Film Lore

City Banker, Andy Dufrense, arrived at Shawshank Prision in 1947, convicted of two brutal murders, he recieved a double life sentence.
He discovers that when they send you to Shawshanck State prision for life... that is exactly what they take.
Within the confines of the Prision, Andy forms an unlikely friendship with the prision "fixer" Red. He also becomes popular with the warden and the prision's guards, as Andy is able to use his banking experience to help the corrupt officials mass personal fortunes. Andy soon comes to realise one simple rule in the prision, get busy living or get busy dying.

Andy Dufrense -Tim Robbins
A sucsessful banker saw Andy Dufrense enjoy a rather good life until he returned one night to find his wife brutally murdered. unfortunately for Andy he is convicted of the crime that he did not commit. It is believed that when Andy discovered his wife with another man he went mad and butchered the two lovers. As a result of this Adny finds himself being sent to the dark and foreboding Shawshank prision where he will no doubt live out the rest of his days. To begin with Andy is very reclusive but he soon befriends another prisioner named Red. As time goes by Andys former skills are brought into light and the corrupt guards and the warden of the prision see Andys knowlege of how to balance books as a way to become rich. As time goes by however Andy soon grows disheartened and all but consigned to his role in the prision. Then a new and younger prisioner arrives and Andy finds a new 'project' to occupy himself. However Andy finds out from this new arrival that his wife was actually murdered by someone that he can now identify with the aid of his new friend. unfortunately the warden and the guards are unwilling to lose their gravy train and also fear being found out. As such Andys new friend is murdered before anything can come of this new evidence. With these turns of events Andy is left with no other chance at freedom other than escape. In an audacious move Andy digs a tunnel in his cell into the inner workings of the Prision and then crawling through a refuse pipe he manages to escape. However not only did he escape but he took the books and papers that would allow him to take the money that he had made for the Warden of Shaw Shank but also incriminate him. And this is exactly what he does. Soon the law comes calling to the prision to take the officials into custody however the Warden shoots himself before he can be taken. Andy slips into Mexico where he lives out his dream by buying a small Hotel and is soon joined by the paroled Red.

Red -Morgan Freeman
The prision fixer, the man who can get what you want and have it smuggled into the Prision. This is who Red is. Already at Shaw Shank and serving a life sentence Red's first impressions when he see Andy Defrense is that he will never last in Shaw Shank. This however does not become the case and to Red's surprise Andy manages to make a niche for himself in the Prision. This niche soon becomes essential to the Warden and the other officers of the prision. Soon Andy and Red become fast friends, their time in Shaw Shank does not seem as bad as it was without each other. However Red continues to be refused Parole and as time goes by hew begins to come to the conclusion that he will end up dying in Shaw Shank never seeing the outside world again. This is also Andys train of though, never more so with the murder of what he hoped may have been the only person capable of clearing his name. Unknown to Red though is that after this murder Andy sets out to escape from Shaw Shank and to his complete amazement he manages it. Eventually Red is parolled and remembering something Andy had told him before his escape he sets out to locate his friend, finding him in Mexico living out his dream of owning a small hotel and to complete his dream he offers Red a chance to join him. The two friends have finally left the shadow of Shaw Shank behind them.