The Shawshank Redemption is a well-known, successful movie. It is popular among all ages and had been a pinnacle of appraisal since its release. Many people are inclined to find the meaning true freedom after watching this movie, as a basis of its influence. There are many philosophical elements in it, allowing significant influence by using cinematic arrangements, setting up hypo-realism storylines, and expressing philosophical content. All elements support the theme of the movie, which is the quest for freedom.
There are plenty of cinematic forms used to support the theme of The Shawshank Redemption. The poster most commonly use to advertise the movie depicts the main character, Andy, standing in the rain. It is the wherein he has just escaped from Shawshank State Penitentiary
after many years of imprisonment. The shape of his body is clear and sharp to show his insistence to freedom. The rain is a reflection of the hard situation. Andy experiences struggle and is treated unfairly for many years, eventually using his intelligence to take his freedom back. The composition of the poster helps to describe the expressive content directly. It is a concentration of the whole storyline, which is primarily about how Andy escapes from jail.
The tonality of the film follows a simple but well-organized pattern. The tone of the movie turns from low to high as the plot develops. For example, in the scene showing Andy’s arrest by the police, his life warps into something he has never known. There is a silhouette used in the scene that blends the characters from light to dark, indicating that a lonely journey is about to begin. The low tonal gradient creates a serious environment, which helps engage the audience in the intense atmosphere. The use of light and music, as well as the evocative content is delivered to the audience gradually. It helps build the story content. Later on, after the process that Andy defends with the authorities at Shawshank, he eventually arrives at a brand new life. At that moment, Andy goes to the bank for the account he makes up during the time at Shawshank, and the tone becomes lighter. The tonal latitude becomes high, as well. There is more front light used to show a peace, and a secure atmosphere. Both the tonality and light help to contribute a beautiful ending of the story. The audience is supposed to share the happiness with Andy and understand how his legacy concludes.
For most of movie, The Shawshank Redemption uses a desaturated color system in which the colors do not have strong conflict with each other. In the movie, this represents that the characters are a part of Shawshank Prison, and ruled by it. Their lives are under the same control and no one is able to break away from it due to the things they did. There are some symbolic colors in the movie to contribute the storyline. In the beginning of the film, Andy’s wife wears a red dress. It is a symbol of passion but also the evil side of her, and the upcoming danger. Red is, naturally, the color of blood as it leaves the body, which suggests the death of Andy’s wife. Furthermore, the main color at Shawshank was not a color at all, but rather a shade. Dark colors and shadows overwhelmed the screen. The prison uniform is gray and dark blue, the buildings are brown. Even the little hummer that represents hope is in dark color. The use of these dark colors expresses the hopelessness throughout the film. The audience is able to receive a visual connection to the settings and scene through the colors. Colors help them to understand the unfair environment directly. The sand seen during the last scene represents another symbolic color, as well, though this is not as bleak. It refers to a new start and a bright future for Andy. The light color represents a positive cheerful conclusion after all the pain and darkness. Therefore, color contributes to the movie’s content both expressively and evocatively.
In addition, The Shawshank Redemption makes clear choices on the use of space. Different space design helps the development of the storyline that allow the audience to understand the film in different ways. There are some significant deep space scenes in the movie. The design of prison cells and the cafeteria are both deep scenes. They demonstrate the depression and the prudish life at Shawshank. Based on both of these areas, the audience is able to tell the motions and feelings of the characters, as well as how they evolve within the prison. As companion to the deep space scenes, there are also other types of spaces used in the movie. When Andy and Red talk in front of the wall, there is a flat space. The flat space allows the audience to be able to concentrate on the characters and pay attention to what they are discussing. The plot is also focusing on these two characters; a flat space contributes to providing a simple and clear environment.
The fields of view of The Shawshank Redemption is diverse. For example, in the poster, the shooting angle is narrow and focal length is long. It expresses the expressed relaxation and happiness when Andy finally escapes from jail after many years struggle. The lens helps to put the focus on the character. The high transparency of the background rain shows the weight of the rain, suggesting how much emotion he is feeling in that moment.
Hypo-realism is also evident throughout the film. The Shawshank Redemption is a depictive hypo-realism movie based on its romantic characteristics, which may sound shocking to most viewers who often let this analysis go over their heads. The form of this movie is visual and aural. The Shawshank Prison is made up to be a real prison, where all characters behave seriously and naturally like people act in real life based on this time period. As a narrative movie, the environmental settings are almost the same with the environment at that time. All surrounding elements are historically accurate. The architecture, clothing, make up, etc. depict the world at this time. The language in the movie is realistic as well. The lines that characters speak are common English. They express and communicate with the language that people use every day. However, the storyline is not completely the same with actual prison life. The trading system, Capt. Byron Hadley’s secret life, Brook’s death, etc. are all set to support portraying the main character, Andy, and his legacy to seek freedom. Those dramatic things never happen in real life inside a prison. Most prisoners also never successfully escape prison in such a dramatic, or romantic fashion. The Shawshank Redemption gets the background resources and settings from real life and tells a non-realistic story, therefore it is considered to be a hypo-realism movie.
Moreover, there are some romantic elements in The Shawshank Redemption contributing to the overall story, not just Andy’s freedom. Andy’s success is partially made up through idealization. For example, the little hummer that he uses for create the path is too small to break free when he originally plans; it is way harder to have a clean account outside the prison; making up a new identity needs much more information. However, in The Shawshank Redemption, Andy does all these amazing things and gives himself a wonderful future. The audience is engaged in the story and impressed by his intelligence and strength. The theme of freedom is expressed completely by the story design. Therefore, The Shawshank Redemption is a combination of hypo-realism and romanticism.
The Shawshank Redemption discusses some content of philosophy. Andy and his fellow prisoners spend several years to get their freedom back and while doing so some figure out the truth of life. Andy tries to know the person who kills his wife, the hidden sin of Capt. Byron Hadley, also his own identity. His life at Shawshank is a process of finding out the truth and to create a free future. Referring to class, truth is correspondence to reality. That is the closest statement to absolute accuracy, which proved the only hope for Andy under the extremely unfair situation and endless torture he endured. Seeking truth is a permanent topic for all humans; people work hard for the truth and sacrifice for it. Andy is no different
The plot becomes thicker when Andy receives a visitor at the prison. There is a strong conflict between Bryon and Andy when the young man who knows all details about Andy’s wife arrives at Shawshank. Andy is driven by his obsession of the truth but the president still wants to take advantages of him. Then the young man becomes the victim of this silence fight. However, by the tragedy of him, Andy gets his direction to go and stables his goal. Truth may be dark, but people still have the obsession for it.
In sum, The Shawshank Redemption is a successful movie that reflects real life issues while creating idealization and fantasy. It digs to the deepest parts of humanity to expose the dark side of our hearts and minds, but also makes the audience believe in freedom and truth. The movie uses diverse cinematic forms to tell the story, sets up a hypo-realistic environment, and expresses philosophical content, which mainly refers to seeking the truth.
Works Cited
The Shawshank Redemption. Dir. Frank Darabont. Perf. Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins. 1994. Film.
