Cinema on Wednesday

In 1947, bank manager Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) is sentenced to two life sentences for the murder of his wife and her lover on the basis of circum­stan­tial evidence. He is to serve his sentence in Shawshank prison in Maine, which is known for its brutal, corrupt guards and numerous assaults by fellow inmates. Andy does not find it easy to adapt to everyday life in the prison, but over time he gets to know other inmates — including Red (Morgan Freeman), who has also been convicted of murder, has already served twenty years of his sentence and is known for his good contacts. For the right payment, he can get the inmates just about anything and smuggle it past the watchful eyes of the prison guards. Fittingly, Andy has a few very special requests: as he is an amateur geologist, he wants a rock hammer and also a pin-up poster of Rita Heyworth. Although no one among his fellow inmates believes his protes­ta­tions of innocence, after a while Andy comes to terms with everyday life in prison and makes himself indis­pens­able to the staff with his knowledge of finance and banking. First he helps the feared and sadistic head warden Byron Hadley (Clancy Brown) with an inher­i­tance, later he even does the tax returns for Warden Norton (Bob Gunton) and the other guards. But although Andy enjoys many priv­i­leges after a few years, he still longs for freedom and sees the only way out as escape…

“The Shawshank Redemp­tion” is based on the story “Spring Awakening: Pin-up” from the novella collec­tion “Spring, Summer, Fall and Death” by Stephen King.