In 1947, banker Andy Dufredwas accused of shooting his wife and his lover, and Andy was sentenced to life imprisonment, which means that he will spend the rest of his life in Shawshank prison.
Ellis "Reid" Readingwas sentenced to life imprisonment for murder in 1927, and several paroles were unsuccessful. He became an "authority figure" in Shawshank prison. As long as you can afford to pay, he can get almost anything you want: cigarettes, candy, alcohol, and even marijuana. Whenever a new prisoner came, everyone bet on who would cry on the first night. Rhett thinks that the weak and bookish Andy will definitely cry. As a result, Andy's silence caused him to lose two packs of cigarettes, but it also made Rhett look at him differently.
For a long time, Andy has not been in contact with anyone. While everyone is complaining, he takes a leisurely walk in the yard, just like in a park. A month later, the first thing Andy asked Reid to help him was a small pickaxe. His explanation was that he wanted to carve some small things to kill time, and said that he wanted to escape the prison by himself. Routine inspections. Soon, Rhett played Andy's chess. After that, Andy made another huge poster of the movie star Rita Hayworth and stuck it on the wall of the cell.
Once, Andy went out to work with several other prisoners. He overheard the prison officer talking about taxes. Andy said he had a way to legally exempt the prison officer from this large tax. In exchange, he won two bottles of Tiger beer for each of a dozen inmate friends. Two days later, they were sitting on the roof in the sunset and drinking beer. Reid said that he felt free for the first time in many years.
Because Andy is proficient in the financial system, he quickly got rid of the heavy manual labor in prison and the harassment of other abnormal prisoners. Soon, the well-known Andy began to deal with tax issues for more and more prison guards, and even came to him to ask him about his children's education. At the same time, Andy has gradually become an important tool for Warden Shaunke to launder money. Because Andy kept writing letters to the governor, he finally applied for a small sum of money for the prison library construction. Life in prison is very ordinary, and I always have to find something to do on my own. Andy heard that Reid liked to play the harmonica, so he bought one for him. After the dead of night, a melodious and slight harmonica sound can be heard echoing in the prison.
The arrival of a young prisoner broke Andy's peaceful life in prison: This prisoner had heard of Andy's case before serving his sentence in another prison, and he knew who was the real murderer. But when Andy asked the warden to retry the case, he was refused and was severely punished in solitary confinement for two months. In order to prevent Andy from being released, the warden designed to kill the insider.
Facing the cruel reality, Andy became very depressed. One day, he said to Reid: "If one day, you can get parole, you must go somewhere to fulfill a wish for me. That was the place where I dated my wife for the first time, under a big oak tree there. One of the boxes was dug out. Then you will know what it is." That night, with wind and rain, and thunder, Andy, who had been saved by his soul, successfully escaped from prison.
It turned out that for twenty years, Andy had used that small mattock to dig holes every day, and then covered the hole with posters. After Andy was released from prison, he took away some of the black money deposited by the prison director and reported the truth about the prison director's corruption and bribery. What the warden saw in the safe where he kept his small ledger was a bible left by Andy. The first page says "the way to salvation is in it". There is also a hollowed-out part in the bible. A mattock used to hide digging holes.
After 40 years in prison, Rhett was finally released on parole. He found an iron box under the oak tree he had agreed with Andy. It contained some cash and a letter written by Andy. The two old friends were finally in the azure blue. Reunion on the Pacific Ocean.
