Chapter 394 394 The Best in History

Hugo received the script from Joseph that night, but he didn't read it at all. Neil helped to collect it next to the fax machine, then bound it and put it in Hugo's backpack.

Glory to the Dead traveled from Denver to Albuquerque, then to Dallas, then to Oklahoma. City, Hugo until leaving Kansas. City for Little When I was in Little. Rock, I took the script out of my backpack.

Hugo didn't read the name of the script directly, but opened the middle page at random. After only looking at two or three lines, he showed a surprised expression. Although the names of the protagonists of the story are really ordinary, Andy and Rhett, but The content of their dialogue reminded Hugo of an absolutely classic masterpiece, "The Shawshank Redemption". Hugo immediately turned the script to the first page, which was a blank sheet of paper, and then opened the first page. Then he saw the name he was expecting: "The Shawshank Redemption", with two lines below it, adapted from Stephen King, written by Frank. Darabont!

In an instant, the feeling that 1994's golden year for cinema was about to come hits me.

1994 was hailed as the year when the best films in the history of film gathered, and classic masterpieces from all over the world broke out. In normal years, it is very rare to find three or four works known as "classic", but in 1994, before and after the You can find at least a dozen superb works that can be called "classic". And in this pile of classics, "The Shawshank Redemption" is a very special one.

"The Shawshank Redemption" tells the story of banker Andy discovering that his wife was having an affair. After getting drunk, he planned to kill his wife and her lover, but he ended up drowsing because of drinking too much alcohol. Days, both his wife and lover were killed, and to make matters worse, Andy couldn't remember whether he did it or not, so Andy was sentenced to life imprisonment, which means he will spend time in Shawshank Prison. the rest of my life. But then Andy discovered that the real murderer was someone else, so he started the journey of self-redemption.

At the beginning of the film's release, it was actually not favored by film critics. Many professional film critics criticized the work. They believed that the story structure was too simple, the content was not deep enough, the business was not commercial enough, and the literature and art were not enough. It is not literary enough, it seems incomparable, and it has been criticized. Although following the release of the film, people began to gradually realize the charm of the film, and professional film critics also came out one after another to vindicate "The Shawshank Redemption", thinking it was an excellent work.

Originally thought that "The Shawshank Redemption" would be submerged in many Hollywood films, but who knew that at the end of the year, this work received a lot of voices, counterattacked all the way, and actually became the best Oscar film. In addition to the top five nominations, it has also made a bloody way in various important awards. Unfortunately, due to the poor reputation in the early stage, which affected the box office promotion of the work, it was not able to further expand its influence, which also made "Shawshank's "Redemption" didn't have a good reputation at all in 1994, which was packed with great movies.

In the face of "Forrest Gump", which is known as the epic of human nature, "The Shawshank Redemption" is far inferior. You must know that the US box office of "Forrest Gump" broke the 300 million mark, while the box office of "The Shawshank Redemption" only Only more than 20 million US dollars, such a huge gap makes "The Shawshank Redemption" unable to break through the blockade of "Forrest Gump" at all. In the end, "Forrest Gump" dominated the Oscars that year, and also made Tom Hanks the best actor for two consecutive years, and all other masterpieces became spectators.

Objectively speaking, the quality of "The Shawshank Redemption" is very good, but it is on the same level as "Forrest Gump", and Oscar is of the times, like "Driving. Miss. Daisy" ", "Guess. Who's. Coming. To. Dinner" and other films were able to perform well at the Oscars that year are marked by a distinct era, obviously "Forrest Gump" is more in line with the aesthetics of the Oscars of that year , so it's a matter of course.

But after the Oscars ended, many people began to complain about "The Shawshank Redemption". They only realized the excellence of this work at this moment, so countless comments began to applaud "The Shawshank Redemption", thinking that this movie should replace "The Shawshank Redemption". "Forrest Gump" won the Oscar for best picture, this belated word of mouth storm made "The Shawshank Redemption" climb all the way, and eventually became the video rental champion of 1995, which also made up for the huge loss at the box office The fiasco brought about by Columbia Pictures made a lot of money. Therefore, when "The Shawshank Redemption" was later translated, a translation called "Stimulating Ninety-five" appeared, which is a translation method for the occasion.

If "The Shawshank Redemption" stops there, it can only be regarded as a strategic marketing success at most, but since 1995, "The Shawshank Redemption" has gradually stepped onto the "best in history" position.

The Internet Movie Database (IMDB) created in 1990 is the largest movie database in the global Internet, which includes all Kiefer's movies and TV series after 1982. The IMDB information includes a lot of information about the movies, actors and actresses. , set, content, reviews, etc., and this site also accepts ratings from a wide audience, making it the largest platform for audiences to directly comment on movies.

Because IMDB has a very strict score calculation method, and it relies on the vast platform of the Internet, it has also become a platform for audiences all over the world, especially American audiences, to respond most directly to the views of movies. It is the first platform in the 21st century. After the second half of the decade, data such as IMDB ratings, theater ratings, and comprehensive media reviews have become one of the most important data to measure a movie’s reputation.

Among them, the 250 Best Movies (TOP. 250) list obtained by IMDB after years of cumulative scoring has also become the most authoritative list in this database, and the most rated movies are as many as 900,000. Famous audiences have rated it, which shows the fairness of this list in the hearts of movie fans.

Unlike "Citizen. Kane" and "Metropolis", which are high-profile and low-key, and occupy the highest position in the hearts of professional film critics, IMDB's 250 best films are both commercial and art films. , which directly reflects the audience's aesthetics.

In this list, "The Shawshank Redemption" with a high score of 9.2, overwhelmed the "Godfather" who was unanimously regarded by audiences and film critics as a classic of film history, and held the championship for more than ten years. An incredible thing. Since IMDB launched the 250 Best Movies list, the three works of "The Shawshank Redemption", "The Godfather" and "The Godfather 2" have occupied the top three on the list, and there has been no change in more than ten years.

It can be seen from this that "The Shawshank Redemption" has an unshakable position in the hearts of the audience. This work relies on the record of as many as 900,000 scores on IMDB, and is known as the "best movie history" in the eyes of the audience. In fact, although "The Shawshank Redemption" is regarded as a classic, its position in the hearts of film critics is not so high. It is not seen on the lists of many professional film critics, but as long as the audience or the In the list selected by fans, this work will always hang high in the top ten or even the top five.

This is the real "redemption" of "The Shawshank Redemption". From the beginning, it was not favored by film critics, and the box office also failed miserably; in the mid-term, word of mouth recovered, so that it broke into the selection of the Oscars; and then the word of mouth counterattacked , and finally surpassed "Forrest Gump" and became the representative work of the classic masterpiece in 1994 that cannot be ignored.

It's hard to imagine that such a work that has been hailed as a classic by countless people only had a box office of 28 million dollars when it was released, not to mention the box office of "Forrest Gump", which exceeded 300 million, even its own box office. The cost of investment is just paltry.

Therefore, "The Shawshank Redemption" has also become a very special work in film history.

When it comes to "The Shawshank Redemption", we have to mention his screenwriter and director Frank Darabont. Frank's position in Hollywood is very interesting. Just as Joseph worried, Frank didn't have any success at all before "The Shawshank Redemption", and this film was also his directorial debut, but it was a pity when it was released. It was badly criticized sniper.

However, "The Shawshank Redemption" was later rehabilitated and became a classic, but Frank was not a prolific director. It was not until five years later that he adapted Stephen King's work "Green Miracle" again, which won him again. Great fame and rewards. But after that, Frank's work was lackluster. In 2007, "The Mist" was criticized even more.

It can be said that in Frank's career, only "The Shawshank Redemption" and "Green Miracle" are worth mentioning, and there are only five works in his own resume.

It stands to reason that Frank will soon disappear in the talent-rich Hollywood, but who would have thought that the 2010 series "Walking. Dead" will make Frank famous as an executive producer. , let him leave a magnificent and splendid stroke in the history of cable TV - even more gorgeous than "The Shawshank Redemption".

Therefore, Frank is very interesting, his works are rare, and his masterpieces are few, but he has occupied a very important position in the history of film.

I have to say that "The Shawshank Redemption" is a very special existence in film history from the work itself to its creators.

If you ask Hugo's opinion, he thinks "The Shawshank Redemption" is a masterpiece, and it can be regarded as a classic, but whether it can surpass "Forrest Gump", whether it can surpass "Godfather", can it surpass "Citizen Kai" Well", everyone has their own opinion, and Hugo personally thinks the answer is no.

The reason why "The Shawshank Redemption" can be regarded as a masterpiece is because the themes of the film can always move people's hearts, that is, hope, freedom and friendship. This makes the work exude a deep human light, which makes people fascinated by it, but as for the ranking among the countless works in film history, it is a matter of opinion.

Personally, Hugo still likes the work "The Shawshank Redemption" very much. The desire for freedom and the analysis of human nature in the story really left a deep impression on him.