Like a handful of classics that came before this film—“The Wizard of Oz,” “It’s a Wonderful Life,” “Citizen Kane,” “Vertigo”—“The Shawshank Redemption” was a box office failure upon initial release. Yet, for the better part of the last 25 years, it’s been ranked No. 1 on the imdb.com Top 250 list and is on many critics’ all-time Top 10 lists. In the interest of full disclosure, it’s No. 6 on my all-time Top 10.
The Most-Rented Home-Video Title in the US in 1995
Ten weeks after opening, the film had grossed a paltry $16 million domestically and, despite universal critical acclaim, was considered a colossal bomb. Things started looking up in early 1995 when the movie received seven Oscar nominations, including for Best Picture. A theatrical re-release soon followed and, along with a significant foreign box office take, the final worldwide gross hit a still-disappointing $58 million.In hindsight, the Warner Bros. decision to ship over 300,000 VHS tapes to rental chains in the spring was a huge gamble, but the Academy Award boost and strong word of mouth eventually resulted in the film’s becoming the most-rented title in the United States in 1995. Over the last quarter-century, it has played on 15 different basic cable channels. Tack on what sources at Warner Bros. have estimated at $80 million in home video sales, and the result is one of the most impressive aftermarket performances in movie history.
Pretty True to Stephen King’s Source Novella
Andy arrives at Maine’s Shawshank prison in the late 1940s. Red (Freeman), a convicted murderer and procurer of outside contraband, sizes him up and doesn’t think much of him. He bets his small circle of inmate friends that Andy will crack under pressure his first night. This doesn’t happen, and the two men slowly develop a bond that lasts decades.In adapting the Stephen King novella “Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption,” Darabont doesn’t stray far from the source material, except to change the fates of three supporting characters. This significantly alters the tone of the narrative. The stakes become much higher, the viewer’s emotional investment richer, and the individual outcomes far more throttling and visceral.
What Darabont wisely didn’t alter was the narration from Red. Through him, viewers meet secondary and peripheral characters which, in a traditional format, would have taken dog years to address. Unlike in print, in the wrong hands film narration can come off as fussy, overindulgent, and intrusive. Freeman’s honey-drenched, voice-of-God baritone becomes a soothing balm. The commentary becomes a spiritual ointment that doesn’t replace live action but rather augments and deeply enhances it.
The leisurely pace of the film, especially in the second act, is thoroughly fitting for a character-driven prison drama spanning nearly three decades. This does and will strike some viewers as tedious, which might have been part of King’s and Darabont’s ultimate intent. The drudgery of a monotonous daily routine takes place within the confines of a facility designed to crush the soul and remove all glimmer of hope under the guise of rehabilitation and is not meant to be experienced at a quick clip.
This deliberate approach to storytelling rewards patient audiences. In scene after scene, Darabont leads us down one path only to switch gears and deliver the unexpected. We’re reasonably sure the story is headed to a cathartic conclusion. We want the story to live up to the last word in the title, but it’s never made clear or spoon-fed.
Through hindsight and repeated viewings, audiences will appreciate the care and thoughtfulness Darabont poured into the screenplay. Foreshadowing, abundant clues, and towering character arcs all contribute to the methodical mission of Andy Dufresne. Beginning as a babe in the woods, Andy becomes an involuntary leader, a father figure, and even an ally of sorts to his demonic oppressors. He’s a steadfast humanitarian in a place where humanity barely exists.
The only times when Andy and Red lock horns are when the former discusses the need to keep up hope. Andy maintains it’s the only thing that can’t be taken away, while Red argues that it is dangerous as it leads to more misery and unfulfilled pipe dreams.
Whatever the audience perceives as a lack of payoff and/or reward in the first two hours is more than compensated for in the final 20 minutes. The remaining story threads are resolved, and karma is duly administered. Darabont delivers an ending so poetic, so uplifting, and so heartwarming, it will move you to tears.
Hope indeed springs eternal.