Shawshank Redemption!

It's been a little over 14 years since I went to the Cinema to see a little known film called the Shawshank Redemption, and in a relatively empty theatre I was captivated like never before. And as an avid film watcher, I yearn for that experience again to no avail, even though some have come close...

But last night I decided to sit and watch it again (which is now well into double figures), and the film still doesn't fail to make an impression on me. Partly because of the theme of Redemption, something we all look for in its different forms.

But what I find from the film is the notion of Redemption from the darkest of times, with the metaphor of prison symbolising that the circumstances of life can seem to trap us, if we let ourselves think that way. But just like Andy Dufrane who never lost what was within, even faced with a corrupt warden, brutal guards, sexually deviant prisoners and a false conviction in his life space. We as Christians can hold onto an eschatological hope in light of an unjust world, where we are just as prone to hardship as anyone else.

Now I don't think that Frank Darabount had the above in mind (he might even be an Atheist),,, But the film still resonates with the Christian paradigm of Redemption, whether this was intentional or not.