In the short story Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, by Stephen King, Ellis “Red” Redding is a man who was introduced to the world of a prison after, at a young age, he murdered his wife. Sentenced to three life sentences in Shawshank prison, Red learns to live his days on a strict schedule with numerous orders given daily by the unsympathetic guards. Red continuously jokes that he is the only guilty man in Shawshank, as many of the other inmates regularly proclaim their innocence. Then, one day in 1948, a man by the name of Andy Dufresne enters the fences of Shawshank following a trial where Red admits he himself would have convicted Andy. Strangely enough, even with all the evidence stacked up against him, Andy is innocent. The story follows Andy’s journey in Shawshank as he puts poster after poster on his cell walls, carves stones with his rock hammer, confronts guards and the warden, creates a library to rival all others, and, most surprising of all, escapes. Many differences separated the short story and the movie, directed by Frank Darabont, such as the use of music and the death of the warden in the movie, and the unresolved ending in the short story, but it is the cohesiveness of the movie that made it my favorite of the two. It did an excellent job keeping important and eloquent lines from King’s pages in Red’s narration, as well as including new elements, such as Andy taking the wardens money when he left for Zihuatanejo. The best choice for the movie, however, was making it into a drama as opposed to a narrative. In the short story, Red tells the reader point blank that Andy escaped from Shawshank before launching into how this escape was achieved. In the film, the audience is made to believe that Andy committed suicide when he borrows a rope from a fellow inmate one night and doesn’t step out of his cell the next morning for role call. Unpredictable moments like this excite viewers and creates the tension that every great movie needs.
The lines that were translated from King’s pages, but used in the film in a new way, contribute greatly to the success of the movie. One scene in which Darabont transforms the lines from the text is when Red enters his parole hearing at the close of the movie. In this scene, he utilises language from the start of the short story: “Have I rehabilitated myself, you ask? I don’t know what that word means… I think it’s a politician’s word… Given a second chance I would not do it again, but I’m not sure that means I am rehabilitated” (King 1). In the film, many of these words are used by Red in his final parole hearing, when the hearing board finally approves him for parole. Red gives his first parole speech where he doesn’t recite the lines he is supposed to like a puppet. The parole board seems to understand that Red can finally think for himself and therefore grant him his partial freedom. This scene begins with the viewer entering the scene from the view of Red, as cell bars and doors are opened and the camera rolls forward into the parole hearing room. The shot is devoid of sound except for the screeching of the cell doors as they slowly open. What follows is several close up shots of the head of the parole board and some mid range shots of Red as he speaks about rehabilitation. The most dramatic moment in the scene is when Red makes a brave speech to the parole board, saying he wishes he could slap some sense into his twenty year old self, but, “Rehabilitated? It’s just a bullshit word. So you go on and stamp your forms sonny and stop wasting my time. Because to tell you the truth, I don’t give a shit.” This powerful line is accentuated by the slow zoom of the camera as the shot moved from mid-range to a close up on Red’s face. Following these brazen words is a shot of the entire parole board, shocked silent by the words they just heard escape from the mouth of an inmate who was supposed to beg for mercy from them, as is the norm. The final shot is the satisfying thunk of the “approved” stamp hitting the paper for Reds parole request. This scene differs greatly from the short story, where Red says words similar to these only to introduce himself to the reader. Both usages were successful, but the film definitely packed a bigger punch.
The lines that were translated from King’s pages, but used in the film in a new way, contribute greatly to the success of the movie. One scene in which Darabont transforms the lines from the text is when Red enters his parole hearing at the close of the movie. In this scene, he utilises language from the start of the short story: “Have I rehabilitated myself, you ask? I don’t know what that word means… I think it’s a politician’s word… Given a second chance I would not do it again, but I’m not sure that means I am rehabilitated” (King 1). In the film, many of these words are used by Red in his final parole hearing, when the hearing board finally approves him for parole. Red gives his first parole speech where he doesn’t recite the lines he is supposed to like a puppet. The parole board seems to understand that Red can finally think for himself and therefore grant him his partial freedom. This scene begins with the viewer entering the scene from the view of Red, as cell bars and doors are opened and the camera rolls forward into the parole hearing room. The shot is devoid of sound except for the screeching of the cell doors as they slowly open. What follows is several close up shots of the head of the parole board and some mid range shots of Red as he speaks about rehabilitation. The most dramatic moment in the scene is when Red makes a brave speech to the parole board, saying he wishes he could slap some sense into his twenty year old self, but, “Rehabilitated? It’s just a bullshit word. So you go on and stamp your forms sonny and stop wasting my time. Because to tell you the truth, I don’t give a shit.” This powerful line is accentuated by the slow zoom of the camera as the shot moved from mid-range to a close up on Red’s face. Following these brazen words is a shot of the entire parole board, shocked silent by the words they just heard escape from the mouth of an inmate who was supposed to beg for mercy from them, as is the norm. The final shot is the satisfying thunk of the “approved” stamp hitting the paper for Reds parole request. This scene differs greatly from the short story, where Red says words similar to these only to introduce himself to the reader. Both usages were successful, but the film definitely packed a bigger punch.