《《The Shawshank Redemption》Review》踩蘑菇的小女孩

7、the Message Conveyed by the Director

　　I’d like to highlight the messages conveyed by the director through this movie. Objectively, the director Frank Darabont has quite successfully imparted his ideology to the audience. Hope, which I believe everyone can tell, it is the main theme of movie. Hope can change everything. When the miscarriage of justice sentences innocent Andy Dresne to two life imprisonments, however, he never yields to reality or simply accepts the privilege later provided by the warden for laundering his money. He believes he can still make huge differences even behind bars. His spirit inspires many fellow prisoners and gains their respect. Finally, Andy creeps through a 500-yard nasty sewage pipe and starts an entire new life. So the director wants to tell the audience that with hope and determination, we certainly could overcome whatever obstacles we confront.

　　However, to many people there are some subtle preaching which may not be well perceived. So I’d like to take advantage of this presentation to deliver my commentary to you all. This has to do with the death of Brooks who spends 50 years in the Shawshank prison but he hang himself just a few days after he is paroled. Before that, he tries to kill a cellmate in order to avoid being freed. The director uses Red’s tone to deliver the message that time makes you get used to everything around you, no more hatred, just like Brooks has already treated the prison as his home. If enough time goes by, you are unwilling to change and become senseless. For those who are institutionalized, change is the least thing they want to see; being discharged is a nightmare which makes freedom becomes a burden, even destruction. Red gets his parole couple of years after Andy has broken the prison, he is assigned the same job and the same room as Brooks. While watching the movie, I was once afraid Red would follow Brooks’s fate to commit suicide, but I soon realized how Andy exerts a subtle influence on his cellmates in those years. Brooks is a man with a hollowed heart, he has no desire and no expectation about his future. So when the sudden parole disturbs his changeless life, he panics and struggles in this brand-new society, death might be a relief to that poor old man. This is a stark contrast to Andy, who has plans, he fulfills small steps to achieve his goals.

　　That is why I admire the director so much in repeating / emphasizing the theme from different directions. His sarcastic cynical / mocking way of delivering the message makes the audience think and learn.