2) "And
that's how it came to pass, that on the second-to-last day of the job,
the convict crew that tarred the plate factory roof in the spring of
'49 wound up sitting in a row at ten o'clock in the morning, drinking
icy cold Bohemia style beer, courtesy of the hardest screw that ever
walked a turn at Shawshank State Prison...The colossal prick even managed
to sound magnanimous. We sat and drank with the sun on our shoulders
and felt like free men. Hell, we could have been tarring the roof of
one of our own houses. We were the Lords of all Creation. As for Andy,
he spent that break hunkered in the shade, a strange little smile on
his face, watching us drink his beer...You could argue he'd done it
to curry favor with the guards, or maybe make a few friends among us
cons. Me, I think he did it just to feel normal again, if only for a
short while.": Wav
Memorable
quotes:
1)Red:
There must be a con like me in every prison in America. I'm the guy who can get
it for you. Cigarettes, a bag of reefer if that's your thing, a bottle of brandy
to celebrate your kid's high school graduation, damn near anything within reason.
Yes sir, I'm a regular Sears and Roebuck.
2)Red:
The first night's the toughest, no doubt about it. They march you in naked as
the day you were born, skin burning and half blind from that delousing shit they
throw on you, and when they put you in that cell, when those bars slam home, that's
when you know it's for real. Old life blown away in the blink of an eye. Nothing
left but all the time in the world to think about it. Most new fish come close
to madness the first night. Somebody always breaks down crying. Happens every
time. The only question is, who's it gonna be? It's as good a thing to bet on
as any, I guess. I had my money on Andy Dufresne. I remember my first night. Seems
like a long time ago.
3)Andy:
It's a little place on the Pacific Ocean. You know what the Mexicans say about
the Pacific? They say it has no memory. That's where I want to live the rest of
my life. A warm place with no memory. Open up a little hotel right on the beach.
Buy some worthless old boat and fix it up new. Take my guests out charter fishing...You
know, in a place like that, I could use a man that knows how to get things.
4)Red:
Rehabilitated? Well now, let me see. You know, I don't have any idea
what that means...I know what you think it means. To me, it's just a
made-up word, a politician's word so that young fellas like yourself
can wear a suit and a tie and have a job. What do you really want to
know? Am I sorry for what I did?...There's not a day goes by I don't
feel regret. And not because I'm in here or because you think I should.
I look back on the way I was then. A young, stupid kid who committed
that terrible crime. I want to talk to him. I want to try and talk some
sense to him. Tell him the way things are. But I can't. That kid's long
gone. This old man is all that's left. I gotta live with that. 'Rehabilitated?'
That's just a bullshit word. So you go on and stamp your forms, sonny,
and stop wasting my time. Because to tell you the truth, I don't give
a shit.
5) Red
(Morgan Freeman): They send you here for life and that's exactly what
they take.
6)
Red: And that's how it came to pass. That on the second to last day
of the job. The convict crew that tarred the plate factory roof in the
spring of '49 wound up sitting in a row at 10:00 in the morning drinking
icy cold Bohemian style beer.
7) Red:
I find I'm so excited I can barely sit still, or hold a thought in my
head. I think it's the excitement only a free man can feel. A free man
at the start of a long journey who's conclusion is uncertain. I hope
I can make it across the border. I hope to see my friend, and shake
his hand. I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams.
I hope.
Review:The
Shawshank Redemption is the story of Andy Dufrense (Tim Robbins-
Dead Man Walking(dir.), Jacobs
Ladder, Bull Durham), a man accused of murdering his
wife and her lover and sentenced to two consecutive life sentences.
This is a powerful and altogether entertaining movie which caught many
off-gaurd including myself back in 1994. It is somehow refreshing filmaking
in an age where special effects seem to be dominating. The film moves
at a slower pace and allows the characters to develop. Freeman’s (Seven,
Glory) extensive narration and brilliant
acting is central to the success of the film. The score is exceptional
and serves the story well. It received seven Academy Award nominations,
and has since become a public favorite. It is firmly established near
the top of the Internet Movie Database's top 250 list, where it has
spent time at number 1. Other prison movies that appear on my list and
that I recommend include; One Flew Over the
Cuckoo's Nest, Cool Hand Luke,
and Midnight Express. -Review by Aaron Caldwell
