the-shawshank-redemption

It’s part two of a taxgirl double-header! I’m wrapping up my summer of movies and tax with two more features.

The final feature in the series is the 1994 film, The Shawshank Redemption. It has been consistently voted one of the top movies in American cinema and was nominated for seven Academy Awards (Best Actor in a Leading Role, Morgan Freeman; Best Cinematography, Roger Deakins; Best Film Editing, Richard Francis-Bruce; Best Music – Original Score, Thomas Newman; Best Picture, Niki Marvin; Best Sound, Robert J. Litt, Elliot Tyson, Michael Herbick and Willie D. Burton; Best Writing – Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium, Frank Darabont).

Unlike the earlier feature in my double play, The Shawshank Redemption is not based on a true story. It’s pure fiction by author Steven King.

And this review contains HUGE spoilers. If you haven’t yet seen the film (have you been hiding under a rock – guffaw!) then you may wish to skip the review.

The Background

The film is narrated by Ellis Boyd “Red” Redding (played by the incomparable Morgan Freeman who made me cry in Driving Miss Daisy).

Banker Andy Dufresne (played by loopy yet talented Tim Robbins) is convicted of murdering his wife and her lover, a golf pro from the nearby country club. He admitted during trial that he had purchased a gun with the intention of killing his wife – but claimed to have chickened out and fled. His wife and her lover were found dead the next morning.

In most states, those who are convicted for murder are not allowed to “benefit” from the killings – this means that Andy could not have received life insurance proceeds or assets from his wife’s estate. These laws, which are the result of public policy, are referred to as “slayer’s statutes.” I’ve often wondered – if a conviction is later set aside – whether there is any economic remedy available to the otherwise beneficiary of the estate (in theory, the money would be gone, no?)…

But no such luck applies to Andy. Deemed an “icy and remorseless man” by the judge, he is sentenced to two life terms at Shawshank Prison.

The Hardships

Life at the prison is harsh. The chief prison guard, Captain Byron Hadley (played by Clancy Brown, whose voice has lead him to be cast as a villain in many movies – and as Mr. Krabs in SpongeBob Square Pants) is terribly cruel. He threatens Andy as he arrives at the prison. And, on Andy’s first night at the prison, an encounter with Captain Hadley leaves another inmate dead.

Andy eventually meets Red, who was recently rejected for parole. Red is serving a life sentence and is well known throughout the prison as the “man who knows how to get things.” Andy and Red become friends after Andy asks Red to get him a rock hammer so that he can continue his rock collecting hobby.

The First Years

Andy keeps to himself and is considered a bit stand-offish. Staying to himself doesn’t keep him safe, however, and he is regularly sodomized by a group of prisoners referred to as the “bull queers” or “Sisters.” This continues for a period of two years. Andy is constantly bruised – he fights each time. It is clear that life is not kind to Andy in prison.

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