Film Review (The Shawshank Redemption) Adaptation

Fig 1, The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

Its an American drama film based on the Stephen King novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption. The ability of the directors behalf of taking the book and making it a film was noteworthy. the book and the film all meet up to high expectations and both are great. Stephen King is a great story teller and with some of his films including this one they become a success in their own way. 

Fig 2 The Shawshank Redemption Book (1982)

Parts of the film and book have been changed as the book goes into more detail as the audience cant see what is being read but has to imagine what it is about. with the film parts can be left out or altered slightly as you have a visual of what the characters are doing and are saying.

King said his favourite adaptations of his work were The Shawshank Redemption, the story of the wrongfully imprisoned Andy Dufresne. (Flood, 2016). 

The director left out parts on purpose. but both the film and the novel are told from reds point of view. A part that is different in the book and the film is Brooks scenes. he is mentioned more in the story than the film as Brooks is only mentioned once in passing so the entire section with his time on the outside and his eventual suicide was made up for the film. Visually reading the book and watching the film many parts are similar and it still feels like the story is being told from one mans point of view which in this case is not the main character but red the main on the outside. 

 The film captured the source material to a high standard. telling the story of a wrongfully accused man spending his time in prison trying to escape to a high chance of success. even with the writer of the books approval of being one of his greatest adaption of work and reinterpreting it into a cult classic film. which sadly didn't do great in the box office as it received positive reviews on its release, particularly for its story and the performances of some of the actors, it was a box office disappointment, earning only $16 million during its initial theatrical run. But it is now one of the best classic films of its time. Once it hit VHS it became a hit with everyone. 

Bibliography 

Flood, Alison (2016) Stephen King, with his mixed reviews. At https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/feb/03/stephen-king-delivers-very-mixed-review-of-film-adaptations (Accessed on 15.12.2017)

 llustration 

Fig 1,  The Shawshank Redemption (1994) [cover] At:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The Shawshank_Redemption

Fig 2 The Shawshank redemption book (1982) [book cover] At: http://stephenking.wikia.com/wiki/Rita_Hayworth_and_Shawshank_Redemption