The Shawshank Redemption is a flawed masterpiece.
Summary 30 years on from its release, The Shawshank Redemption has only grown in reputation, but it has a few issues which often go overlooked. Frank Darabont's Stephen King adaptation was nominated for seven Academy Awards. This success helped revive its reputation after an underwhelming run at the box office. The Shawshank Redemption had to compete with both Forrest Gump and Pulp Fiction, so it took a little while for audiences to finally recognize the film's quality.
Frank Darabont's script takes a few liberties with Stephen King's novel. Some of The Shawshank Redemption's deviations from the book enhance the narrative. For example, Brooks' dramatic fate hammers home the movie's point about institutionalization better than the book's version, which has him dying in a care home. Other characters could have been improved if Darabont had stuck to the book a little more.
5 The Characters Are Morally Simplistic Everyone In Shawshank Is 100% Good Or 100% Evil Close As soon as Boggs is disposed of, every prisoner in Shawshank is portrayed as a saint in gray overalls. Even Red, who openly admits that he is guilty of murder, is a sweet and generous man. The other inmates band together with an unusual sense of camaraderie, and there are none of the prison fights, riots or racially segregated gangs that are common in similar movies.
The difference between Norton and countless other prison wardens who are allowed to exploit their prisoners for free labor is that he skims from the top. One of the most fundamental rules of screenwriting is that it's better to show the audience something than to tell them something. An over-reliance on narration is often seen as a crutch for this very reason. Red states several times that he fears that he's becoming institutionalized like Crooks, but it's far more powerful to see him offering only a meek puff into a harmonica, unsure of how to let himself be free.
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