The Shawshank Redemption

Shawshank sits at the very top of the IMDB #250, it clearly has a wider popular appeal to the world than any other film ever made (sweeping statement), what is it that makes Shawshank universal, what are the universal values?  What is it really about?

To talk about what it is really about I suppose we have to look at what is played out before our eyes:

Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins is sent to Prison for the murder of his wife and her lover, Andy befriends a fellow convicted killer Red who is a seasoned veteran and a 'man who knows how to get things', Red is played by the incredible Morgan Freeman who established himself firmly as one of Hollywoods leading men in this role as the cynical old hand who guides us through prison life and the rise and fall of Andy in this very different world.Andy struggles to make friends but he gets there, the film is tied together in episodes, following Andy's meeting with various prisoners and his rise through the establishment to a respected man amongst the inmates and staff alike.  Things go up and down until Andy reaches breaking point and does what he has to do, Red then moves on with his life and is released toward the end of the film.

The whole thing continues a theme throughout of Andy trying desperately to keep a kind of freedom inside him until he gets out (which he must do, it is what keeps him going).  Andy's drive is there for the whole film as the theme but it never commands, it sits in the backseat as the action rolls by.  This particular picture is not blessed with a cracking script, the real delight lies in character as the actors make us care for Andy, Red and the rest of them, we get seriously invested in the characters as the film goes on and we never want it to end.  Even though Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins play their parts to perfection I think that real strength in this film is in the background characters, Andy's morose nature seems particularly apt against the brash, cynical men he meets.

Shawshank gives us it all and it is one of the few films which I can watch in any mood, it gives us hope and joy, it gives us sadness and terror of what might have happened and what surely did happen in far too many places.  The film is about Andy and his refusal to accept being caged, he is like a bird flapping away for years, he struggles as he beats his wings against the cage.  Whether it is crawling on his hands and knees or taking his own life he will get his freedom to choose back.  As a haunting juxtaposition the movie shows us the other side, most obviously in the character of Brookes who cannot deal with his freedom, in the end he longs to be in the cage again.

Perhaps Shawshank is so popular because it shows both a yearning to be free and a yearning for control, it represents all of us whether we be submissive or aggressive, introvert or extrovert, left or right, old or young.  Whatever we are we are represented here, amongst murders, liars and cheaters we see all that is human, and the part of you that can never be taken away.