The Shawshank redemption is about much more than just a young banker spending many years of his life in prison. It shows us the struggles inmates go through to adapt to an environment as harsh as prisons and how creating friendships with others helps the men get through the rough patches. The film demonstrates that prison is a world of its own, with its own rules and how many men struggle to fit back into society when they are released. Shawshank Redemption’s director, Frank Darabont, uses many brilliant film techniques to capture key scenes. A few examples of these are: when Andy first arrives at Shawshank an establishing shot is used to show the prison. This allows the viewer to witness how bare and dull the prison is and how the prisoners are not allowed to express themselves in any way. They are locked away in solitude and left to rot away the years in a place trying to suppress their hope. Another example is the director uses parallels. Both Red and Brooks have the same experiences when they leave Shawshank, showing the plight the characters face in the real world due to institutionalisation. This makes us fear that Red’s path will end the same as Brooks’. However, the …show more content…
The main theme of the film is the power of hope. Hope, more than anything else, drives the inmates and gives them the will to live. Andy’s sheer determination to keep his sense of self-worth and escape from Shawshank keeps him from dying of frustration and anger in solitary confinement. Andy goes about making this hope a reality by meticulously tunneling through the wall every night. In the film Red notes that when Tommy says he can prove Andy innocent it gave Andy that extra hope he needed, and Andy’s hope ended up rubbing off on the other inmates. Towards the end of the film all Red has when he heads to meet Andy is hope, as he cannot cope with the outside world anymore and has no idea if he will even make it over the border and find