The Shawshank Redemption 2

6duC...5Zeg

28 Jan 2024

Post-production[edit]

The final cut of the theatrically released film runs for 142 minutes,[1] and was dedicated to Allen Greene, Darabont's former agent, who died during filming from AIDS.[69] The film's first edit ran for nearly two and a half hours, which Glotzer considered "long", and several scenes were cut including a longer sequence of Red adjusting to life after incarceration; Darabont said that in test screenings the audience seemed to be getting impatient with the scene as they were already convinced that Red would not make it.[33] Another scene cut for time showed a prison guard investigating Andy's escape tunnel; this was thought to slow down the action.[70] The film originally had a cold open that played out Andy's crime, with his trial playing throughout the opening credits, but these scenes were edited together to create a more "punchy" opening.[71] One scripted scene, which Darabont described as his best work, was left unfilmed because of the shooting schedule.[72] In the scene, a dreaming Red is sucked into the poster of Rita Hayworth to find himself alone and insignificant on the Pacific shore, saying "I am terrified, there is no way home." Darabont said that he regretted being unable to capture the scene.[73]
In Darabont's original vision for the end of the film, Red is seen riding a bus towards the Mexican border, leaving his fate ambiguous. Glotzer insisted on including the scene of Red and Andy reuniting in Zihuatanejo. She said Darabont felt this was a "commercial, sappy" ending, but Glotzer wanted the audience to see them together.[8] Castle Rock agreed to finance filming for the scene without requiring its inclusion, guaranteeing Darabont the final decision.[74] The scene originally featured a longer reunion in which Andy and Red recited dialogue from their first meeting, but Darabont said it had a "golly-gee-ain't-we-cute" quality and excised it.[75] The beach reunion was test audiences' favorite scene; both Freeman and Robbins felt it provided the necessary closure. Darabont agreed to include the scene after seeing the test audience reactions, saying: "I think it's a magical and uplifting place for our characters to arrive at the end of their long saga..."[74]

Music[edit]

Main article: The Shawshank Redemption (soundtrack)
The film's score was composed by Thomas Newman. He felt that it already elicited such strong emotions without music that he found it difficult to compose one that would elevate scenes without distracting from them. The piece, "Shawshank Redemption", plays during Andy's escape from Shawshank and originally had a three-note motif, but Darabont felt it had too much of a "triumphal flourish" and asked that it be toned down to a single-note motif. "So Was Red", played following Red's release from prison, and leading to his discovery of Andy's cache, became one of Newman's favorite pieces. The piece was initially written for a solo oboe, until Newman reluctantly agreed to add harmonica—a reference to the harmonica Red receives from Andy to continue his message of hope. According to Darabont, harmonica player Tommy Morgan "casually delivered something dead-on perfect on the first take", and this is heard in the finished film.[76] Newman's score was so successful that excerpts from it were used in movie trailers for years afterwards.[36]

Release[edit]

Theatrical[edit]

Leading up to its release, the film was test screened with the public. These were described as "through the roof", and Glotzer said they were some of the best she had seen.[8][77] It was decided to mostly omit Stephen King's name from any advertising, as the studio wanted to attract a "more prestigious audience", who might reject a film from a writer known mostly for pulp fiction works such as The Shining and Cujo.[78]
Following early September premieres at the Renaissance Theatre in Mansfield, and the Toronto International Film Festival,[15][79] The Shawshank Redemption began a limited North American release on September 23, 1994. During its opening weekend, the film earned $727,000 from 33 theaters—an average of $22,040 per theater. Following a Hollywood tradition of visiting different theaters on opening night to see the audiences view their film live, Darabont and Glotzer went to the Cinerama Dome, but found no one there. Glotzer claimed that the pair actually sold two tickets outside the theater with the promise that if the buyers did not like the film, they could ask Castle Rock for a refund.[8] While critics praised the film, Glotzer believed that a lackluster review from the Los Angeles Times pushed crowds away.[8][77] It received a wide release on October 14, 1994, expanding to a total of 944 theaters to earn $2.4 million—an average of $2,545 per theater—finishing as the number-nine film of the weekend, behind sex-comedy Exit to Eden ($3 million), and just ahead of the historical drama Quiz Show ($2.1 million), which was in its fifth week at the cinemas.[36][51] The Shawshank Redemption closed in late November 1994, after 10 weeks with an approximate total gross of $16 million.[80] It was considered a box-office bomb, failing to recoup its $25 million budget, not including marketing costs and the cinema exhibitors' cuts.[8]
The film was also competing with Pulp Fiction ($108 million),[35] which also premiered October 14 following its Palme d'Or award win, and Forrest Gump ($330 million),[35] which was in the middle of a successful 42-week theatrical run.[77] Both films would become quotable cultural phenomena. A general audience trend towards action films starring the likes of Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger was also considered to work against the commercial success of The Shawshank Redemption.[8] Freeman blamed the title, saying it was unmemorable,[8] while Robbins recalled fans asking: "What was that Shinkshonk Reduction thing?".[21] Several alternative titles had been posited before the release due to concerns that it was not a marketable title.[48] The low box office was also blamed on a lack of female characters to broaden the audience demographics, the general unpopularity of prison films, and the bleak tone used in its marketing.[21][41]
After being nominated for several Oscars in early 1995,[8] the film was re-released between February and March, earning a further $12 million.[80][41] In total, the film grossed $28.3 million in the United States and Canada,[51] and $45 million[81] from other markets for a worldwide total of $73.3 million. In the United States, it became the 51st-highest-grossing film of 1994, and the 21st-highest-grossing R-rated film of 1994.[51]

Post-theatrical[edit]

Despite its disappointing box-office returns, in what was then considered a risky move, Warner Home Video shipped 320,000 rental video copies throughout the United States in 1995. It went on to become one of the top rented films of the year.[36] It was the seventh top video rental of 1995 in the United States.[82] Positive recommendations, repeat customer viewings, and being well received by both male and female audiences were considered key to the film's rental success.[21]
Ted Turner's Turner Broadcasting System had acquired Castle Rock in 1993, which enabled his television channel, TNT, to obtain the cable-broadcast rights to the film.[35] According to Glotzer, because of the low box-office numbers, TNT could air the film at a very low cost, but still charge premium advertising rates. The film began airing regularly on the network in June 1997.[35][8] Television airings of the film accrued record-breaking numbers,[21] and its repeated broadcast was considered essential to turning the film into a cultural phenomenon after its poor box-office performance.[8] Darabont felt the turning point for the film's success was the Academy Award nominations, saying "nobody had heard of the movie, and that year on the Oscar broadcast, they were mentioning this movie seven times".[46] In 1996, the rights to The Shawshank Redemption were acquired by Warner Bros. Pictures, following the merger of its parent company Time Warner with the Turner Broadcasting System.[83]
In the United Kingdom, the film was watched by 1.11 million viewers on the subscription television channel Film4 in 2006, making it the year's second most-watched film on subscription digital television.[84]
By 2013, The Shawshank Redemption had aired on 15 basic cable networks, and in that year occupied 151 hours of airtime, rivaling Scarface (1983), and behind only Mrs. Doubtfire (1993). It was in the top 15% of movies among adults between the ages of 18 and 49 on the Spike, Up, Sundance TV, and Lifetime channels. Despite its mainly male cast, it was the most-watched movie on the female-targeted OWN network. In a 2014 Wall Street Journal article, based on the margins studios take from box office returns, home media sales, and television licensing, The Shawshank Redemption had made an estimated $100 million. Jeff Baker, then-executive vice president and general manager of Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, said that the home video sales had earned about $80 million.[35] While finances for licensing the film for television are unknown, in 2014, current and former Warner Bros. executives confirmed that it was one of the highest-valued assets in the studio's $1.5 billion library.[85] That same year, Gunton said that by its tenth anniversary in 2004, he was still earning six-figure residual payments, and was still earning a "substantial income" from it, which was considered unusual so many years after its release.[86]

Reception[edit]

Critical response[edit]

Roger Deakins' cinematography was praised by critics,[87][88] and his work led to him winning the American Society of Cinematographers award for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography.[89]
The Shawshank Redemption opened to generally positive reviews.[90][91][92] Some reviewers compared the film to other well-received prison dramas, including Birdman of Alcatraz, Cool Hand Luke, and Riot in Cell Block 11.[93][94] Gene Siskel said that, like One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, The Shawshank Redemption is an inspirational drama about overcoming overbearing authority.[94] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.[95]
Entertainment Weekly's Owen Gleiberman said that Freeman makes the Red character feel genuine and "lived-in".[5] Janet Maslin of The New York Times said that Freeman was quietly impressive, but lamented that Red's role in the film had limited range, restricted to observing Andy. She considered Freeman's commanding performance made him a much stronger figure than simply an observer. Maslin said that Freeman's performance was especially moving when describing how dependent Red had become on living within the prison walls.[96] Variety's Leonard Klady suggested that Freeman had the "showier" role, allowing him "a grace and dignity that came naturally", without ever becoming banal,[87] and The Washington Post's Desson Howe called Freeman a "master" of comedic and poignant cadence.[97] Even Kenneth Turan's Los Angeles Times review, which Glotzer credited with derailing the film's box-office success, praised Freeman, saying his "effortless screen presence lends Shawshank the closest thing to credibility it can manage".[98]
Of Robbins' performance, Gleiberman said that in his "laconic-good-guy, neo-Gary Cooper role, [Robbins] is unable to make Andy connect with the audience".[5] Conversely, Maslin said that Andy has the more subdued role, but that Robbins portrays him intensely, and effectively depicts the character as he transitions from new prisoner to aged father figure,[96] and Klady stated that his "riveting, unfussy ... precise, honest, and seamless" performance anchors the film.[87] Howe said that while the character is "cheesily messianic" for easily charming everyone to his side, comparing him to "Forrest Gump goes to jail", Robbins exudes the perfect kind of innocence to sell the story.[97] The Hollywood Reporter stated that both Freeman and Robbins gave outstanding, layered performances that imbued their characters with individuality,[88] and Rolling Stone's Peter Travers said that the pair created something "undeniably powerful and moving".[93] Gunton and Brown were deemed by Klady as "extremely credible in their villainy",[87] while Howe countered that Gunton's warden was a clichéd character who extols religious virtues while having people murdered.[97]
Maslin called the film an impressive directorial debut that tells a gentle tale with a surprising amount of loving care,[96] while Klady said the only failings came when Darabont focused for too long on supporting characters, or embellished a secondary story.[87] The Hollywood Reporter said that both the directing and writing were crisp, while criticizing the film's long running time.[88] Klady said that the length and tone, while tempered by humor and unexpected events, would dampen the film's mainstream appeal, but the story offered a fascinating portrait of the innate humanity of the inmates.[87] Gleiberman disliked that the prisoners' crimes were overlooked to portray them more as good guys.[5] Turan similarly objected to what he perceived as extreme violence and rape scenes, and making most of the prisoners seem like a "bunch of swell and softhearted guys" to cast the prison experience in a "rosy glow".[98] Klady summarized the film as "estimable and haunting entertainment", comparing it to a rough diamond with small flaws,[87] but Howe criticized it for deviating with multiple subplots, and pandering by choosing to resolve the story with Andy and Red's reunion, rather than leaving the mystery.[97] Ebert noted that the story works because it is not about Andy as the hero, but how Red perceives him.[79]
Deakins' cinematography was roundly praised,[87] with The Hollywood Reporter calling it "foreboding" and "well-crafted",[88] and Travers saying "the everyday agonies of prison life are meticulously laid out ... you can almost feel the frustration and rage seeping into the skin of the inmates".[93] Gleiberman praised the choice of scenery, writing "the moss-dark, saturated images have a redolent sensuality; you feel as if you could reach out and touch the prison walls".[5] The Hollywood Reporter said of Newman's score, "at its best moments, alights with radiant textures and sprightly grace notes, nicely emblematic of the film's central theme",[88] and Klady described it as "the right balance between the somber and the absurd".[87]

Accolades[edit]

The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards in 1995, the most for a Stephen King film adaptation:[99] Best Picture (Marvin), Best Actor (Freeman), Best Adapted Screenplay (Darabont), Best Cinematography (Deakins), Best Film Editing (Richard Francis-Bruce), Best Sound (Robert J. Litt, Elliot Tyson, Michael Herbick, and Willie D. Burton),[100] and Best Original Score (Newman, his first Academy Award nomination).[76] It did not win in any category.[99] It received two Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture for Freeman, and Best Screenplay for Darabont.[101]
Robbins and Freeman were both nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role at the inaugural Screen Actors Guild Awards in 1995.[102] Darabont was nominated for a Directors Guild of America award in 1994 for Best Director of a feature film,[103] and a Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.[104] Deakins won the American Society of Cinematographers award for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography,[89] while producer Niki Marvin was nominated for a 1994 Golden Laurel Award by the Producers Guild of America.[104]

Legacy[edit]

The Shawshank tree after being split by lightning in 2011. It had been a symbol of hope after its role in the film.
Darabont later adapted and directed two other King stories, The Green Mile (1999) and The Mist (2007).[105] In a 2016 interview, King said that The Shawshank Redemption was his favorite adaptation of his work, alongside Stand by Me.[106]
The oak tree, under which Andy leaves a note for Red directing him to Zihuatanejo, became a symbol of hope for its role in the film, and is considered iconic.[58][107] In 2016, The New York Times reported that the tree attracted thousands of visitors annually.[108] The tree was partially destroyed on July 29, 2011, when it was split by lightning, and news of the damage was reported by U.S. and international publications.[107][109] The tree was completely felled by strong winds on or around July 22, 2016,[107] and its vestiges were cut down in April 2017.[110] The remains were turned into The Shawshank Redemption memorabilia, including rock hammers and magnets.[111]
The prison site, which was planned to be fully torn down after filming,[55][112] became a tourist attraction.[53] The Mansfield Reformatory Preservation Society, a group of enthusiasts of the film, purchased the building and site from Ohio for one dollar in 2000 and took up maintaining it as a historical landmark, both as its purpose as a prison and as the filming site.[55][113] A 2019 report estimated the attraction to be earning $16 million in annual revenue.[41] Many of the rooms and props remain there, including the false pipe through which Andy escapes,[55] and a portion of the oak tree from the finale, after it was damaged in 2011.[44] The surrounding area is also visited by fans, while local businesses market "Shawshanwiches" and Bundt cakes in the shape of the prison.[55] According to the Mansfield/Richland County Convention and Visitors Bureau (later renamed Destination Mansfield),[59] tourism in the area had increased every year since The Shawshank Redemption premiered, and in 2013 drew in 18,000 visitors and over $3 million to the local economy.[44] As of 2019, Destination Mansfield operates the Shawshank Trail, a series of 15 marked stops around locations related to the film across Mansfield, Ashland, Upper Sandusky, and St Croix. The trail earned $16.9 million in revenue in 2018.[59][114]
In late August 2014, a series of events was held in Mansfield to celebrate the film's 20th anniversary including a screening of the film at the Renaissance Theatre, a bus tour of certain filming locations, and a cocktail party at the reformatory. Cast from the film attended some of the events, including Gunton, Scott Mann, Renee Blaine, and James Kisicki.[15] The 25th anniversary was similarly celebrated in August 2019.[115] Guests included Darabont, Blaine, Mann, Gunton, Alfonso Freeman,[114] Bellows, Rolston, Claire Slemmer,[116] and Frank Medrano.[117] Darabont stated that only at this event, the first time he had returned to Mansfield, was he able to realize the lasting impact of the film, stating, "It is a very surreal feeling to be back all these years later and people are still talking about it."[112]

Critical reassessment[edit]

Contemporary review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a 91% approval rating from 81 critics, with an average rating of 8.40/10. The consensus reads, "The Shawshank Redemption is an uplifting, deeply satisfying prison drama with sensitive direction and fine performances."[118] The film also has a score of 82 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 21 critics indicating "universal acclaim".[119]
In 1999, film critic Roger Ebert listed Shawshank on his list of The Great Movies.[92] The film has been nominated for, or appeared on, the American Film Institute's lists celebrating the top 100 film or film-related topics. In 1998, it was nominated for AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies list, and was number 72 on the 2007 revised list, outranking Forrest Gump (76) and Pulp Fiction (94).[120][121] It was also number 23 on AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers (2006) list charting inspiring films.[122] The characters of Andy and Warden Norton received nominations for AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes & Villains list;[123] AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes list for "Get busy livin', or get busy dyin'";[124] AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs list for "Sull'aria ... che soave zeffiretto" (from The Marriage of Figaro);[125] and AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores for Newman's work.[126]
In 2005, the Writers Guild of America listed Darabont's screenplay at number 22 on its list of the 101 greatest screenplays,[127] and in 2006, Film4 listed it number 13 on its list of 50 Films to See Before You Die.[128] In 2014, The Shawshank Redemption was named Hollywood's fourth-favorite film, based on a survey of 2,120 Hollywood-based entertainment industry members; entertainment lawyers skewed the most towards the film.[129] In 2017, The Daily Telegraph named it the 17th-best prison film ever made,[130] and USA Today listed it as one of the 50 best films of all time.[131] In 2019, GamesRadar+ listed its ending as one of the best of all time.[132]
The Shawshank Redemption appeared on several lists of the greatest films of the 1990s, by outlets including: Paste and NME (2012),[133][134] Complex (2013),[135] CHUD.com (2014),[136] MSN (2015),[137] TheWrap,[138] Maxim,[139] and Rolling Stone (all 2017).[140]

Cultural influence[edit]

In November 2014, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences celebrated the film's 20th anniversary with a special one-night screening at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, California.[46] In 2015, the film was selected by the United States Library of Congress to be preserved in the National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". Darabont responded: "I can think of no greater honor than for The Shawshank Redemption to be considered part of our country's cinematic legacy."[90] Variety said that the word "Shawshank" could be used to instantly convey images of a prison.[36]
The significant and enduring public appreciation for the film has often been difficult for critics to define.[90] In an interview, Freeman said, "About everywhere you go, people say, 'The Shawshank Redemption—greatest movie I ever saw'" and that such praise "Just comes out of them". Robbins said, "I swear to God, all over the world—all over the world—wherever I go, there are people who say, 'That movie changed my life'".[8] In a separate interview, Stephen King said, "If that isn't the best [adaptation of my works], it's one of the two or three best, and certainly, in moviegoers' minds, it's probably the best because it generally rates at the top of these surveys they have of movies. ... I never expected anything to happen with it."[141] In a 2014 Variety article, Robbins claimed that South African politician Nelson Mandela told him about his love for the film,[8] while it has been cited as a source of inspiration by several sportsmen including Jonny Wilkinson (UK), Agustín Pichot (Argentina), Al Charron (Canada), and Dan Lyle (USA),[142] and Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York.[143] Gunton said he had encountered fans in Morocco, Australia, South America,[144] Germany, France, and Bora Bora.[38] Director Steven Spielberg said that the film was "a chewing-gum movie—if you step on it, it sticks to your shoe".[40] Speaking on the film's 25th anniversary, Darabont said that older generations were sharing it with younger generations, contributing to its longevity.[41]
It has been the number-one film on IMDb's user-generated Top 250 since 2008, when it surpassed The Godfather, having remained at or near the top since the late 1990s.[8][78] In the United Kingdom, readers of Empire voted the film as the best of the 1990s, the greatest film of all time in 2006, and it placed number four on Empire's 2008 list of "The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time" and their 2017 list of "The 100 Greatest Movies".[21][145][146][147] In March 2011, the film was voted by BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 1Xtra listeners as their favorite film of all time.[148] It regularly appears on Empire's top 100 films, was named the greatest film to not win the Academy Award for Best Picture in a 2013 poll by Sky UK (it lost to Forrest Gump),[149] and ranked as Britain's favorite film in a 2015 YouGov poll. When the British Film Institute analyzed the demographic breakdown of the YouGov poll, it noted that The Shawshank Redemption was not the top-ranked film in any group, but was the only film to appear in the top 15 of every age group, suggesting it is able to connect with every polled age group, unlike Pulp Fiction which fared better with younger voters, and Gone with the Wind (1939) with older voters.[77]
A 2017 poll conducted by Gatwick Airport also identified the film as the fourth-best to watch while in flight.[150] When English film critic Mark Kermode interviewed a host of United States moviegoers, they compared it to a "religious experience".[77] It was also voted as New Zealand's favorite film in a 2015 poll.[151] Lasting fan appreciation has led to it being considered one of the most beloved films of all time.[8][36][114][152][153]