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Article: The Shawshank Redemption.
- Article from:
- National Review
- Article date:
- November 7, 1994
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1994 National Review, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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As prison films go, The Shawshank Redemption is one of the more unredeemed ones; it is no In the Name of the Father, let alone Un Condamne a mort s'est echappe. The title of the Stephen King novella on which it is based is "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption," which is longer but not better. It concerns a respectable young Maine banker, Andy Dufresen, sentenced to life without reprieve for the murder of his wife, which he did not commit. He is sent to Shawshank, a prison compared to which Devil's Island was a Palm Beach luxury hotel. Here he experiences the most satanic warden and guards, as well as fellow prisoners who, except for a few rotten apples, are a swell ...