The Shawshank Redemption
Great actors bring the characters to life...Tim Roberts and Morgan Freeman were at their best!
The man is accused of a crime he never committed, is given a life senstence... 22 years in a prison...that's not a joke. Just coming to grips with the reality of the truth is hard enough. But, being there, worse still. But, it is again the attitude...you can choose to lock yourself up and brood over destiny, or choose to do something to change a few things around. This man chooses the latter. Persistent denials for every persistent letter of his, finally it pays of...he manages to garner funds for the prison library and that changes everything for the inmates. Years go by imprisioned in the prison, not at heart, as he still dares to dream and finally it does happen, he finds his way out...to the land of his dreams. And not just that, he does change a few lives on the way, changes perspectives towards life, hope and fear.
"Fear imprisons you, hope frees you" and true it quite truly reflects that in this great story.
22 years in a prison...changes everything...life post prison-life is as excruciating as the prison-life. "Some birds can survive only caged...freedom only kills them" sure enough after years of imprisoned life, the strange freedom can really kill you. You are vulnerable, you can't survive freedom!
Great movie! a must watch!
The Pianist & Life is Beautiful
The Pianist:
Adrian Brody's stellar performance makes you be part of every moment of his screen life. The great pianist survives the tremors of war, as life lends her hand in every instance of his life. Maybe life wanted this great musican to live for the music to live forever. Life has its own way of taking care of feeble souls...who are not strong enough to stand against and struggle for life. He is helped at every point, from souls like angels dropped from the sky at that needy moment, while he lives with his music in his heart. The music he lives with in his mind soothes the pained heart and helps him survive the dark nights and the darkest moments as he waits for the dawn of the day- the day of the end of the Nazi's regime. Finally, his excruciatingly lond wait pays off and the day actually dawns and he is united with his music and composes the strongest of his pieces which the world can listen to even today...his soul lives even today in his music. Amazing movie, which shows how sometimes letting go and trusting life to show you the way can bring you to that dream destination. Apart from that, the movie really hits you hard, the days of war, sends shudders as you watch scenes unfold where the value of a person is just sheer dust, just because they are tagged Jews. It was pretty disturbing to watch it and just come into terms with the fact that its not fiction but fact.Truth sure is not easy to accept!
Life is beautiful:
Life can be really harsh on you, but it does give you the choice to be in smiles or tears. It gives you the choice to either feel desperate or feel in control, the choice of whether to fight it out or just stay passive. This is the movie of the person, who smiles all along, fights till the end to keep the smile of his kid, and keep his promise to his little son. Amazing movie, with the focus on the characters more than the war. The war is just a backdrop, the characters are the foreground as the story revolves around this person who brightens up the lives of others with his sense of humor which he retains till the last drop of life in his body. The Jewish family is forced in a base camp, where the air doesn't breathe anything else but imprisonment. But, this dad had promised his kid, he will try every way out to shield his son from the shadows of haunting feelings of war, shield him from hating life. Life is a game and you gain points to endure the hardships and not complain and keep smiling...that's what life at the camp was for the little kid, and that was one of the greatest gifts that his dad had given him, a gift for life...to live life and smile thro' every dark moment with the belief that the dawn is sure to come the way!And in this journey of life, to bring cheer into the lives of others and mend a few broken smiles!
These two movies, both equally great, beautifully made, show two poles of the spectrum...two totally disparate ways of looking at life and living life. I wouldn't say one is better than the other, as it is these differences that weave the richness...as if everyone looked at life the same way, we wouldn't have anything different to talk about. Surely, these movies are bound to change your perspective!
