Classic 90s Movie: “The Shawshank Redemption”

May is Classic 90s Movie month. Today’s guest post comes from Dean Scott.

Movie Title: The Shawshank Redemption

Year: 1994

Writers: Frank Darabont, Based on a short story by Stephen King

Lead Actors: Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman

Director: Frank Darabont

IMDB Plot Summary: Two imprisoned men bond over a number of years, finding solace and eventual redemption through acts of common decency.

Why I Think This Is A Classic 90s Movies: The 90’s saw many great Stephen King adoptions such as IT (1990), Sleepwalkers (1992), Misery (1990) and The Green Mile (1999). But for me and many other it was The Shawshank Redemption in 1994 that not only defined the decade but define what a film should be. Constantly topping ‘Best Films Of All Time’ lists, Shawshank is consistently the number one film of off time on the IMDB Top 250 (http://www.imdb.com/chart/top). While the 80’s is generally know for its high concept films, the 90’s produced some unbelievably good drama films, and for me Shawshank was the best of them all. Despite being nominated for seven Academy Awards, The Shawshank Redemption was 1994’s 51st highest grossing film of all time, who would believe that now?!

My Favorite Moment In The Movie: The Shawshank Redemption takes a long detour from the main plot and focus for a while on one of the greatest sub-plots of the 90s, and one of the most emotive sequences I have ever experienced.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kotNxb2YApk

1967 Parole Hearings Man: Ellis Boyd Redding, your files say you’ve served 40 years of a life sentence. Do you feel you’ve been rehabilitated?
Red: Rehabilitated? Well, now let me see. You know, I don’t have any idea what that means.
1967 Parole Hearings Man: Well, it means that you’re ready to rejoin society…
Red: I know what you think it means, sonny. To me, it’s just a made up word. A politician’s word, so young fellas like yourself can wear a suit and a tie, and have a job. What do you really want to know? Am I sorry for what I did?
1967 Parole Hearings Man: Well, are you?
Red: There’s not a day goes by I don’t feel regret. Not because I’m in here, because you think I should. I look back on the way I was then: a young, stupid kid who committed that terrible crime. I want to talk to him. I want to try to talk some sense to him, tell him the way things are. But I can’t. That kid’s long gone, and this old man is all that’s left. I got to live with that. Rehabilitated? It’s just a bullshit word. So you go on and stamp your form, sonny, and stop wasting my time. Because to tell you the truth, I don’t give a shit.

Key Things You Should Look For When Watching This Movie: I find it interesting that at a few points in the film we move away from our main protagonist and focus on another character for a while. Once, as noted above, we follow Brooks around his life out of prison. The second time we follow Red when he is released. The second feeds off the first. When Brooks is released we see how harsh life is for him in the real world. When Red gets out, we see what hope can bring.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hB3S9bIaco

We already have a set of 80s Movies. This month we cover 90s movies. So thanks to all of you for your participation in this project, creating a resource for writers, movies they should watch to help learn the craft of screenwriting!

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