In 1994, the Columbia Pictures film company released the movie Shawshank Redemption. The leading actor is Tim Robbins. The picture was directed by Frank Darabont , based on the novel by Stephen King "Rita Hayworth and the rescue from the Shawshank." More than a quarter of a century has passed since the creation of the film, and it is still in first place in the ranking of the most significant masterpieces of world cinema.
According to September 17, 2015, the first place in the list of "Best Movies According to IMDb" is "Escape from the Shawshank". The main actor, Tim Robbins, proved to be ideally suited for creating the character of Andy Dufrain, a prisoner of "The Shawshank", a prison for especially dangerous criminals.
The plot of the movie
A successful employee of a commercial bank, vice president Andy Dufrain gets into an unpleasant story. He is accused of committing a crime to which he is not related. The murder of Dufrein’s wife and her lover essentially remained unsolved, but Andy, nevertheless, is found guilty, and he receives two life sentences. He will serve his sentence in Shawshank - a prison from which no one returns.
There Dufrain, using his knowledge and experience, begins to work with the head of the zone, who is engaged in dubious cases related to the appropriation of financial resources. Andy gets a job in the prison library and gradually enters into trust in the directorate and overseers. After some time, he manages to secretly get a geological hammer, with which you can hammer a wall.
Twenty year work
Dufrain starts digging from his cell. The job takes exactly twenty years, and in the end he manages to escape through the sewer. He covered the entrance to the tunnel for the time that Andy spent outside the cell with a large poster depicting Hollywood actress Rita Hayworth. The work of Stephen King, on which the film is set, is called "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption." Tim Robbins brilliantly coped with the role. The remoteness to convey to him the dramatic nature of the plot, the sense of hopelessness that seizes the convicts who received a life sentence.
"Shawshank Redemption": actors and roles
When the project for creating films was approved, the director and his team began to select performers. The task was not easy. The selection of participants turned into a protracted process for the film "Shawshank Redemption". Actors, whose photos were viewed countless times, were invited from among experienced participants, behind whom there was more than one role played. In the end, the film crew formed, and Frank Darabont set to work.
There were only four main characters on which the plot was built:
- protagonist Andy Dufrain;
- his black friend Ellis Boyd, nicknamed "Red", whose role was brilliantly performed by actor Morgan Freeman;
- prison director Samuel Norton, played by Bob Ganton;
- security chief Captain Headley, this character was featured in the film by actor Clancy Brown.
Other roles and performers:
- Tommy Williams, a young thief - the role was played by Jill Bellows;
- Bogz Diamond, the leader of a group of prisoners - in his role was actor Mark Rolston;
- Brooks Hatlen, librarian performer James Whitmore ;
- a prisoner nicknamed Skeet - actor Larry Brandenburg;
- Jigger, one of the Sisters gang members - played by Nill Gwintoli;
- prisoner Floyd - actor Brian Libby;
- Snooze, prisoner, hard worker - the role was played by David Prouval;
- Mert Entwostl, the guard - played by Jude Chiccolella;
- wife of Andy Dufrein - her role was played by actress Reni Blaine.
For many participants in the filming, participation in the project of director Darabonte was a high point. The actors of the film "Escape from the Shawshank" fully laid out on the set, no one went home until late at night until the last episode of the planned volume was shot. However, there were not even complaints of fatigue.
Tim Robbins, starring
Fifty-seven-year-old American film actor, producer, screenwriter, director. He has accounted for about sixty roles in films of various genres. However, Robbins considers his role as the main character in the movie “Escape from the Shawshank”. The actor fully realized his own artistic potential, creating the image of a prisoner sentenced to life imprisonment, he did it with a high degree of reliability.
Morgan Freeman, performer of Boyd, a friend of Dufrain
An American film actor who starred in his seventy-two full-length films. The colorful African-American appearance of Freeman allows him to play a wide variety of roles, cinema is his element. One of the most successful film projects in which Morgan took part is considered the film "Shawshank Redemption". The actor managed to give his character an appeal unusual for prisoners sentenced to life.
Bob Ganton
An American actor, born in 1945, began his film career in his youth, played his first roles in television series, made his debut in big movies in 1981. Total starred in more than a hundred films. One of the best considers "Shawshank Redemption". The actor played the director of the prison, a greedy and corrupt official.
Clancy Brown, Security Officer
A fifty-six-year-old actor, starred in over fifty feature-length feature films. Its growth (about two meters) made it possible to play an escalating criminal role. Brown fits in perfectly with the image of the cruel and not-so-distant security chief in the movie "Shawshank Redemption." The actor did not even have to make up, his appearance was fully consistent with the character of Captain Headley.
Jill bellows
The Canadian film actor, producer and director, 48 years old, began acting at the age of twenty. During his career he played in seventy films. Gil's appearance allows him to play intelligent and charismatic characters, although in the film "Escape from the Shawshank" he acted as a not-so-successful young thief. The actor managed to create an interesting image that organically fit into the structure of the movie.
Opinion of moviegoers
Of course, there was no unanimous opinion among those who watched the film by Frank Darabont about the content of the picture and its characters. Someone's prison theme is simply unpleasant, someone is trying to understand the root causes of the events taking place in the Shawshank. American justice is replete with miscarriages of justice ; thousands of innocent people languish behind bars. Cases when someone manages to achieve justice and correct a court decision are extremely rare. Therefore, the film "Shawshank Redemption" makes you think. Perhaps, American judges became more attentive when considering criminal cases, thanks to the movie.