 |
 |
Director : Frank Darabont
Stars : Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman and Bob Gunton
In 1949, Andy overhears Hadley complaining about taxes on a forthcoming inheritance, and informs him about a financial loophole. After a vicious assault by the Sisters puts Andy in the infirmary, Hadley cripples Bogs, who is then sent to another prison, saving Andy from future attacks. Norton reassigns Andy to assist elderly inmate Brooks Hatlen (James Whitmore) at the prison library; a pretext for Andy to manage financial requests. His advice and expertise are soon sought by other guards at Shawshank and from nearby prisons. Andy also begins writing weekly letters to the state government for funds to improve the decrepit prison library.
In 1954, Brooks is freed on parole into a halfway house but, unable to adjust to the outside world, he hangs himself. Andy dedicates the expanded library to him, and receives a library donation of The Marriage of Figaro record. He plays an excerpt over the public address system, resulting in him receiving solitary confinement. After his release, Andy explains that hope is something the prison cannot take from him, but Red dismisses the idea. In 1963, Norton begins exploiting prison labor for public works, profiting by undercutting skilled labor costs and receiving kickbacks. He has Andy launder the money using the alias "Randall Stevens".
In 1965, Tommy Williams (Gil Bellows) is incarcerated for robbery. He joins Andy and Red's circle of friends, and Andy assists him in getting his GED. After hearing the details of Andy's case, Tommy reveals that an inmate at another prison, Elmo Blatch (Bill Bolender), committed a nearly identical murder, suggesting Andy's innocence. Andy approaches Norton with this information, but Norton fears Andy may reveal his corruption should he be released. Norton places Andy in solitary confinement, then orders Hadley to kill Tommy under the pretext of an escape attempt. Andy returns to his cell and tells Red of his dream of living in Zihuatanejo, a Mexican Pacific coastal town, and setting up a hotel with boat rides for customers. Red shrugs it off, but Andy instructs him, should Red ever be freed, to visit a specific hayfield near Buxton and retrieve a package.
The next day at roll call, Andy's cell is empty. Enraged, Norton throws one of Andy's rocks at the poster of Raquel Welch which tears through, revealing a tunnel that Andy dug through the wall with his hammer over the last two decades. The previous night, Andy took one of Norton’s suits and switched Norton's ledger with the prison Bible, escaping with it through the tunnel and the prison sewage drain during a thunderstorm. Andy then poses as Randall Stevens to withdraw most of the corruption money from several banks, while police hunt for him, sending evidence of Norton's corruption and murder of Tommy to the press. The police arrive at the prison and Hadley is arrested, but Norton commits suicide to evade arrest.
After 40 years Red finally receives parole, allocated to the same apartment where Brooks committed suicide and also beginning to fear the outside world. Remembering Andy's advice, he visits Buxton and finds a cache of money as well as a note left by Andy, telling him to get to Zihuatanejo. Red violates his parole and travels to Fort Hancock, Texas to skip the border to Mexico, having regained hope. The two are happily reunited on the beach to begin a new life.
Stars : Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman and Bob Gunton
Genre : Crime | Drama
Release runtime : 142 min
Plot : In 1947, banker Andrew "Andy" Dufresne (Tim Robbins) is convicted of murdering his adulterous wife and her lover, based on circumstantial evidence. He is sentenced to two consecutive life sentences at Shawshank State Penitentiary in Maine, run by corrupt Warden Samuel Norton (Bob Gunton) and brutal chief guard, Byron Hadley (Clancy Brown). Andy befriends Ellis Boyd "Red" Redding (Morgan Freeman), a contraband smuggling inmate serving a life sentence whose parole application is continuously rejected. Red is able to procure a rock hammer for Andy, so he can create small stone chess pieces. Red later gets him a poster of Rita Hayworth for his cell wall, followed in later years by Marilyn Monroe and Raquel Welch. Andy works in the prison laundry, but is regularly sexually assaulted by a group of predatory inmates nicknamed "the Sisters" and their leader Bogs (Mark Rolston). In 1949, Andy overhears Hadley complaining about taxes on a forthcoming inheritance, and informs him about a financial loophole. After a vicious assault by the Sisters puts Andy in the infirmary, Hadley cripples Bogs, who is then sent to another prison, saving Andy from future attacks. Norton reassigns Andy to assist elderly inmate Brooks Hatlen (James Whitmore) at the prison library; a pretext for Andy to manage financial requests. His advice and expertise are soon sought by other guards at Shawshank and from nearby prisons. Andy also begins writing weekly letters to the state government for funds to improve the decrepit prison library.
In 1954, Brooks is freed on parole into a halfway house but, unable to adjust to the outside world, he hangs himself. Andy dedicates the expanded library to him, and receives a library donation of The Marriage of Figaro record. He plays an excerpt over the public address system, resulting in him receiving solitary confinement. After his release, Andy explains that hope is something the prison cannot take from him, but Red dismisses the idea. In 1963, Norton begins exploiting prison labor for public works, profiting by undercutting skilled labor costs and receiving kickbacks. He has Andy launder the money using the alias "Randall Stevens".
In 1965, Tommy Williams (Gil Bellows) is incarcerated for robbery. He joins Andy and Red's circle of friends, and Andy assists him in getting his GED. After hearing the details of Andy's case, Tommy reveals that an inmate at another prison, Elmo Blatch (Bill Bolender), committed a nearly identical murder, suggesting Andy's innocence. Andy approaches Norton with this information, but Norton fears Andy may reveal his corruption should he be released. Norton places Andy in solitary confinement, then orders Hadley to kill Tommy under the pretext of an escape attempt. Andy returns to his cell and tells Red of his dream of living in Zihuatanejo, a Mexican Pacific coastal town, and setting up a hotel with boat rides for customers. Red shrugs it off, but Andy instructs him, should Red ever be freed, to visit a specific hayfield near Buxton and retrieve a package.
The next day at roll call, Andy's cell is empty. Enraged, Norton throws one of Andy's rocks at the poster of Raquel Welch which tears through, revealing a tunnel that Andy dug through the wall with his hammer over the last two decades. The previous night, Andy took one of Norton’s suits and switched Norton's ledger with the prison Bible, escaping with it through the tunnel and the prison sewage drain during a thunderstorm. Andy then poses as Randall Stevens to withdraw most of the corruption money from several banks, while police hunt for him, sending evidence of Norton's corruption and murder of Tommy to the press. The police arrive at the prison and Hadley is arrested, but Norton commits suicide to evade arrest.
After 40 years Red finally receives parole, allocated to the same apartment where Brooks committed suicide and also beginning to fear the outside world. Remembering Andy's advice, he visits Buxton and finds a cache of money as well as a note left by Andy, telling him to get to Zihuatanejo. Red violates his parole and travels to Fort Hancock, Texas to skip the border to Mexico, having regained hope. The two are happily reunited on the beach to begin a new life.
Trailer :
Plot by wikipedia