Theme Of Mise En Scene In Shawshank Redemption

The Shawshank Redemption (1994), directed and written by Frank Darabont, is a film that takes place in the 1940s and follows Andy Dufresne, who is convicted of multiple sentences for allegedly killing his wife and the man she was cheating on him with, which he denies ever having done. Andy befriends a few inmates and grows close to a man named Red who throughout the film assists Andy with anything he needs. After a number of years, a new inmate arrives who tells Andy a story about a man he knows who killed two people, which match what happens on the night of his wife’s murder. Upon learning this he tells the warden to help clear his name, but since the warden likes having Andy around, he has the inmate killed so Andy can’t ask for a retrial …show more content…
The scene in reference is when Andy realizes he’ll be stuck in prison forever, due to corruption, so he finally finishes his escape route and tunnels through the sewage and climbs into the nearest river where he lets out a huge cheer with his hands raised high. This is the climax of the movie, but also the scene that most effectively uses mise-en-scene. This scene is in the middle of the night during a strong thunderstorm, and it has Andy slugging through the river, stripping off his dirty clothes in an exhale of happiness, all while the camera begins to look down on him with quick flashes of lighting as Andy lets his hands up celebrating his freedom. This is the most iconic scene in the film and it is also the most beautifully directed scenes as well. The camera panning out looking down on him celebrating is used to show that the stresses of prison have been lifted off his shoulders, while the flashes of lighting are used to emphasize the pure and raw emotion of just how much Andy is exalted when he realizes he escaped the horrors of prison. This scene is accompanied by an orchestra playing for the duration of his escape that serves to build up the climax. The music builds up slowly, up until Andy raises his hands in happiness is when the …show more content…
It depicts how corruption can influence and even ruin many lives, just for the benefit of someone else. The movie comes a few years after the United States got ‘tough on crime,” which led to massive increases in people entering prison for small crimes, that before wouldn’t have been punished as severely before. Darabont saw how the justice department took advantage of the 13th amendment and saw an opportunity to make a film that portrays an analogous situation to what was happening all across the country in the 90s. The Shawshank Redemption followed one man and depicted the corruption that he faced in prison, but the film is supposed to be a metaphor for the struggles that each individual who was affected by the “tough on crime” era and looking at the time of the release one can connect the two. The movie even depicts when new evidence is introduced, appropriate measures aren’t always followed, and when you link this to real life, many people were charged in the past for crimes that didn’t have compelling evidence and imprisoned many innocent