You Fat Barrel of Monkey Spunk!

There are currently 183 reviews on this movie in the database, but, these summer holidays I am in a quest to see all the movies I really ought to have seen at my age and as a record, when I can be ar*ed, I'll do a review. This was brought about by that I just turned 21 and all the people I usually spend the summer hols have buggered off to Europe. Not that I'm bitter or anything.

So, Deng Xiaoping and I fired up the DVD player to check out The Shawshank Redemption which so many people had told me was one of their favourite movies.

And let me say outright I was darn tootin' impressed.

Based on the short story Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption by that generally over-rated author Stephen King, this film treatment was directed by Frank Darabont, who also did the screenplay adaptation.

Wacky Movie Trivia That Didn't Fit Anywhere Else: The American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, as is their practise, monitored all the animal scenes in the film- including the maggot scene. When it came time for Brooks to feed the maggot to Jake (his pet crow), ASPCA objected on the grounds it was cruel to the maggot. A maggot was found which had died of natural causes.

This is a movie where the cast really shine... almost. Tim Robbins as Andy and Morgan Freeman as Red are an unbridled delight to watch- they perfectly complement each other for every second they're on screen. They give their characters depth, but never throwing them out of balance with the scene or each other. Bob Gunton is absolutely frightening as Warden Norton, whilst Clancy Brown is a sexy and scary Capt Hadley. Coincidentally, Brown now is one of the voice artists on SpongeBob SquarePants. For me, the only weak link was Gil Bellows (i.e the Gil Bellows from Ally MacBeal) as the young prisoner Tommy. His more hyperactive acting style seemed out of odds with the more relaxed and refined style of Robbins and Freeman. Wackily, in this movie Bellows plays Tommy (Thomas) Williams whilst in Ally he played Billy (William) Thomas. Kooky!

A real highlight however is James Whitmore as the elderly prisoner Brooks. His long exposure in the middle of the movie, a catalyst for what is to come, is possibly the most moving and touching scene ever to come out of a prison movie.

Composer Thomas Newman was able to use his single idea for this movie- the single idea which would then reappear in American Beauty and Six Feet Under. That tinkly middle-register natural-minor-folkic-melancholic piano pis*ing around on the keys which has been remixed into about three thousand trance versions of late. This is a shame, as Newman does some extraordinarily exquisite string writing and there should've been more of it- without indulging in this filmic trend of middle register meanderings (Amelie is another prime offender). Newman can be an excellent film composer, in that his scoring reflects scene- compare the chilly strings of Shawshank Prison to the warm reeds at the rock wall in Buxton.

This shift of mood- the sudden awareness of light and warmth which occurs towards the end is also reflected in Roger Deakins' cinematography. The appearance of colour- reintroduced with great restraint and subtlety so that you don't notice until after it's happened- is one of the reasons that this movie is so visually stunning. Aided in no small part by Terence Marsh's production design, Darabont captures the sense of claustrophobia and institutionalisation which are some of the core essences of this movie.

Primarily, it is a film about hope and life. Generally speaking a movie described in such terms would make me puke, but Darabont and King's extreme skill is portraying these motives without ever veering into sentimentality. This is at times is a brutal movie, but it's overpowering message of hope under great pressure shines through without relying on emotion-ridden cliches.

If you've read my A Clockwork Orange review (and if not why not?) you may recall I was surprised that I didn't find it all that violent at all- certainly not violent enough to warrant being banned for such a long time. Perhaps it was more surprising that I found the violence (prison beatings and the like) in Shawshank considerably more brutal and confronting than in Clockwork. Perhaps it was because Clockwork was so surreal, almost comical in a way.

This is an extraordinarily brilliant movie, no doubt providing experience for Darabont's later film The Green Mile, but unlike that emotionsfest, this film becomes extraordinary with its sense of restraint and style.