. When I downloaded it, it didn't strike me as an interesting movie, maybe because it was a very old movie or because it didn't start the way I presumed. But trust me, a few minutes later into the movie, I was all in, carried away, and I never expected or predicted the ending because what happened, I didn't expect it. It was an interestingly superb watch for me. I don't say that lightly, and I don't think many films actually earn it.
This movie is all about a prison drama made in 1994, and one of the reasons why in mind, I said it might not be interesting, but I was totally wrong. It is one of those movies with no horror, but each scene carried weight with calm. It follows Andy Dufresne, a well-composed, quiet financial expert who got convicted wrongfully for murdering his wife and the man she was having a sexual affair with and was sentenced to life imprisonment at Shawshank prison when he met different inmates, but he became so close with Morgan Freeman, who played the role of Red, a prisoner who had been in prison for almost twenty years before he got there. Red took him as a friend and even unknowingly provided a small rock hammer that he used to escape towards the ending of the movie.
Even though there was an escape towards the end, as it usually happens in most prison movies, to me, while watching, I saw something that made the movie different from all other prison movies, which is how Andy held onto his sense of self inside a place that was specifically built to strip it away from him in the long run. He remained composed and decent all through, even when faced with prison challenges, and that even motivated him to help other inmates and prison wardens with his financial skills.
He even built a library out of nothing and wrote to the government for several years until they provided the library with books, refusing to let his position or the institution decide his worth.
Tim Robbins, who played the role of Andy, used his financial expert skills to solve problems for others, yet he used the rock hammer provided by his best friend in prison to plan his escape by digging a tunnel in his room for years that no one escaped, and at the end of the day, he still successfully took away the investment of the chief warden; his kind of stillness makes all the scenes land harder. And Red also made the movie more interesting by using his comforting voice to narrate the brutal things.
The twist, when it comes, is one of the most satisfying reveals in film history. I won't spoil it here, hehe.
Amidst all the odd, different things that came to my mind even after watching the movie, there was this smile on my face because I never expected what I saw; it was that hope is dangerous inside a place built to keep someone insane, even though that is probably the strongest thing enough to withstand and survive the place.
After watching the movie, I googled it, read a bit about the production and I stumbled on a article that said the movie was nominated for over eight Academy awards but to my greatest suprise it didn't win any like a movie so good like this. Wahooo, just wahooo. Well, it was a classy movie to me, and those people I recommended it for also gave almost the same review as mine.
It has become one of the high rated movies I have seen so far this year, and if you have not watched it yet, it's the weekend already, you can chillax and enjoy with your popcorn while watching.
Other images are screenshots from my movie player
Rating: 100/100
Rating: 100/100