陶阿甘英文
肖申克的救贖 THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION
A film review by Jeff Pidgeon
Copyright 1994 Jeff Pidgeon
THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION is a strong debut for director Frank Darabont, a screenwriter who sold the script on the provision that he could direct it. This isn't a Film For The Ages, but it is involving and engaging for the majority of its 150-minute running time. Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman are both fine as convicts who meet in Shawshank Prison in the late 40's and get to know each other as they do time together. The suspense mainly revolves around 1) whether Robbins will continue to survive prison life; and 2) whether he should be there at all. The script does a decent job of sustaining these elements and keeping the viewer in doubt. On the other hand, there are few moments in the story that, once they are revealed, are different than you might expect. For the most part, the satisfying option is usually chosen, the one that will make the audience happy. While this makes for an enjoyable immediate experience , the side effect is that the lack of genuine surprise makes it less enring than you'd like. On the whole though, aside from script weaknesses and implausibilities (more than a couple), the performances are uniformly strong, if a bit two-dimensional in spots, the period feel of the art direction is thorough yet understated, Thomas Newman's score nicely supports things and is emotional without being too overpowering or treacly. For a prison drama, the violence isn't played up particlarly, but this ain't FREE WILLY, either. For the curious, SHAWSHANK makes for a good night out, as the saying goes. If the concept doesn't grab you from the start, I don't know that it would win you over. Marginally Recommended.
當幸福來敲門
"The Pursuit of Happyness" -- the title comes from a misspelled schoolhouse mural -- has a lot on its mind but mostly this: If America is about the promise of bettering oneself, why does it have to be so freaking hard? In the movie, Jefferson's Declaration of Independence words about happiness kept recurring to Chris Gardner. Every day, Christ had to work hard from morning till night, but still could hardly make a living. Chris saw a bunch of suits, mostly male, pouring out of the Dean Witter Reynolds brokerage firm in downtown San Francisco. They all looked 「happy,」 「Why not me? 「 Christ wondered. He did have an adorable boy, Christopher, but wife Linda was becoming a scarecrow of overworked anxiety. Finally, his wife left Christ because of life pressure, leaving him and her five-year-old son, Christopher. And naturally, Christ became a single father.
With the failure of his business, Christ had no money to pay for the rent, so they were driven away from the flat. They became homeless. They slept in asylum, subway station public bathroom or anywhere as a temporary shelter. The destitution of life was absolutely depressing, but for his son』s future, for his own belief, Christ never gave up and he still strongly believed that happiness would come one day if he worked hard enough today.
With his great efforts, Christ won a six-month internship at Dean Witter, but there was no pay at all. So on one hand, Christ had to work hard to make a living; on the other hand, he had to fight for his intern work, since only one of the twenty interns would succeed finally. Besides, he had to take good care of his son after day care. However, Christ made it with his amazing willpower.
Christ was unfortunate, for he got a wife who was not understandable at all (though she has her own difficulties) and was in bad luck with his business. But he was very fortunate also, for he got a son who was very thoughtful and, I think, tough life experiences always make a great person.