Fear can hold you prisoner, Hope can set you free (Shawshank Redemption (1994))

Fear can hold you prisoner, Hope can set you free
These are the lines from the best movie I have ever seen. Conveying the message of eternal hope Shawshank Redemption is simply one of the best movies ever made.

In the film Tim Robbins stars as Andy Dufresne, a young banker who is sentenced to a life term at Shawshank prison, as circumstantial evidence stands against him. From there on the movie spans into one of the best stories ever made. As soon as he lands in prison, the prison itself becomes a character in the movie, casting its dark shadows all over the film, and the long stone walls crushing every bit of hope, one has left in him. Andy soon makes friends with Ellis “Red” Redding played by Morgan Freeman who also narrates this story. Andy seems to hold on to hope much more than others and he proves to Red and his friends that if you cling on to hope even the walls of Shawshank cannot hold you a prisoner. For as Red says these walls are funny, first you hate them, then you get used to them and then you start to depend on them., further amplified by old Brooks, the librarian for most part of the story, who could not face the world after spending a near lifetime in Shawshank. His scenes of coping with the world outside are one of the film’s most moving sequences. Warden Norton, played by Bob Gunton, is one of the other notable characters in the film. He often quotes the bible, And believes he is the master of this place , “His judgment cometh and that right soon“ is the inscription on the walls of his office right in front of the safe where he stores the money obtained often by treachery and deceit. How these words apply to everybody because of him and ultimately himself is ironical. The movie is slow, but given that it is showing a sequence of nearly twenty years, which only amplifies in a place like Shawshank and also the movie never loses its direction and it takes the time to getting to the end only to make way for one the best climaxes ever made.

As I said the Shawshank is no mere prison, it is a character in the story, for when they are sentenced to life in Shawshank it takes exactly that ,or the most important part anyway, it is the hope crusher, it can crush the hope of everyone but Andy’s, who even in the worst of situations clinged on it, as he said “Here is where you need it most, there are places in the world that aren’t made of stone, that there are places inside that they can’t get to or touch ..inside …Hope”.Metaphorically Shawshank represents every difficult situation one gets into and you nee to believe that there is light at the end of the tunnel, you shouldn’t lose hope and Andy Dufresne in Shawshank Redemption proves exactly this.



This movie was released in 1994,and had to compete with some other great ones like Forrest Gump and Pulp Fiction during its Oscar year. Though the film failed to win any Oscars it is still recognized as one of the best movies ever made. The movie is based on Stephen King’s novella ‘Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption’. Rita Hayworth was the first pinup poster on Andy’s wall. Believe me what she was hiding wasn’t innocent. Currently at IMDb’s top spot alongside great movies like the Godfather the movie will continue to keep anyone spellbound upon watching it.If you haven’t watched the movie what are you waiting for? And I finish by quoting famous words of Andy Dufresne, Get Busy Living or Get Busy Dying.