求 肖申克的救犊的影评

Question

最好是英文的 谢谢

Answer 1

A Review of “Shawshank’s Redemption”

The story happened in 1947,begins with the trial of a young banker, Andy Dufrense, victimized by circumstantial evidence, resulting in a conviction for the murder of his wife and her lover. After a quick conviction, Andy finds himself serving a life sentence at Shawshank prison, with no hope of parole. He exists in this prison only in appearance, keeping his mind free from the drab walls around him. His ability to do this results in the gaining of respect from his fellow inmates, but most of all from Ellis Redding. Ellis, commonly referred to as Red, finds gainful use of his firm spirit within the drab walls of Shawshank by dealing in contraband and commodities rare to the confines of prison. Andy's presence and undeniable sense of hope causes Red to take an inner look at himself and the world around him. Andy proves to Red and the other inmates that in the conventional walls of Shawshank prison convention will find no home in his lifestyle. The final segment of the movie testifies to the fact that the final resolution of the story comes about only when Red is faced with the same fearful situation as Brooks. Because of Andy, Red can find a different path to obtain freedom that is lit by hope.

I have never seen such an amazing film until I saw The Shawshank’s Redemption. Shawshank encompasses friendships, hardships, hopes, and dreams. And what is so great about the movie is that it moves you, it gives you hope. Even though the circumstances between the characters and the viewers are quite different, you don't feel that far removed from what the characters are going through. It is a simple film, yet it has an everlasting message. It's a poignant story about hope. That's what makes a film like this more than a movie. It tells a lesson about life, on which people have talked 50 or even 100 years. It's also a story for freedom. Freedom comes from isolation, rule, bigotry and hate. Freeman (Andy) and Robbins (Red) are majestic in their performances. Each learns from the other. Their relationship is strong and you feel that from the first moment they make contact with one another. There is also a wonderful performance from legend James Whitmore as Brooks.

So, let us review some of the marvelous scene in this film. The first few minutes of the film shows the dark side of the Shawshank prison: narrow rooms, cruel jailers, horrific atmosphere. The first night in jail is the toughest, no doubt about it. The prisoners in naked as the day they were born, suffered from torture of delouse power, and when they were in the cell---those bars slam home, they feel it’s real and a whole life had been blown away in a blink of an eye, nothing left but all the time in the world to think about it. What make Andy’s real trouble are the homosexual sisters in prison life. They chased Andy day after day, Red wished that Andy fought the good fight, but prison is no fairy-tale world. Prison life consists of routine, and the torture by the sisters was Andy’s routine. Every so often, Andy would show up with fresh bruises. So the first two years were the worst for Andy.

When Andy gradually got used to prison life, Red became one of his best friends. Red thought the jail walls were kind of funny. First you hated them, and then you got used to them. When enough time passed, you depended on them. That's institutionalized. He was sent here for life, it's a doomed destiny. But Andy tried to show him that there’s something else in the world: hope, beauty and love, even in prison. That’s why Andy did so many deeds in prison to spend his spare time. He caved stones, read books and tried to build a library. The most cheerful scene appears when Andy cast Italian singer’s CD for prisoners to arouse their enthusiasm for beauty and hope in spite of the threat by Norton, the boss of Shawshank. Red had no idea to this day what those two Italian ladies were singing about. Some things were best left unsaid. The music was so beautiful and it can't be expressed in words, and made your heart ache because of it. Those voices in Shawshank soared higher and farther than anybody in a gray place dared to dream. It was like some beautiful bird flapped into our drab little cage and made those walls dissolve away, and for the briefest of moments, every last man in Shawshank felt free.

The film really surprised me at the last few minutes when I saw the film for the first time. In 1966, Andy Dufresne escaped from Shawshank prison. All the police found of him was a muddy set of prison clothes, a bar of soap, and an old rock hammer, near worn down to the nub. Red used to think it would take six-hundred years to tunnel under the wall with it, but Andy did it in less than twenty. Andy loves geology; and geology is the study of pressure and time. All he need was really pressure, time, rock hammer and a big color poster of Rita, who was a famous film star at that time. Like Red said, in prison a man need to do something to keep his mind occupied. It turned out Andy's favorite hobby was totin’ his wall through the exercise yard, a handful at a time. After Tommy was killed, Andy decided the time he had been in Shawshank was just long enough. He crawled to freedom through five-hundred yards of smelling gutter nobody even imagine. It's the length of five football fields, just shy of half a mile. The next morning a man nobody ever laid eyes on before strolled into the National Bank and withdrew $370,000 of Norton’s money for his 19 years’ work. Before long Norton was accused of corruption and he shot himself in the mouth.

When Andy had gone, Red reminded that some birds were not meant to be caged. Their feathers are just too bright. And when they flew away, the part of you that knows it was a sin to lock them up. Still, he felt the place he lived in was much more drab and empty without Andy and couldn’t help missing him. The time when he was released came, and he was arranged at the same hotel where Brook had once lived and commit suicide at last. He was fully aware of the despair Brook had once felt. It was Andy’s letter that had saved him at the last moment. He found it just right at the oak tree as Andy had told him to and then make for freedom. The story ends with the exciting moment when Andy and Red met again at the beach. They were all free at that time.

Answer 2

In its Oscar year, Shawshank Redemption (written and directed by Frank Darabont, after the novella Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, by Stephen King) was nominated for seven Academy Awards, and walked away with zero. Best Picture went to Forrest Gump, while Shawshank and Pulp Fiction were "just happy to be nominated." Of course hindsight is 20/20, but while history looks back on Gump as a good film, Pulp and Redemption are remembered as some of the all-time best. Pulp, however, was a success from the word "go," making a huge splash at Cannes and making its writer-director an American master after only two films. For Andy Dufresne and Co., success didn't come easy. Fortunately, failure wasn't a life sentence.

After opening on 33 screens with take of $727,327, the $25M film fell fast from theatres and finished with a mere $28.3M. The reasons for failure are many. Firstly, the title is a clunker. While iconic to fans today, in 1994, people knew not and cared not what a 'Shawshank' was. On the DVD, Tim Robbins laughs recounting fans congratulating him on "that 'Rickshaw' movie." Marketing-wise, the film's a nightmare, as 'prison drama' is a tough sell to women, and the story of love between two best friends doesn't spell winner to men. Worst of all, the movie is slow as molasses. As Desson Thomson writes for the Washington Post, "it wanders down subplots at every opportunity and ignores an abundance of narrative exit points before settling on its finale." But it is these same weaknesses that make the film so strong.

Firstly, its setting. The opening aerial shots of the prison are a total eye-opener. This is an amazing piece of architecture, strong and Gothic in design. Immediately, the prison becomes a character. It casts its shadow over most of the film, its tall stone walls stretching above every shot. It towers over the men it contains, blotting out all memories of the outside world. Only Andy (Robbins) holds onto hope. It's in music, it's in the sandy beaches of Zihuatanejo; "In here's where you need it most," he says. "You need it so you don't forget. Forget that there are places in the world that aren't made out of stone. That there's a - there's a - there's something inside that's yours, that they can't touch." Red (Morgan Freeman) doesn't think much of Andy at first, picking "that tall glass o' milk with the silver spoon up his ass" as the first new fish to crack. Andy says not a word, and losing his bet, Red resents him for it. But over time, as the two get to know each other, they quickly become the best of friends. This again, is one of the film's major strengths. Many movies are about love, many flicks have a side-kick to the hero, but Shawshank is the only one I can think of that looks honestly at the love between two best friends. It seems odd that Hollywood would skip this relationship time and again, when it's a feeling that weighs so much into everyone's day to day lives. Perhaps it's too sentimental to seem conventional, but Shawshank's core friendship hits all the right notes, and the film is much better for it.

It's pacing is deliberate as well. As we spend the film watching the same actors, it is easy to forget that the movie's timeline spans well over 20 years. Such a huge measure of time would pass slowly in reality, and would only be amplified in prison. And it's not as if the film lacks interest in these moments. It still knows where it's going, it merely intends on taking its sweet time getting there. It pays off as well, as the tedium of prison life makes the climax that much more exhilarating. For anyone who sees it, it is a moment never to be forgotten.

With themes of faith and hope, there is a definite religious subtext to be found here. Quiet, selfless and carefree, Andy is an obvious Christ figure. Warden Norton (Bob Gunton) is obviously modeled on Richard Nixon, who, in his day, was as close to a personified Satan as they come. But if you aren't looking for subtexts, the movie speaks to anyone in search of hope. It is a compelling drama, and a very moving film, perfectly written, acted and shot. They just don't come much better than this.

OVERALL SCORE: 9.8/10 = A+ The Shawshank Redemption served as a message of hope to Hollywood as well. More than any film in memory, it proved there is life after box office. Besting Forrest and Fiction, it ran solely on strong word of mouth and became the hottest rented film of 1995. It currently sits at #2 in the IMDb's Top 250 Films, occasionally swapping spots with The Godfather as the top ranked film of all time -- redemption indeed. If you haven't seen it yet, what the hell are you waiting for? As Andy says, "It comes down a simple choice, really. Either get busy living, or get busy dying."

参考资料：www.imdb.com