NOTE: This discussion of the very great The Shawshank Redemption delves into spoiler territory. If this risks your enjoyment of seeing the film for the first time, you might as well see it it now. You won’t regret it.
Last week I promised an interview with Mike’s Likes about The Shawshank Redemption in honor of the film’s 20th anniversary. Here are the results.
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WC (me): When did you first see the film?
ML (Mike’s Likes): Well I first saw it sometime in middle school, maybe 7th grade. During that time I was into action and fast-paced movies. I tried watching Shawshank, but it was too slow. I think I fell asleep. Then, over the next few years, I learned more about film in general. I watched slower-paced movies like Pulp Fiction–
WC: Pulp Fiction isn’t really slow-paced.
ML: -and 2001: A Space Odyssey. I came to appreciate these films more. Then, I rewatched Shawshank some time during my freshman year, and I was blown away.
WC: I first saw the film between 7th and 8th grade, and even thought I thought it was really slow too, I chugged through it. I’m glad I did. The ending had a profound effect on me, I really wish you got to experience that instead of falling asleep. To me, Shawshank is kind of a back-heavy film, and all the scenes near the end are so great because of all the character exposition. Like, I think each act of the film just improves on each other. There’s many scenes with emotional power because of how much you care about the characters.
ML: [like] Brooks’ final scene, in which he kills himself. It’s the only time I’ve ever come close to crying during a movie. Ever. To me, that’s kind of an accomplishment. It’s the range of emotions I think. The film can convey penetrating tones of sadness and hopelessness, like with the Brooks scene. It can make one feel simply satisfying, like when the warden met his maker or when Red told off those suits [at his parole hearing]. But the most important emotion is hope. Andy never stopped hoping, and it paid off for him. It’s just relatable. Everybody feels these, but this film puts it on such a grand scale.
WC: It’s a good movie to live by. It’s a film that affects anyone who sees it on a human level. Not many films try like The Shawshank Redemption, and even less succeed as well. It’s the type of movie to pick a favorite scene too. Even though Tim Robbins dominated the first 80% of the film, Morgan Freeman got the Oscar nomination for Lead Actor, and I think it was because of the final 25 minutes or so after he gets out of prison. Those scenes are easily where the movie could have gotten overly-schmaltzy, but director Frank Darabont handled it brilliantly. And that ending! It’s made my eyes sweat a couple of times.