In The Shawshank Redemption, director explores the idea of freedom using many techniques ways, he uses the symbols of birds to represents the ability to go anywhere and do anything at anytime. The Posters which represent the outside, world, which drives each inmates hopes and dreams. One symbol used is the The rock hammer, which keeps him busy and doesn’t let his mind sink into depression. When Andy plays Nozze di Figaro on loud speaker it represents that the guards cant take away the freedom of their minds. By helping and giving others a reason to not give up,finds purpose Andy and a reason not to give up.
The theme freedom in The Shawshank Redemption is shown through The poster of Rita Hayworth and other girls in the movie. They represents the outside world, drive and every inmate’s desire to have freedom. Through-out the movie Andy tells Red that sometimes he imagines stepping right through the poster into another life. Even though it is known that Andy uses the poster to conceal the hole in the concrete, Rita Hayworth embelishes his sense of hope and keeps him grounded, in the hope that one day he will have a normal life. It takes Andy nineteen years to hammer his way through the walls of Shawshank.
Having the rock hammer makes Andy feel free because it gives Andy a sense of normality, and a chance to do something he did before Shawshank. Andy used the rock hammar to keep busy, to keep his mind alive and to give him some freedom from his most darkest thoughts. Perhaps the biggest and most stubborn enemy was the prison walls. Andy took his time overcoming this particular object for his freedom. The Warden tried to cage him in, but Andy had too much will power, and a lot of determination, for that’s all it really took, as Red narrated: “Geology is the study of pressure and time.
That’s all it takes really, pressure, and time. ” When Andy plays Le Nozze di Figaro on the loud-speakers in the prison, everyone stops in awe of the beauty of this mystrious women singing, for something so beautiful can make everyone forget even though just for a minute who and where they are. The prisoners and the guards put away their sorrow and hatred and just stand still as if they are all equal. “I have no idea to this day what those two Italian ladies were singing about. Truth is, I don’t want to know. Some things are best left unsaid.
I’d like to think they were singing about something so beautiful, it can’t be expressed in words” “I tell you, those voices soared higher and farther than anybody in a grey place dares to dream. ” In this scene the camera pans up into a high angle shot, given an impression that it’s taken from a bird flying past observing what’s taking place. That connects to when Red says: “It was like some beautiful bird flapped into our drab little cage and made those walls dissolve away, and for the briefest of moments, every last man in Shawshank felt free”.
Birds are also used to represent characters, which are needed to be reabilitated. When Andy came to Shawshank a stiff breeze could have blown him over but then as he grows strong and he escaped. This connects Andy to Jake Brookes bird Then once he got better Brookes let him go even though it was hard. When Brookes set Jake free the camera looked up at him from low angle shot, it made him seem bigger and more important, like he was finally better then the prison and it was his time to go. Jake wasn’t one to be caged up, he needed to be free.
Brookes set Jake free the camera looked up at him from low angle shot, it made him seem bigger and more important, like he was finally better then the prison and it was his time to go. Another example of freedom is when Andy gets beer for all his friends after making a deal with Hadley which could have risked his life, instead the guard decided to give the inmates twenty minutes to enjoy beer in the sunlight. This scene is shot from a mid shot, showing how everyones body language is relaxed and that they are happy and smiling. However in the background you see the guards watching over them.
This shows that even though for the moment they feel free really they aren’t and they have to remember that. This scene showes how giving hope to his friends maintain Andy’s hope for escape. “We sat and drank with the sun on our shoulders and felt like free men. Hell, we could have been tarring the roof of one of our own houses. We were the lords of all creation. As for Andy – he spent that break hunkered in the shade, a strange little smile on his face, watching us drink his beer”, this links into Andy giving his friend the courage to keep going.
The mise en scene from when the warden discovers Andy has escaped you see an image of Albert Einstein poking out he tongue represents he won, Andy is poking out his tongue in victory The theme of freedom in The Shawshank Redemption is shown in many ways through out the movie. Even though The Shawshank Redemption is centred around Andy, the deep voice over of Red keeps the audience guessing the whole way, wondering if Andy Dufresne is guilty or not. The Shawshank Redemption tells you that to be free,your mind is the strongest aspect of keeping you sane, which links perfectly with the quote ‘The only real freedom is freedom of the mind’.
