39,327
edits
The Shawshank Redemption: Difference between revisions
m
Mass update links
prefix>Import Bot (Import from TV Tropes TVT:Main.TheShawshankRedemption 2012-07-01, editor history TVTH:Main.TheShawshankRedemption, CC-BY-SA 3.0 Unported license) |
m (Mass update links) |
||
Line 11:
Twenty years pass within the prison walls, showing the growth and strength of Andy and Red's friendship, Andy's various attempts to better the life of his fellow inmates through education (facilitated by the financial advice he gives the prison's corrupt warden and guards), the quest to prove his innocence, and the attempt to remain mentally free and hopeful even when surrounded by the crushing gray of prison walls.
This movie exemplifies the potential gap between [[Vindicated By History|initial box office success and ultimate popularity]]. Back in 1994, it earned just over $28 million at the US box office; it was only the 52nd most successful film of its year. Despite the lukewarm box office reception (mainly due to its [[Word Salad Title]] and the distinct [[Sex Sells|lack of female cast members]]), ''Shawshank'' received favorable reviews from critics and has since enjoyed a remarkable life on cable television and home video. Media magnate Ted Turner loved the film so much that he purchased the TV rights and showed it on one of his cable stations literally every weekend for years, which helped the film earn back its budget and give it the mainstream recognition it never received while in theaters. ''Shawshank'' continues to be hailed by critics and audiences alike even today -- it is often ranked amongst the greatest films of all time, and it is often found leading the [[
''Shawshank'' has since been adapted for the stage. The producers insist they adapted the novella and not the film, but this claim is doubtful, since the character of Red is a black man instead of the red-haired Irishman of the book.
Line 35:
* [[Badass Bookworm]]: Andy Dufresne himself, of course, {{spoiler|using his knowledge of biology to explain to one of The Sisters why he wouldn't be able to help it if he "bit" after they hit him in the head, and his knowledge of geology to figure out from the weakness of the wall that he could tunnel his way out.}}
{{quote| '''Boggs:''' Where do you learn this shit?<br />
'''Andy:''' Read it. You know how to read? You ignorant [[Precision F
** He's no slouch in hand-to-hand as well, it's obvious that it's only superior numbers that let the Sisters get the better of him, and even then he manages to fight them off a number of times.
* [[Bait and Switch]]: Andy finds a grub of some sort in his first prison meal. As he's examining it, he has the following conversation with a crusty old con who's been in prison 50 years and may or may not have a few screws loose:
Line 72:
* [[The Chessmaster]]: Andy.
** Complete with a Chess Motif {{spoiler|Though mostly in retrospect [[Chekhov's Skill|when you realize that the same hobby that allowed Andy to make a chess board helped cover his escape.]]}}
* [[Cluster F
* [[Composite Character]]: In the novella, the prison goes through several wardens and guard captains. [[Pragmatic Adaptation|To save time]] and [[Adaptation Distillation|improve story flow]], they are combined into Norton and Hadley for the movie, though it does bring up some [[Fridge Logic]] when you realize they've both had their respective positions for fifteen years or so without apparently aging, aside from some slightly graying hair.
** Brooks is also a composite of several characters mentioned in passing in the novella.
Line 86:
* [[Disproportionate Retribution]]: After Warden Norton tells Andy that {{spoiler|the man who actually killed Andy's wife and lover is probably gone from the penal system and isn't worth chasing}}, Andy makes the mistake of saying something about it, calling the warden "obtuse", and then bringing up the money laundering scheme:
{{quote| '''Andy''': Look, if it's the squeeze, don't worry. I'd never say what goes on in here. I'd be just as indictable as you for laundering the money.<br />
'''Norton''': [[Berserk Button|Don't you ever mention money to me again,]] [[This Is for Emphasis, Bitch|you sorry son of a bitch!]] Not in ''this'' office! Not ''anywhere!'' ''[Slaps intercom]'' Get in here! Now!<br />
'''Andy''': I was just trying to set your mind at ease, that's all...<br />
''[Guard enters]''<br />
Line 111:
* [[Great Escape]]
* [[Guile Hero]]: Andy
* [[Hair
* [[Have You Told Anyone Else?]]: {{spoiler|Tommy's murder at the hands of Captain Hadley and Warden Norton}}. Even though the other prisoners know about {{spoiler|Andy's innocence}}, they have no power to tell anyone outside of the prison.
* [[He Had a Name]]: "What was his name?"
* [[He Knows Too Much]]: A double example: Andy knew too much about Norton's corruption to be allowed to leave the prison, so Norton {{spoiler|had Tommy killed because Tommy knew too much about Andy's innocence}}.
Line 140:
*** The Boast here was twofold - {{spoiler|the hollowed-out pages where the hammer was stored begin on the first page of the Book of Exodus}}.
* [[The Ishmael]]: Red (moreso in the novella than the film).
* [[
* [[Jerk With a Heart of Gold]]: Heywood.
* [[Karma Houdini]]: The actual murderer of Andy's wife. {{spoiler|He was apparently locked up in another prison for an unrelated crime when he confessed to doing it. We don't find out what became of him afterwards.}}
* [[Kick the Son of A Bitch]]: Hadley, the leader of the guards, ambushes and severely beats Boggs, who screams and cries for help the whole time. Seeing as ambushing and severely beating people was what Boggs took sadistic pleasure in, one can't help but feel satisified when Red sums up the end result...
{{quote| '''Red''': To my knowledge, he lived out the rest of his life drinking his food through a straw.}}
* [[Laser
** Climax nothing, some characters get what was coming to them earlier on. {{spoiler|Boggs will swallow what they give him to swallow from now on.}}
** Averted in the novella: Norton and Hadley both simply retire and are never heard from again.
Line 160:
* [[No Holds Barred Beatdown]]
** What Byron administers to the pudgy new immate that "wins" the New Fish Crying Lottery. {{spoiler|He doesn't survive, and his death is Dufresne's first hard lesson about life in prison: it's pretty cheap.}}
** The Sisters repeatedly administered these to Dufresne, driving him deeper and deeper into despair {{spoiler|until he becomes useful to Byron and Norton as a tax accountant. The Sisters administer one more beatdown that nearly kills Andy, Byron administers a huge dose of Boggs' own medicine to him (see [[Laser
* [[Nominal Importance]]:
** [[Played With]] the rest of the 8-man band bar [[The Hero|Andy]] and [[The Lancer|Red]] were never introduced and we only see them as "those guys Andy and Red hang out with" (with the exception of Heywood, which serves as something of a comic relief). They actually ''do'' have names, though mentioned only in the credits and if you analyse the throwaway conversations. Ranked in order of relative importance after Andy, Red, and Heywood:
| |||