The Shawshank Redemption
My guess: Cricket
^^That guess up there was so hard, this movie is so well loved and well known that I basically had to randomly pick someone who I thought may have nominated this.
I tried soooo hard to dislike this movie. I wanted to have "unique and edgy taste," "go against the grain," bla bla whatever that means. All I knew is that I didn't want to love the #1 highest rated movie on IM*B.
But I did love it. Every minute, every damn second. A masterpiece like this deserves the recognition it gets as one of the greatest films ever made. Every part of it - Darabont's flawless direction and screenplay, Newman's sweeping score, Deakins's typically legendary cinemtography, and of course the utterly magnificent acting performances - all led to a timeless movie that has already become a classic.
I don't even know where to start. How about with the acting. Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman both give equally fantastic performances. Robbins playing a quiet, layed back, yet confident man, one whose choices change the lives of those around him. Then Freeman playing an equally wise character in his own right, a man who actually has done the crime he's convicted of, and the real main character. Both actors completely embody their respective character. So no complaints there; I was completely immersed in the people and places of Shawshank.
And then, the characters themselves. Andy Dufrane, a character who was sent to prison for a murder he didn't do, finds himself in the stony walls of Shawshank Prison. It's interesting thinking about his life before prison. Maybe he was successful, had a steady job, had friends. Was he happy? At least not with his wife, who was cheating on him. We never really learn about Andy's backstory (although I personally think this is a sequel to the Toy Story trilogy). The movie tells us "It doesn't matter."
And then we've got Red, a man who is up in the ranks as one of the most powerful prisoners at Shawshank. He's known to locate certain things from time to time. He has connections. His life inside the prison is one of contentedness. It's Red that is the main character of Shawshank Redemption; It is his redemption in the film, not Andy's. Throughout the story Red questions and learns what it is to live. He learns about hope and compassion, he experiences from Andy what it is like to stand up for what is right. "Get busy living, or get busy dying."
Speaking of that line, the screenplay also blew me away. What I expected would be a prison break dramatic script, instead turned into an endlessly quotable, FUNNY, screenplay that sets up characters and entertains easily while also juggling a hefty plot.
Does Deakins ever disappoint? Not in Shawshank. The shots of the outside of the prison are stunning, and no dialogue could introduce us so well to what exactly those prison walls do to people. That entire "escape explanation" scene was shot brilliantly, especially the final triumphant moment when Andy rips his shirt off and celebrates.
This must be one of the most satisfying and fulfilling movies I've ever seen. The final embrace at the end had me in tears, honest to God. It's so emotional, but it doesn't ply for tears, it's the honesty and beauty of the reunion, it's the beauty of the whole damn movie, that had me in tears.
I can't relate to being locked up in a prison for thirty years. But what I can relate to is the feeling of emptiness, the feeling that something - either internal or external - is stopping you from living.
This movie is inspiring me to get busy living.
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...and maybe some of these are my choices, or maybe not