High Brooms Film Club

A PsybaSpacePlace for Etherites to discuss critique and recommend Farkin Good films!

Sunday 23 March 2008

Shawshank Redemption


Hello this is my first choice for 5th april or whenever please use comments to say if you've seen, would see again, agree or disagree with choice review etc....

The Shawshank Redemption (1994) is an impressive, engrossing piece of film-making from director/screenwriter Frank Darabont who adapted horror master Stephen King's 1982 novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption (first published in Different Seasons) for his first feature film. The inspirational, life-affirming and uplifting, old-fashioned style Hollywood product (resembling The Birdman of Alcatraz (1962) and Cool Hand Luke (1967)) is a combination prison/dramatic film and character study. The popular film is abetted by the golden cinematography of Roger Deakins, a touching score by Thomas Newman, and a third imposing character - Maine's oppressive Shawshank State Prison (actually the transformed, condemned Mansfield Ohio Correctional Institution or State Reformatory).
Posters for the film illustrate the liberating, redemptive power of hope and the religious themes of freedom and resurrection, with the words: "Fear can hold you prisoner, Hope can set you free." Darabont's film is a patiently-told, allegorical tale (unfolding like a long-played, sometimes painstaking, persistent chess game) of friendship, patience, hope, survival, emancipation, and ultimate redemption and salvation by the time of the film's finale.

It was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor (Morgan Freeman), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Original Score, and Best Sound - but it failed to win a single Oscar. And the film's director failed to receive a nomination for himself! In the same year as Forrest Gump, Pulp Fiction, and Speed, they received all of the attention. Only through positive word-of-mouth (following cable TV and broadcast airings, and then video releases) did the film do well - although its original reception at the box-office was lukewarm. The film was the precursor for another inspirational and popular film (and a similar adaptation of a Stephen King story by writer/director Frank Darabont) - The Green Mile (1999).

5 Comments:

Blogger Noizy said...

Not a bad film, but would prefer to leave these Hollywood moments to ITV (I beleive they show this one every other day don't they???)

25 March 2008 at 08:01  
Blogger Nellie said...

Fair point but most of peeps in HBFC dont watch or even have a telly and i havent seen it so mute point!

25 March 2008 at 11:10  
Blogger Noizy said...

have you read the book? it's a pretty faithful adaptation for Stephen King.

26 March 2008 at 06:46  
Blogger andy said...

I saw it some years ago and remember it was good, so i wouldn't mind seeing it again.

27 March 2008 at 07:49  
Blogger Nellie said...

I saw it on tele last night its a top film a real upper I guess now however not destined for the High Brooms ether unless by some minor miracle we get others involved and they want to see it! Apparently it was the precursor to The Green Mile which I have seen and can recommend as is very good. Do you have the book Shawshank was based on still Noizy as I woudn't mind borrowing it?

21 April 2008 at 01:18  

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