History Film / TheShawshankRedemption

* AdaptationalTimespanChange: The time frame is cut from 30 years (1947-1977) in the novella to 18 (1948-1966). An actor's age range can only be stretched so far.

** The movie adds further explanation as to where Andy hid his rock hammer while in prison. [[spoiler:Andy hides the hammer in his prison-issue Bible in the book of Exodus]].

* ArtisticLicensePhysics: When Andy breaks the pipe, sewage fountains out, going upwards to make a great image for the cinematographer. However, because the end of the pipe Andy crawls out of was not sealed the sewage wouldn't have been under any pressure at all.

* BlackAndGreyMorality: Nobody's perfectly morally upstanding in this story. The closest thing to a good guy is Andy. He didn't actually kill anyone but did seem to consider it, seeing as he stalked his wife with a loaded gun while drunk. Red and Brooks are decent fellows who did something to warrant their life sentences in prison. It's known that while he did regret it afterwards, Red committed murder, and it's most likely Brooks did, too (in the novella Red tried to kill his wife by cutting her brake lines, but she picked up her neighbor and her child, and was caught for all three, while Brooks killed his wife and child in a drunken rage after a losing streak at poker). Red's friends are all fairly [[AffablyEvil friendly and likable]], but they are still ''criminals'', mostly of the violent sort. Then you have how unbelievably cruel and remorseless the actual villains are.

* GoLookAtTheDistraction: [[spoiler:The night of Andy's escape, he switches Norton's ledger and documents with a Bible and other faked documents. To conceal this from Norton while he places the fake files in the safe, Andy gives Norton the deposits for the day which the Warden promptly decides to examine, allowing him to sneak the fakes past Norton.]]

*** Even what he had said just previously to Red: "Get busy living or get busy dying." Andy chose to get busy living.

* LaserGuidedKarma: Most everybody gets their share. Special mention for Hadley because if Red's source is to be believed, [[spoiler:he cries like a little girl when he gets arrested. Again, what exactly did Hadley beat Fat Ass to death for doing?]]

** A behind-the-scenes storyboard of Hadley's NoHoldsBarredBeatdown of Bogs is supposed to end with Bogs being pushed off the railing and falling to the ground, with the impact likely causing his paralysis. The storyboard was supposed to end with Hadley saying that Bogs had slipped and fell over the railing accidentally instead.

* WeNeedADistraction: [[spoiler:The night of Andy's escape, he switches Norton's ledger and documents with a Bible and other faked documents. To conceal this from Norton while he places the fake files in the safe, Andy gives Norton the deposits for the day, allowing him to sneak the fakes past Norton.]]

* ArchEnemy: Andy Dufresne has Warden Samuel Norton, who systematically ruins his life after he tries to expose the prison's corruption.

* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Red, and Fat Ass.

* RedemptionInTheRain: The TropeCodifier.

* BaitTheDog: While a viewer will probably be quick to get the feeling that Warden Norton is a a hypocritical jerk, his occasional PetTheDog moments (such as personally mailing out Andy's letters requesting improvements to the library) may make viewers eager to find excuses for his dictatorial rule of the prison, either as [[IDidWhatIHadToDo the necessary actions of a man trying to maintain order over an institution of violent criminals]], or even as a case of DeliberateValuesDissonance. When he talks to Tommy in private asking him if he'd be willing to testify to Andy's innocence, most viewers no doubt find themselves hoping that the Warden has done some soul searching and, despite his own growing corruption, might be genuinely willing to do the right thing for Andy. [[spoiler:Then Tommy agrees to testify and Norton has him shot by Hadley, letting us know once and for all that no, Norton does not have ''any'' good intentions in mind, and he really is [[JerkWithAHeartOfJerk rotten to the core.]]]]

* Averted in the stage version, [[spoiler: where the Warden is neither killed nor a KarmaHoudini - Stammas is arrested while trying to flee to Canada after Andy tips off the state about his embezzlement, and ends up in prison himself.]]

** Tommy is a thief convicted of stealing a TV and breaking/entering, yet he's sent to a maximum security prison alongside murderers and other violent felons. The stage version fixes this by making him a car thief who accidentally killed two people in the course of a robbery, which got him a FelonyMurder conviction.

** Tommy is a thief convicted of stealing a TV and breaking/entering, yet he's sent to a maximum security prison alongside murderers and other violent felons.

*** Andy has his own assets rather than stealing the warden's embezzled funds, again like the novella.

** Andy keeps his Rita Hayworth poster throughout.
** Andy has his own assets rather than stealing the warden's embezzled funds, again like the novella.

** The stage version makes some more changes, including a couple that are closer to the novella.

* AdaptationDistillation: The movie makes several changes to the novella to keep the story moving.
** There are four wardens mentioned in the novella over the years Dufresne is in Shawshank -- in order they were George Dunahy, Greg Stammas, Samuel Norton and Rich Gonyar. Only Norton is dealt with in the film adaptation.
** The movie decides to [[spoiler:kill off Tommy, while the novella simply sees him transferred]].
** In the novella, [[spoiler:Andy sold off his assets before going into prison and invested them with the help of a friend on the outside]]. This subplot is eliminated in the movie, in which [[spoiler:Andy simply steals all the money he'd laundered for Norton, making the revenge that much sweeter (both for him and the audience)]].
** Several characters are [[CompositeCharacter combined]].
** Chief Normaden, the Native American inmate who Andy briefly shared a cell with in the book ([[spoiler:and who held up Andy's progress scraping the wall by a few months]]), was cut from the movie.
** In the novella, Andy required ''two'' rock hammers to complete the task. Red narrated that the first was "worn down to the nub."

** BaitAndSwitchSuicide: When Andy [[spoiler:doesn't answer for roll call, and following some intense foreshadowing, the audience is led to believe that Andy's escaped by killing himself, especially when the guard stares into the cell and says, shocked, "Oh my holy god." It turns out that Andy actually escaped by the traditional means.]]

* KickTheSonOfABitch: Hadley, the leader of the guards, ambushes and severely beats Bogs, who screams and cries for help the whole time. Seeing as ambushing and severely beating people was what Bogs takes sadistic pleasure in, one can't help but feel satisfied when Red sums up the end result...
-->'''Red''': Two things happened: The Sisters never bothered Andy again, and Bogs never walked again. To my knowledge, he lived out the rest of his life drinking his food through a straw.
** Even better, pay close attention when Bogs is being pushed to the ambulance in the wheelchair. Look closely, and you'll see that despite being beaten into paralysis and having multiple broken bones, he's still handcuffed. He's helpless and cannot fight back or try to escape, but he's still a prisoner and they'll never let him forget it.

* PayEvilUntoEvil: Hadley beating Bogs until he's a paraplegic in retaliation for Bogs severely beating Andy.

* YouGotSpunk: In the film, "Sister" Bogs is encouraged by Andy's spunk and resistance: "Good, you fight. It's better that way." This is an inversion of the novella, where Andy does get assaulted sometimes, but Red notes that the Sisters prefer easier prey and Andy fights like a badger every single time.

* BrickJoke"

* WhamShot: [[spoiler:After Andy's escape,]] Warden Norton angrily throws a rock at Andy's Raquel Welch poster [[spoiler:and it tears straight through]]. Cue Red, Norton and Hadley staring through [[spoiler:the hole in the wall of Andy's cell]] with [[OhCrap "oh, shit" faces]].]]

* EmpathicEnvironment: Beautifully done by Roger Deakins' cinematography in Red's parole hearings. The first time he goes, the room is all shadows and gloomy grey lighting behind him, and Red is wearing a grey shirt with a dark jacket over top. The second time, he's lost the dark jacket and sunlight is shining on his face, but still leaving most of the room behind him in shadow. The third time, Red has swapped out the pale grey shirt for a peaceful light blue and sunlight is streaming through the windows onto his face as he basically tells them to stuff it. [[spoiler:They let him go.]]

* SceneryPorn: Only the cinematography of the incomparable Roger Deakins could make such a bleak and oppressive prison look so warm and inviting.

** Red says Andy decided on this once [[spoiler:Tommy was killed]].
* ShameIfSomethingHappened: When Warden Norton refuses to investigate [[spoiler:the possibility that Elmo Blatch actually killed Andy's wife and her lover]], Andy tells him that if he got out of prison he'd never mention what he was doing for the Warden. Norton [[DisproportionateRetribution responds by]] [[KickTheDog giving Andy a month's solitary and killing the only person who can corroborate his innocence.]]
* ShoutOut: Many to ''Literature/TheCountOfMonteCristo'' ("by Alexandree Dumbass").
** Two of Red's friends in prison are named 'Heywood' and 'Floyd.' Heywood Floyd was one of the main characters in ''Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey''.

** Rita Hayworth in ''Film/Gilda'' is Andy's first poster, followed by Marilyn Monroe in ''Film/TheSevenYearItch'', then Raquel Welch in ''Film/OneMillionYearsBC''
** Many to ''Film/EscapeFromAlcatraz'' and ''Film/BirdmanOfAlcatraz''.
** The alias Andy invents, "Randall Stephens." "Randall," after Randall Flagg, a recurring villain in Creator/StephenKing's books (best known as the BigBad of ''Literature/TheStand'' and as [[Franchise/TheDarkTower Roland Deschain]]'s nemesis). "Stephens," after Stephen King (in the novella, the name he makes up is "Peter Stephens").
** To launder Warden Norton's funds, Andy invents a false person named Randall Stephens, calling him "second cousin to Theatre/{{Harvey}} the Rabbit."

* StealthPun: Andy hides his rock hammer in his Bible, specifically in the Literature/BookOfExodus. He also hides [[spoiler:the tunnel in his cell's wall]] behind the poster of Rita Hayworth, and later Marilyn Monroe and Raquel Welch -- a ''literal'' [[{{Pun}} cover-up]].
** Red describes Andy's talk of Mexico as a "shitty pipe dream." Guess what kind of living nightmare Andy has to crawl through to get there.
* SweetAndSourGrapes: Played straight when Red goes for his parole hearing and is rejected when he says he's been rehabilitated, and when he all but tells them to piss off the third time around [[spoiler:they let him go]].
* TantrumThrowing: [[spoiler:Norton, towards the end]].

* TokenMinority: A possible reason for Red's RaceLift. There are literally two other non-white characters with speaking parts. It's particularly noticeable given the setting, as American prisons have had disproportionately large black populations for much of the twentieth century (although Maine, the state in which the film is set, does have a black population well below the national average).

* WhamShot:
** A literal shot (four of them) used to end Tommy Williams's life.
** [[spoiler:After Andy's escape,]] Warden Norton angrily throws a rock at Andy's Raquel Welch poster (already updated from first Rita Hayworth and then Marilyn Monroe) [[spoiler:and it tears straight through. Cue Red, Norton and Hadley staring through the hole in the wall of Andy's cell with the greatest [[OhCrap "oh, shit" faces]] in the history of cinema.]]

* WordSaladTitle: One of the reasons the movie had a poor box office performance. To even vaguely understand it, you have to know that Shawshank is a prison...but it's a fictional one, so the only way you'd know that is by seeing the movie or reading the book in the first place.

** The movie adds further explanation as to where Andy hid his rock hammer while in prison. [[spoiler:Andy hides the hammer in his prison-issue Bible in the book of Exodus]]. As with most of Frank Darabont's adaptations of King's works this change is subtly brilliant.

* AdmiringThePoster: Subverted. Andy Dufresne ''wants'' people to think this trope is in play, and it helps that he changes posters as time passes, but it's really [[spoiler: to hide his escape tunnel out of Shawshank Penitentiary]].

** Tommy went from being Blanch’s roommate to Andy's pupil. What are the odds? Even better, Blanch bragged about the entire incident with just enough details for Tommy to connect the dots when Red offhandedly mentions the crime.

* TheTeetotaler: After drunkenly planning to kill his wife (but eventually not going through with it), Andy has apparently given up drinking.

* BlatantLies: When breaking the news of [[spoiler:Williams' death, all with an air of smugness:]] "Broke Captain Hadley's heart to shoot him. Truly, it did."

--->'''Andy:''' Me? ''(looks at Heywood)'' Lawyer fucked me. Everyone's innocent here! Didn't you know that?

* FiveSecondForeshadowing: Norton drops his unfinished cigarette to the ground and stamps it out well before it's reached its natural end, [[spoiler:moments before he has Hadley do the same thing to Tommy. With a rifle. From a guard tower.]]

'''D.A.:''' You recall Lt. Mincher's testimony? He and his men dragged that river for three days and narry a gun was found. So, no comparison can be made between your gun and the bullets taken from the bloodstained corpses of the victims. That's also rather convenient, isn't it, Mr. Dufresne?\\

--> "Wait, he's innocent? Like, ''for-real'' innocent?" Heywood after hearing Tommy's story.
--> Andy: "What are you in for?" Red: "Murder. Same as you." Andy: "Did you do it?" Red: "Only guilty man in Shawshank."

* WhatAreYouInFor: Not surprisingly, it happens several times.