The Shawshank Redemption (BFI Modern Classics)
Mark KermodeMark Kermode traces the history of this unexpected audience favourite from the pages of Stephen King's novella 'Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption', through the icy corridors of Ohio's Mansfield Reformatory (whose imposing gothic architecture dominates the film), to the television & video screens on which 'The Shawshank Redemption' became a phenomenon.
This study traces the history of 'The Shawshank Redemption' & draws on interviews with writer/director Frank Darabont and leading players Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman. The book also explores the near-religious fervour that the film inspires in a huge number of devoted fans.
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First published in 2003 by the
British Film Institute
Reprinted 2004, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2016
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“To tell you the truth I just don’t know what it is about that film that resonates so with people. But everywhere I go people who have seen it react to it fondly. And I get the same kind of dialogue about it being one of, if not the, favourite movie.”— Morgan Freeman
“There isn’t a day when I’m not approached about that film, approached by people who are so … thankful, who say how important that film was to them, & how many times they’ve seen it: twenty, thirty, forty times …” — Tim Robbins
“I’ve gotten mail from people who say ‘Gosh, your movie got me through a really bad marriage, you know, or a really bad divorce; or it got me through a really bad patch in my life or a really bad illness; or it helped me hang on when a loved one died.’” — Frank Darabont