The Screen Addict | Darabont
Much has been said and written about The Shawshank Redemption (1994) over the years – after all, the film is widely seen as the greatest one ever made. As I have shared before, I often revisit films I love because they comfort me, and yesterday it was time to rewatch TSR.
I am happy to report that Stephen King and Frank Darabont’s ode to The Count of Monte Cristo hasn’t lost any of its glory, and had me mesmerized again from the very first frame. In particular the Brooks sequence gets me every single viewing and sure enough, seeing it play out again yesterday with that gorgeous but haunting Thomas Newman score had me fighting back my tears. Gut wrenching.
There are many unforgettable scenes, of course. Red’s final speech to the parole board – a beautiful motif in the film – is one of Morgan Freeman’s most memorable, and he has had many. Andy’s scheme to get his friends some cold beers is a scene I professed my love for in an earlier piece, there’s Captain Hadley’s unexpected attack on Bogs to “protect” Andy, the gloriously fulfilling climax of Red and Andy’s ultimate reunion on a Mexican beach, and so much more.
It is still baffling to me that the film was far from a commercial or even a critical hit when it came out in 1994 – further proof that time is the only relevant standard to which quality can be measured.
And although I occasionally bump into someone who didn’t care for Citizen Kane (1941) or another entry in some Best Films of All Time list, I have never in my life met a person who didn’t like TSR. I dare you to prove me wrong, but I think it would be quite a challenge. It’d take a truly cold-hearted individual to claim not to have been moved at all by this film – yes yes, I’m quite aware of the poster debate, but I simply do not care.
For me, revisiting this undisputed masterpiece was in fact such a wonderful feeling, that I decided to make it a Darabont double-bill and pop The Green Mile (1999) in my Blu-ray player next. I briefly considered making it a triple by adding The Majestic (2001) to my filmmaker-appreciation day, but ultimately decided to save this criminally underrated Darabont-gem for a later issue of The Screen Addict.
Watch this space.
#thescreenaddict
#film
#movies
#contentrecommendation
#celebrateart
#nobodyknowsanything
Twitter (X): Robin Logjes | The Screen Addict