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· This essay will consider several
aspects of the movie “The Shawshank Redemption. Based on a Stephen King
novella, The Shawshank Redemption tells the story of the friendship between two
convicts, a seasoned veteran of the system (Red, played by Morgan Freeman) and
a newcomer who refuses to let the system destroy him (Andy Dufresne, played by
Tim Robbins). This 1994 film is the first written and directed by Frank
Daborant, who also wrote and directed the 1999 screen adaption of another King
novel, The Green Mile. As claimed on
theInternet Movie Database, most critics agree that the strongest feature of
The Shawshank Redemption is the strong performances by its two lead actors.
Critics disagree on other points, from the quality of the script and direction
to the essence of the film.
To me, several aspects that I
might focus on in this essay encompass plot with its structures, psychological
aspect of the film, time and space setting, the opening, and then the moral
value of the film. First of all I will discuss the plot with its structures.
This film belongs to drama film. According to Gustav Freytag, a drama is
divided into five parts or acts; exposition, rising action, climax, falling
action, and denouement. The Shawshank movie is a good movie to watch because it
has all the structures of the drama film. Let us see the plot of this film.
1.
The exposition. According to http://paulgorman.org/writingdramatic_structure.php,
the exposition introduces the characters and setting and end with the inciting
incident. “The Shawshank Redemption” film starts with an educated banker, Andy
Dufresne which convicted of murdering his wife was sentenced to two consecutive
life sentences at Shawshank State Penitentiary in 1947. He is often assaulted
by the “bull queer” and “the sister” gang. Fortunately he gets a help as soon.
It is a
good exposition because it shows how the characters and setting like at the
beginning of the movie. According to Amellia Hill (2009), a freelance writer, a
good exposition should explain the background information on the characters and
setting at the beginning of the story and it will flow with the story,
continuing to draw the reader in, instead of stopping the action for what
amounts to a large authorial aside. At the beginning of the film shows the characterization
of the main characters which is shown by the action of Andy who never gives up
and quick befriend with Red.
2.
The rising action. This is generally the most
important part of the story since the entire plot depends on them to set up the
climax (Freytag: 1863). In the film, the rising action is when Andy is abused
by a prison gang known as “the sisters”. He fortunately gets a favor from a
prison guards and the antagonist of the film, the chief of the brutal gang is
moved to another redemption place. The prison guard begins coming to Andy for
financial office. He is offered to work in a tax office in the penitentiary. In
that place, he gets a painting of Rita Worth and hangs it on the wall of his
cell.
The
rising action in the film is greatly exciting. Amelia Hill (2009) notes the
rising action should add a conflict for the characters and it should describe
the action using a variety of specific details to keep the story developing. From
the film it can be seen that the director of this film, Daborant, uses one
antagonist character to kick another antagonist characters. They must be kicked
in order to keep the story developing.
3.
The climax. In the film, the climax is when
Andy tries to escape from the cell through a hole which he makes every day by
using hammer. The hole is behind the Rita’s picture so the guards do not notice
it. Finally he can escape from the redemption.
According
to Gustav Freytag (1863), the climax or the crisis is the turning point, which
changes the protagonist’s fate. Andy was able to escape from the prison in
which the tightness of the guarding is well known. It makes the audience feel
amazed and wondering. I bet this is a dashing climax because like what has
stated by Freytag above, the climax of the film is unexpected and it really
changes the fate of the protagonist.
4.
The falling action. The falling action in the film
is when Andy reports the corruption occurred in the penitentiary by showing
some evidences. He gets the evidences when he works in the tax office of the
penitentiary.
Freytag
(1863) notes a falling action is the events leading to the resolution of the
story. Looking at the Freytag’s statement, the falling action in “The Shawshank
Redemption” film is good since the action of Andy leads to demolish the crimes
and corruption in the penitentiary so the prison will be closed as soon.
5.
The denouement. At the end of the film, Andy is
safe from the law and he has a bank account that contains a lot of money. He
uses it to make his way to the Mexican Coast. His friend, Red, is eventually
able to leave Shawshank. Finally the two friends reunite on the shore of the
Pacific, free at last.
Based on
the Freytag’s theory, the denouement involves not only the resolution of the
conflict but also an explanation of all the secrets and misunderstandings
connected with the plot, reuniting characters, etc. The Shawshank Redemption
has it so I can say that the denouement of the film is good because it explains
the secrets of Andy who has a lot of money in his account. Therefore, he can
fly to Mexico to make a new life.
Second
of all are several psychological concepts of the film. Psychological concept
emphasizes the psychology of its characters and their unstable emotional states
(Myers: 646). Throughout the movie, characters are put through the various and
sundry tests of a state penitentiary and subsequently exhibit traits that can
be psychologically analyzed. One of the major psychological concepts is
regression. This is evident when one of the prisoners cries out in the
desperation.
“I
want to go home. I want my mom.”
Campbell Anderson, a psychologist
as well as a reviewer said, “Overall, the major psychological example(s) were
displayed beautifully. All of the examples in the movie corresponded with the
definition of the terms and contextually resembled plausible real-life situations.”
Through the many precisely presented psychological concepts, a viewer can take
hold of a deeper meaning and understanding of the movie along with the harshness
and difficulties that the characters of the movie endure.
Third of all is time and space
setting in the film. The time and space play an important role in the
development of the plot and the characters (www.sparknotes.com/short...shawshank-redemption/themes.html). In “The Shawshank Redemption,” Andy
uses the picture to control his jail cell, which indicates his space in the
prison. He also takes a great deal of time to dig a sizeable enough hole in the
wall of the cell to escape from the prison. The time it takes to dig the hole
is the main temporal element of the story. In my view, the role of time and
space setting can play the emotion of the audience and it is in line with Freytag’s
theory in Dramaturgi e-book about
timing and space setting in the drama.
One critic, the Washington Posts’s
Desson Howe, suggested changing the movie’s title to “Forrest Gump Goes to
Jail,” calling Andy’s rise within the prison “cheesily messianic”. Although a
funny suggestion, I am afraid I disagree with his point that Andy’s status
elevation is cheesy. Prison is a dark and difficult ordeal, full of many people
who care mainly if not exclusively about themselves. Andy’s fellow inmates can
tell that he is different, and they notice when neither the Sisters nor the
guards can break his spirit. Somehow he keeps part of himself separate from the
prison and figures out ways to make it better, such as earning beers for his
fellow workers or fighting for the expansion of the library. He inspires them,
just as we are inspired by people like Lance Armstrong who manage to keep
fighting and succeed despite their adversity.
Fourth of all is the opening of
the film. I assume the film has a good opening. Based on what people said in
the website; (http://omniscientsfilm.blogspot.com/what-is-the-criteria-of-an-opening=38&rf), the opening of the film should show at
glance about the whole of the film so it makes the audience more attract to the
film and feels curious about what will be going on to the film. While according
to John Truby’s book Anatomy of Story (2007) “a good movie should open with the
crucial pattern of the story and then slowly bring these pattern to the suface
and explore them in an explicit way.” In “The Shawshank Redemption” film, the
cruel reality of prison is established in the opening of the film. When Andy
first come to Shawshank prison, one of the felons that was brought in at the
same time as Andy is reduced to tears on his first evening sleeping in the
jail. Due to his insisting that he “doesn’t belong there” Captain Hadley beats
him so badly that the prisoner dies later that night from the sustained
injuries. The introductory scene establishing the harsh life in prison that
Andy is going to have to deal with for a long time will surely attract and keep
the audience on watching the film.
The last but not least is the
moral value of the film. Shrikant Prasoon acknowledges that a good story should
have moral values. Moral values play an important role in moulding the attitude
in life. “The Shawshank Redemption” is a good film because it has so many moral
values. Several moral values or life’s lesson that can be extracted from the
film are:
1.
The
patience. Patience is extremely important thing in Shawshank. The main
character, Andy, knows that in order for everything to work out how he wants it
to, he needs to be very patient and wait for the right time. He also directly
tells the viewer that hope never dies. He said to his friend, “There are places in this world that aren’t
made out of stone…. There is something inside… that they can’t get to.. that
they can’t touch. That’s yours… Hope.” He said it in an emotional part of
the movie to his friend, Ted, when Ted is feeling hopeless and thinking he may
never get out of prison. It is an effort of Andy to help his friend survive the
rest of his sentence.
2.
“Get
busy living or get busy dying”
During
Red’s feeling of hopelessness, Andy responds to his friend by saying “You
either get busy living or get busy dying.” It can be interpret that if we are
not doing the things in our life that make us happy that allow us to truly
live, then we are simply working on dying.
To
summarize, the film “The Shawshank Redemption” fits the structure of a drama
story, because it consists of having complete plot (exposition, raising action,
climax, falling action, and resolution stages) throughout it. To be specific,
the film introduces us to the central characters of Andy, Red, and Brooks, as
well as, the peripheral characters of Warden Norton and guard Hadley. Furthermore,
we are presented with good time and place setting that can play our emotion.
In
my conclusion, I personally state that “The Shawshank Redemption” is the
greatest film ever. This film has suspense, action, and a much deeper meaning. This
film drags us into the world of prisoners and makes us feel all feeling that we
can possibly feel. On a one to ten scale, I give The Shawhank Redemption film a
nine. So, consider this film as one your best collection movies.
Works Cited
·
Amelia Hill,
Yahoo Contributor Network
Jul 13, 2009. http://voices.yahoo.com/infodumping-not-write-exposition-3793866.html?cat=4. Retrieved 10 May 2014
Jul 13, 2009. http://voices.yahoo.com/infodumping-not-write-exposition-3793866.html?cat=4. Retrieved 10 May 2014
·
Clark,
Anderson. Psychology in the Media.
2012. Web, 28 April 2014. http://andersonclark-psychologyinthemedia.blogspot.com/2012/02/part1-duncan-clark
·
E-book on
http://id.bookzz.org/g/%20Elias%20J
·
Myers,
David G. Myers’ Psychology for AP.
New York, NY: Worth, 2011. Print
·
Prasoon,
Shirkant. 2012. Moral Values for
Children. Amazon
·
Truby,
J. 2007. Anatomy of Story: 22 Steps to becoming a master storyteller. From:
www.great-humanities-textbooks.info
·
www.studymode.com/.../moral-values-play-an-important-part-in-our-life-page1.html
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