The Shawshank Redemption is directed and written for the screen by Frank Darabont. It is a loose adaptation of the Novella, Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King. Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman star in the movie as Andy Dufresne and Ellis "Red" Redding. Andy Dufresne has been wrongly accused of murdering his wife and is given life imprisonment. Red on the other hand is guilty of a murder and feels remorse for it. The conflict in the movie is about hope.
While getting used to the prison life, Red acts as a moral compass and helps Andy get used to it. Red is the narrator and guides Andy in prison. There is contrast in the two characters when it comes to the notion of hope. Red doesn’t believe he’ll ever get out of prison. Red believes that hope is dangerous thing and it can drive a man insane.
Andy was a banker and he helps out the prison guards with their taxes. The Prison warden has a side business through the prisoners, he uses them as labour force for government tenders but breaks the contracts, giving them to other contractors getting bribes from them in return. He uses Andy to whitewash these bribes, Andy makes up a fake person and puts it into this person’s account for the warden.
Andy takes on a new prisoner (Tommy) as his student and makes him pass a competitive exam, he says that he heard an inmate in the previous prison speak of killing a banker’s wife. The banker is none other than Andy, seeing that Andy may be released, the warden has Tommy killed. Andy doesn’t want to launder money but is threatened by the warden. Andy escapes from prison and takes away the waden’s money with him. Red is released from prison and he goes to a place that Andy had told him abou There he finds Andy’s letter addressed to him.
In that letter he answers Red’s notion of hope, Andy says that hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things and no good thing ever dies.