Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption

     Imagine yourself grief-stricken by a recent love affair. It turns out that your wife was having an affair with another person. Disheartened by your wife's action, you feel the urge to revenge, to show that you are not an easy person. Yet, you give up because you are not the kind of a person that takes revenge for granted. However, your wife and her love mate are found dead. And you? You are convicted of murder. Welcome to Shawshank.

     A thought came to my mind after having watched the movie. Why did I not notice such a great movie before? The Internet Movie Database crowned it the best movie ever made. There is no doubt about that. As a matter of fact, I would say that the movie was able to portray the emotions of the characters better than the book. (I'm truly sorry Mr. King) Of course, one cannot ignore the importance of music and camera angles, which are definitely unportrayable in books. Yet, overall, the movie itself was very compelling in drawing the audience into the story of Andy Dufresne narrated by Red. (I was able to stand two hours without dozing off)

     Critics claim that "Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption" as the best story written by Stephen King, which is rather peculiar considering that King is more of a horror genre. The book does contain gruesome descriptions characteristic to Stephen's writing style, especially when the Sisters "rape" Andy. Yet, unlike most of his works which show the "dark" reality of the world, this story on the contrary teaches us a valuable lesson of "hope". Through Andy's unchanging character, King evokes "hope" that is imperishable even in the worst condition of being convicted murderer for a crime never committed.

     The short story by Stephen King was excellent but the movie was even greater. Unlike the beginning of the story with Red’s narration, the movie commences with Andy’s trial. This allows us to quickly engage into this world of Shawshank. In addition to such modifications, there are also additions of scenes that made the movie more dramatic than the book. The scene where Andy turns on the opera evokes a strong sense of light and hope to the gloomy prison. The scene depicting Brook’s fear allows us to look at our world that we are so used to from a different perspective. All these scenes compiled together, allows us to share the emotions and thoughts of the characters and to end the movie with great relief when Andy and Red finally meet at the Pacific "blue as it has been in my dream".

     To sum up, "Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption" or The Shawshank Redemption is a definite book to read or film to watch. Not only are we able to experience the world behind the "walls" of prison but we are able to learn a valuable life lesson, as Andy quotes:

"Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies."