Drama · Crime
American
1994 · Directed by Frank Darabont · 142 min
In 1947 a quiet banker is sent to Shawshank State Penitentiary for murders he says he did not commit. Over decades, seen through the eyes of a veteran inmate who can get things for a price, he tries to stay a person inside a place built to flatten people.
Why it matters in cinema history
A key example of 1990s Hollywood humanism and of the literary adaptation done with classical restraint. It also shows how home video and television could rewrite a film's fate after a quiet theatrical run.
Watch with intention
Watch it as a story about time: how years are made felt through routine, repetition and small objects rather than big events.
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