The Shawshank Redemption

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The Shawshank Redemption The Shawshank Redemption is a film based on a book by Stephen King set in an American prison starting in 1947. The film looks at the lives of the two main characters Andy Dufresne and Ellis Redding, their existence within the harsh prison system and their unlikely friendship. In this piece I will explain how these two central characters are represented in the film and how the director Frank Darabont is able to use different techniques of film making to enhance scenes and portray different aspects and emotions. Andy Dufresne is the first central character we meet in the film. He initially appears as a respectable middle class, well educated, white man, but somewhat emotionless. He appears very calm, almost boring unlikely to do anything extraordinary (except perhaps murder his wife). It is this first impression, which sets the scene for the film, so the viewers are even more surprised by how this character changes, having already prejudged Andy as a dull and quiet man. Ellis Redding (Red) the other main figure is an unlikely friend for a man from Andy Dufresne’s background. Red is a middle-aged, black, career criminal who much later admits to being “the only guilty man in Shawshank”. He is the old lag, a “man who knows how to get things”, a man who knows that his appearance in front of the white male fifty-something parole board is just another experience to be endured in Shawshank. But for all that Red is fair, trusted, and has a certain amount of respect from other prisoners. Reds’ character does evolve during the film, but the changes are subtler and not such a shock to the audience. The opening sce... ... middle of paper ... ...it of gum”. This first conversation sets down some rules between the two characters and clearly outlines their positions in the prison community, with Red having some power amongst prisoners and Andy having none. This is important to show the contrast later in the film. The beginning of the story gives no real indication of what is to come. The ways that the characters change is almost by accident and as a result of a set of circumstances in which both men play a part, the re-tarring of a roof. Red uses his influence and bribing of a guard to get his friends the job out on the roof, and Andy takes an opportunity to give the Captain of the guard some financial advice in exchange for beer for his ‘co-workers’. This is the start of a shift in positions for both men, and drives the story forward in a different direction.

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