THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION

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THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION

Shawshank Redemption is an extraordinary example of turning classic stories into cinematic masterpieces! The Shawshank Redemption is a 1994 movie, written and directed by Frank Darabont, based on the Stephen King novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption. The film stars Tim Robbins as Andy Dufresne and Morgan Freeman as Ellis "Red" Redding. When this book was made into a film, the plot and overall idea/ message of the movie remained the same. The movie version changed its name from the book version Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption to Shawshank Redemption. In both versions, Rita Hayworth has very to do with the story in the scheme of things, so this is why it was probably removed. The plot of Shawshank revolves around Andy Dufresne's life in prison after being convicted of the murder of his wife and her lover. Despite a poor box office reception (partially due to competition from the commercial success of films such as Forrest Gump, Pulp Fiction, and Speed), Shawshank received favourable reviews from critics and enjoyed a remarkable life on cable television, home video, and DVD, and continues to be noticed by popular culture. It is consistently ranked amongst the best movies of all time. Oscar declared the shawshank redemption to be
the best film ever which did not get an Oscar for the best picture. The movie was a tremendous box office success and garnered 12 Oscar nominations and seven Oscars.

ADAPTATION:
Any person who have come across both forms of the art i.e. film and novel will not deny the fact that the movie has shown extreme faithfulness to the novel however the film can neither be termed as direct transposition of the novel since few parts have been modified to suit the film nor can it be called analogy as the context of the film remains similar to the novel .In this adaptation, we dont see the change in period of the fiction as the plot remains same in both form with slight modification here and there .Hence it would be appropriate to label this adaptation to be commentary type .

Differences in the movie from the book

Though There are no changes to the setting and theme to the story and movie screenplay is loyal to Stephen Kings original novella. However there are some differences which are listed below:

The endings in book and movie were changed up some the book ends with Red en route to find Andy in Mexico but not sure that he will, ending with the words "I hope." The movie shows Red finding Andy on the beach in Mexico. This final scene in the movie shows that Red meets up with Andy. This never happens in the book.

Main difference is that in the movie, Red is a black man and in the book, he's a red-headed white man
The Indian Normaden that shares Andy's cell for a period does not appear in the film.

The scene where Norton inspects Andy's cell for contraband without finding the rock hammer (and they quote scripture at each other) does not appear in the novel. In the novel, the lead guards come and go. In the film, Byron Hadley is the lead guard until the very end. Similarly, in the novel, when Andy comes to Shawshank, the warden is a man named Dunahy; he is replaced by a man named Stammas; who is himself replaced by Sam Norton. In the film, Norton is warden throughout. In both the film and the novel, Warden Norton has embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars, but in the novel, Norton quietly resigns after Andy's escape whereas, in the film, when Andy escapes and makes Norton's crimes known, Norton commits suicide in his office rather than allow himself to be arrested.

Many of the cons, such as Heywood, Floyd, and "Fat Ass", were either not included or much less involved in the novel than they are in the movie. The screening of Gilda never took place. Andy asked Red for the Rita Hayworth poster while they were watching a movie called The Lost Weekend. In the book, Andy has posters of Jayne Mansfield, Linda Ronstadt, and Hazel Court in his cell at times. In the Film he only has posters of Rita Hayworth, Marylin Monroe and Raquel Welch. The tarring of the roof occurred in 1950 and not 1949. Red never becomes assistant librarian in the novel. Brooks' threatening to cut the throat of another prisoner to avoid being paroled only appears in the film. In both the novel and the film, Brooks is paroled and leaves Shawshank. His suicide soon after leaving prison only occurs in the film. Brooks tells Andy that he came to Shawshank in 1905. The novel says that he was put in prison "while Coolidge was president". Calvin Coolidge was in office as the President of the United States from 1923 to 1929. In the novel, Andy sells off all his assets while still on trial. Together with a friend, he sets up a false identity and transfers all assets there. In the film, Andy himself sets up the false identity so that he can create accounts to launder money for the warden; Andy then drains these accounts upon his escape.

Andy's prison identity is changed from "81433-SHNK" to "37927" In the novel, Tommy is transferred to a low-security prison, rather than being killed, in exchange for not talking. In the novel, Tommy came to Shawshank in 1962, not 1965. His child was a three-year-old boy, not a baby girl as in the film. In the novel it was not Red who informed Tommy about Glenn Quentin, it was another con named Charlie Lathrop. Andy only spent twenty days in solitary instead of a full month. The scene where Norton visits him in "the hole" was not in the book. The endings are slightly different. The novel ends with Red en route to find Andy in Mexico but not sure that he will, ending with the words "I hope." The movie shows Red finding Andy on the beach in Mexico. In the novel, Andy comes to Shawshank Prison in 1948, not 1946. Andy's escape also occurs 9 years earlier, in 1966, whereas in the novel, Andy escaped in 1975. In the book, Andy goes through two rock hammers while making his hole. He only uses one in the movie. Andy had a small frame and wore gold rimmed spectacles in the novel, he didn't wear any glasses until late in the film. In the novella Andy never gave Red a harmonica, instead he gave him polished rocks that he collected from the exercise yard. The men's lengthy discussion about institutionalization was not in the novel. However, Red does mention a bit about this topic at one point. The scene where the guard beats the new 'fish' so badly that he dies after being left in the infirmary over night never happened in the novel. The 'record playing' incident never happened in the novel. Jake was not a crow but a pigeon in the novel. What becomes of the bird after Brooks sets him free is uncertain in the movie, but in the book, he is found dead in the courtyard shortly after his release. Red and his friends did not give a sack of rocks as a present to Andy in the novel. Red was paroled after only thirty-eight years instead of forty. The postcard received from where Andy crossed the United StatesMexico border was not from Fort Hancock, Texas but from another town in the state named "McNary". The prison yard is never asphalted in the movie.

Every year in Shawshank, Andy buys a bottle of Jack Daniels before his birthday and Christmas. He drinks a few shots and gives it back to Red to pass it around the other inmates. In the movie Andy says he "gave up drinking." Andy did not steal warden Norton's shoes and clothes in the novel, nor did he ask Heywood for a line of rope. The famous line "Get busy living or get busy dying" was never spoken by Andy in the novel, though it does occur as part of Red's narration.

The plot of Rita Hayworth and Shawshank

Redemption
The story of Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption starts in 1947 when Andy Dufresne arrives at Shawshank prison. Unlikely the other convicts Andy is not a hardened criminal. He is a soft-spoken banker convicted of killing his wife and her lover. Andy claims he is innocent. Soon after he arrives at the prison "The Sisters", a gang of prison rapists led by Bogs Diamond, turn their attentions to Andy. The story is narrated by Red. He is "the guy who can get stuff." Red his well known for being able to get almost anything into Shawshank prison, and this is the reason that Andy approaches him. Andy has kept himself to himself, but one day approaches Red in the exercise yard. Andy used to enjoy rock-carving, and wishes to continue to do so inside the prison, now that he has plenty of time on his hands. He asks Red to get him a rock hammer. Red is a little suspicious at first, thinking this may be a lethal object (which it is). However he understands Andy's request a little more when the hammer arrives. Andy used the hammer to shape himself rocks he finds in the exercise yard. He is aiming to complete an entire chess set. Andy and Red develop a very respectful friendship. After some time Andy comes into the movie theatre and asks Red to get him a poster of Rita Hayworth, who appears on the movie screen that Red is watching (This is the only reference to Rita Hayworth in the story). Red notices that Andy is uncharacteristically nervous and excited when asking for the poster.

The prison agrees to provide prisons to tar the roof of a building. Obviously prisoners are keen to leave the prison even if it means hard labor. Red, being the influential man he is, discretely arranges for the guards to ensure that Red and his pals get the work detail. Whilst on the roof Hadley, the chief of the guard, is telling the other guards how he has been left an inheritance by his wealthy brother. The other guards are enthusiastic for him, however Hadley complains about the tax he will have to pay on the inheritance. Andy approach's Hadley, who nearly throws him off the roof. Buy Andy continues and explains that there is a loophole which allows Hadley to keep his entire inheritance, without paying tax. Andy offers to complete the paperwork in exchange for some beers for himself and his fellow work detail prisoners. This is a major event in the story as Andy become well regarded with his inmate friends and the guards. As with his life outside, Andy becomes a successful financial advisor inside the prison. The prison employees use Andy to complete their tax returns, loan applications and other similar financial tasks. In return the guards get Andy protection from Bogs and the other Sisters. Andy is also able to occupy his cell on his own, unlike most other inmates. In the book Andy does share his cell briefly with an Indian called Normaden. He soon leaves though, mentioning a "bad draft" in the cell whilst he was there. Normaden does not appear in the movie. In the movie all prisoners have their own cell.

When Brooks the librarian is paroled, Andy takes over the librarian role. Andy sends weekly letters to the state senate asking for funds for books. The other inmates and guards think he is wasting his time. The state only spends prison money on bars, not books. Andy receives no response to his letters, until one day he does receive money (books in the movie). Andy then starts to

write twice weekly. Andy's persistent work grows the library greatly. Andy helps several other inmates to get their high school diplomas and degrees. One of the many wardens in the novel (there is only one Warden, Norton, in the movie) starts a program called "Inside-Out", in which inmates work outside the prison for very low wages. Other companies cannot compete with this low-cost labor, and often bribe warden Norton not to bid on contracts. This cash has to be laundered, and Andy does this for free, for continued protection in the prison, and the sake of the library. A new prisoner called Tommy comes to Shawshank prison. Tommy tells another prisoner, who tells Andy, that Tommy had had a cellmate at a different prison who bragged about killing a rich golfer and some hot-shot banker's wife, and the banker getting jailed for it. This is clearly the real killer of Andy's wife. Andy sees the possibility of a new trial since this evidence would prove his innocence. Warden Norton dismisses the story, telling Andy to ignore this made up story. When Andy argues with him warden Norton sends Andy to solitary confinement, to remind Andy of his place in the prison hierarchy. Norton interviews Tommy about the information he has. Norton is concerned about loosing Andy, and makes a deal with Tommy. Tommy will not talk of the information he has, and he gets transferred to a minimum security prison. In the movie Tommy is shot by guard Hadley. When Andy returns from solitary confinement he finds Tommy gone, along with any chance of Andy's freedom.

In Andy's disappointed state he talks at length with Red. Andy tells Red of his dream of moving to Mexico, and settling in the small town of Zihuatanejo on the Pacific coastline. Red starts to worry about Andy, stating that he is "talking funny." Andy tells Red of a town in Buxton in Maine, that was a special place for him and his wife. Andy tells Red that when he gets out of Shawshank, to locate a specific tree in a specific field in this town.

Several weeks pass, and on one morning Andy is discovered missing at roll call. An initial search does not find Andy. The warden is looking in Andy's cell when he discovers a poster covering the wall, now Raquel Welch. The warden removes the poster and finds a man-sized tunnel cut through the walls of the prison. Andy had been spending his evenings, since getting his rock hammer, slowly digging through the prison walls. On the night of his escape, once through the prison walls, Andy broke into a sewage pipe and crawled 500 yards through it, and finally came out into a ditch beyond the grounds of Shawshank prison. Andy was free.

A while after Red gets a blank postcard from a small town in Texas (McNary), near the U.S.-Meixco border. Red knows this is Andy letting him know all is well, and he is heading to Mexico. Red is paroled and begins to make a life for himself outside of the prison. Red hick-hikes to Buxton, and finds the field and tree Andy has told him about. Red finds a buried tin, with a note from Andy, and a sum of money. Red violates his parole and catches a bus to Mexico, hoping to find his friend Andy.

The novella ends here, but the movie has a final shot where we see Red waking across a sun drenched beach in Mexico, towards Andy who is working on his boat.

CONCLUSION
How many times have you told yourself "The book was great, but the movie was awful." after seeing a film? There aren't that many great stories out there that have been surpassed in excellence by their film versions. While Hollywood has a horrible tendency to
alter complete scenes and even add scenes that were non-existent in the book, thankfully Shawshank Redemption was saved from this usually doomed faith to a great extent. Although there surely were some differences between the movie and the book, Frank Darabont does a remarkable job of staying quite true to the King story.

The movie undoubtedly has shortcomings, but it is still one of the greatest movie ever made.Tim Robbins turns in the best performance of his career as Andy and Morgan Freeman peformance soars, both as an actor portraying Red and as the narrator of the movie. And despite the necessary new characters and plot deviations, Darabont captures Kings theme of Hope springs eternal, that he established so masterfully in his short tale.

I'll just say that as far as the Book vs. Movie is concerned, the Movie wins.Even Stephen King says the story has heart, the
movie has more. Need I say more ?