Shawshank Redemption's journey from flop to classic
The Independent|September 23, 2024
The producers wanted Tom Cruise. The creek in its most famous scene was toxic. And barely anyone saw it upon its release 30 years ago. So what changed, asks Tom Fordy
Tom Fordy
Shawshank Redemption's journey from flop to classic

I remember well my introduction to The Shawshank Redemption. Someone I once knew – a true Nineties lad’s lad – handed me a VHS copy and told me it was “a beautiful film”. He was not the sort of bloke who ordinarily talked about beautiful art. But he was right. Beneath the stone walls, the brutality, and the tragedy of an innocent man condemned to a life term, The Shawshank Redemption was that very thing: a story of profound beauty.

“This was a miracle,” says executive producer David Lester. “This story was so human.” It’s incredible – no, criminal – that the film flopped when it was released on this day 30 years ago. But – just as Tim Robbins’s Andy Dufresne crawled through a “river of shit” and came out clean on the other side – The Shawshank Redemption emerged as one of the great cultural touchstones of its decade, if not the entirety of cinema history. It’s ranked on the Internet Movie Database as the greatest film ever made.

“All I know,” Robbins told Mark Kermode in 2004, “is that there isn’t a day when I’m not approached about that film – approached by people who say how important that film is to them, who tell me that they’ve seen it 20, 30, 40 times, and who are just so... thankful.”

Based on a Stephen King novella and directed by Frank Darabont, it tells the story of Forties banker Andy, who’s jailed for murdering his wife and her lover. Inside Shawshank State Prison, he befriends Red (Morgan Freeman) and whiles away the years by chiselling rocks, rehauling the prison library, and finding a creative use for pin-up posters.

The cast and crew, of course, knew how good it was from Darabont’s script alone. “It’s really quite a remarkable piece,” Lester says, talking from Los Angeles via Zoom. “I never read a better script in my life, right from the jump.”

Esta historia es de la edición September 23, 2024 de The Independent.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

Esta historia es de la edición September 23, 2024 de The Independent.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

MÁS HISTORIAS DE THE INDEPENDENTVer todo
The Extremism Of Trump's Pick For Intelligence Chief
The Independent

The Extremism Of Trump's Pick For Intelligence Chief

Tulsi Gabbard made the journey from anti-war Democrat to Moscow-friendly Maga warrior. Rich Hall looks at how

time-read
9 minutos  |
November 25, 2024
Will Labour Party Mps Get Behind Pm's Welfare Blitz?
The Independent

Will Labour Party Mps Get Behind Pm's Welfare Blitz?

Labour's blitz on benefits comes with some eye-catching language from the prime minister, announced in The Mail on Sunday. He has warned of Britain's "bulging benefits bill blighting our society" as he vows to cut the £137bn cost.

time-read
2 minutos  |
November 25, 2024
England hammer Japan to end vexing autumn on high
The Independent

England hammer Japan to end vexing autumn on high

After a November of frets and frustration came a chance for fun and frolics for England.

time-read
4 minutos  |
November 25, 2024
Verstappen pulls up next to F1 elite with his fourth title
The Independent

Verstappen pulls up next to F1 elite with his fourth title

Dutch driver seals championship under lights of Las Vegas

time-read
3 minutos  |
November 25, 2024
Treasure's chest! Salah stars for Reds in comeback win
The Independent

Treasure's chest! Salah stars for Reds in comeback win

Liverpool moved eight points clear at the top of the Premier League yesterday as Mohamed Salah scored twice to help them come from behind to beat Southampton 3-2 at St Mary’s.

time-read
2 minutos  |
November 25, 2024
Amorim kicks-off United role with lacklustre draw
The Independent

Amorim kicks-off United role with lacklustre draw

Ruben Amorim can at least remind himself that Manchester United’s best managers have had worse starts.

time-read
4 minutos  |
November 25, 2024
Have I got time to get a new passport for trip to Europe?
The Independent

Have I got time to get a new passport for trip to Europe?

Q My passport expires in July 2025. Is the Passport Office doing renewals quickly these days? If not, when is the best time? I intend to go to Europe before March.

time-read
1 min  |
November 25, 2024
Far-right populist leads in Romanian presidential vote
The Independent

Far-right populist leads in Romanian presidential vote

A far-right populist took the lead in Romania's presidential election yesterday and will probably face leftist prime minister Marcel Ciolacu in a runoff in two weeks, an outcome that rocked the country's political landscape.

time-read
3 minutos  |
November 25, 2024
Three held after prominent Israeli rabbi killed in Dubai
The Independent

Three held after prominent Israeli rabbi killed in Dubai

Emirati police question men as Iran denies any involvement

time-read
2 minutos  |
November 25, 2024
Lab test monkeys are flown to UK 'injured and terrified'
The Independent

Lab test monkeys are flown to UK 'injured and terrified'

Monkeys flown into the UK for laboratory testing were so badly injured that their crates were smeared with blood, photographs suggest.

time-read
3 minutos  |
November 25, 2024