I sit down on an empty seat in the circle of chairs. I’m nervous, as probably everyone else around me is. I wait patiently until it’s my turn. Then I clear my throat. “Hello, I’m Sophia. I’ve been a freelance writer in the film industry for eight years and part of a film podcast. And … I have never seen The Shawshank Redemption.”
In the support group for anonymous film classic missers, we try not to judge anyone for never watching milestones. Nevertheless, some members gasp at my words. The supervisor’s recommendation is always the same: It’s my decision whether I want to close the gap or not. On the whole, it doesn’t make me any more or less of a film lover.
But I know, now that the film is almost half a year away from me his 30th birthday celebrates: It’s time.
The Shawshank Redemption turns 30 – it’s high time to catch up on the classic and document the experience
For years there has been exactly one film that has topped the top 250 best films of all time on the IMDb (Internet Movie Database): The Shawshank Redemption. My problem: I am a highly emotional person. Good stories move me, and a prison drama with great injustice even more so. Until now I had too much respect before the film.
But now the time has come. You are – more or less – there live as I immerse myself in the world of The Shawshank Redemption and can experience the film through my eyes for the first time. Here we go…
Minute 2: As soon as the soundtrack starts during the opening court hearing, I have to smile. Hello Thomas Newman, I recognize you immediately. And I already have a feeling that you are going to break my heart.
Minutes 10: One of the stranger aspects of being a latecomer to film is that I know so many actors from completely different, seemingly inappropriate contexts than others. The first familiar face I see here, besides Morgan Freeman, is Clancy Brown. The first association? Starship Troopers. A strange feeling, mixed with my anger at the way the inmates are treated here.
Minutes 29: I already understand why this role is often seen as Freeman’s best Red’s unbroken mischievous smile, his empathy, his calm rejection of the crueler practices of his fellow prisoners.
Minutes 33: I am grateful that explicit images have been exchanged for equally terrifying suggestions. Freeman’s narration, Newman’s haunting of an instrumental piece – both are enough to turn my stomach. Director Frank Darabont is far too good to rely on blatant taboolessness. Less is often so much more.
Minutes 45: A rapist is caught and at the same time the cruelest thing that can be covered up within the framework of the law happens to him. Only an execution would be worse. Violence begets violence begets violence. A perpetrator who will never walk again. Pure vigilantism that is nevertheless disgusting. None of the events in this spiral should make anyone happy.
Minutes 60: A man steps into freedom. Into a world that is 50 years faster and further away than he is. My throat tightens. I sense what is coming. Newman’s music doesn’t try to hurt me any further. It is comforting.
Minutes 90: I realize that I forgot to take notes. The condemned keep me trapped in the world of a man who is almost impossible to break. Tim Robbins won’t let me go.
Minutes 100: I wish so much that this film was no longer relevant. But it is more relevant than ever; the arbitrary abuse of power is a theme that resonates with painful realness. The casualness of the cruelty has not changed.
Minutes 188: I don’t like thunderstorms. I’m afraid of them, especially outdoors. But this is the most triumphant film thunderstorm I’ve ever experienced. How can a film be so beautifully shot and composed and yet show off so little?
Minutes 129: There it is again. This thoughtful, loving, comforting score by Newman. I have learned to love and fear it. There is Red’s smilea little different than before. Maybe a little more reserved. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.
The big conclusion: Is The Shawshank Redemption the best film of all time, even in the eyes of an ignorant person?
End credits. I take a deep breath, smile. Well, the voice in my head urges: Is it the best film of all time? Honestly? I don’t know. Who can make that judgment all by themselves? In any case, it was good not to put any pressure on myself to see it. Right now, the right timeand according to this criterion every medium should be consumed and enjoyed.
Will The Shawshank Redemption ever replace the best films for me? Maybe not exactly that. But maybe it will line up next to them. All I know is that I now understand why so many people love this film. And not just because of a script that easily justifies a running time of almost two and a half hours, completely tearing us apart, and ending with a redemption that will stay with me.
Darabont’s brilliant production is completely unobtrusive, but conscious at every second, so that this place, these people feel realFrom the clever camera angles to the eternal Shawshank background noise. The prison is alive, it’s ugly, but there are also bright moments, and they get under your skin, along with the image and sound. That makes me even more excited about Darabont’s upcoming projects.
I also understand the feelings and the bittersweet appeal of it all. We spend so much time with a suspected and definitely rightly convicted murderer. Their humanity is still real and palpable. Freeman and Robbins play their way into the annals of film history. She definitely makes The Shawshank Redemption one of the most cathartic films I’ve seen in recent memory.
I knew very little about this film before watching it. I came up with a new synopsis that it should carry everywhere from its 30th birthday onwards: “The Shawshank Redemption is a film about Hope in the face of absolute hopelessness.” And I don’t think anyone needs to know more than that in advance.