Stephen King Best Adaptations - The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

Even with the first book, Carrie, Stephen King had been translated into movies and so, there are many of his works that have been adapted for the screen... here's looking at some of the best....



The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
The Shawshank Redemption on imdb.com
Stars: Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, Bob Gunton, William Sadler, Clancy Brown, Gil Bellows, Mark Rolstion, James Whitmore.
Screenplay: Frank Darabont (adapted from Stephen King's novella 'Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption')
Director: Frank Darabont

   
Andy Dufresne is a young and successful banker whose life changes drastically when he is convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of his wife and her lover. Set in the 1940's, the film shows how Andy, with the help of his friend Red, the prison entrepreneur, turns out to be a most unconventional prisoner.


Nothing I can say about this film will do it justice... I've read the novella and I saw the film and all I can say is, its a beautiful story... both King's novella and Darabont's screen-rendition of it. Remarkable performances from Robbins and Freeman, impeccable direction from Darabont. Undoubtedly the film that started a new era in King-adaptation.


My favorite exchange in the movie is almost at the end:
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1967 Parole Hearings Man: Ellis Boyd Redding, your files say you've served 40 years of a life sentence. Do you feel you've been rehabilitated? 
Red: Rehabilitated? Well, now let me see. You know, I don't have any idea what that means.
1967 Parole Hearings Man: Well, it means that you're ready to rejoin society...
Red: I know what *you* think it means, sonny. To me it's just a made up word. A politician's word, so young fellas like yourself can wear a suit and a tie, and have a job. What do you really want to know? Am I sorry for what I did?
1967 Parole Hearings Man: Well, are you?
Red: There's not a day goes by I don't feel regret. Not because I'm in here, or because you think I should. I look back on the way I was then: a young, stupid kid who committed that terrible crime. I want to talk to him. I want to try and talk some sense to him, tell him the way things are. But I can't. That kid's long gone and this old man is all that's left. I got to live with that. Rehabilitated? It's just a bullshit word. So you go on and stamp your form, sonny, and stop wasting my time. Because to tell you the truth, I don't give a shit. 
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Cheers,
Javed Afridi
http://javedafridiblog.blogspot.com

Stephen King Best Adaptations - The Green Mile (1999)

Even with the first book, Carrie, Stephen King had been translated into movies and so, there are many of his works that have been adapted for the screen... here's looking at some of the best.



The Green Mile (1999)
The Green Mile on imdb.com
Stars: Tom Hanks, Michael Clarke Duncan, David Morse, Bonnie Hunt, James Cromwell, Michael Jeter, Graham Greene, Doug Hutchinson, Sam Rockwell, Barry Pepper, Jeffrey DeMunn, Patricia Clarkson, Harry Dean Stanton... and a mouse called Mr. Jingles.
Screenplay: Frank Darabont (adapted from Stephen King's The Green Mile)
Director: Frank Darabont
      
At Cold Mountain Penitentiary, along the lonely stretch of cells known as the Green Mile, killers as depraved as the psychopathic "Billy the Kid" Wharton and the possessed Eduard Delacroix await death strapped in "Old Sparky". Here guards as decent as Paul Edgecombe and as sadistic as Percy Wetmore watch over them. But good or evil, innocent or guilty, none have ever seen the brutal likes of the new prisoner, John Coffey, sentenced to death for raping and murdering two young girls. Is Coffey a devil in human form? Or is he a far different kind of being?


Having proven his worth at adapting King with the 94 hit 'The Shawshank Redemption", Darabont made this an instant success with him at the helm and Hanks, Morse, Clarke-Duncan, Pepper and Rockwell leading the cast... the film went on to get four Oscar Nominations:
Best Picture
Best Supporting Actor - Michael Clarke Duncan
Best Screenplay (Adapted) - Frank Darabont
Best Sound


Good movie, well paced with excellent direction, impeccable performances from the entire cast (including Mr. Jingles!)... I could watch this movie for the 4578th time without getting bored... Amazing film!


Best exchange of the film:
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Paul Edgecomb: What do you want me to do John? You want me to let you run out of here, see how far you can get?

John Coffey: Why would you do such a foolish thing?
Paul Edgecomb: On the day of my judgment, when I stand before God, and He asks me why did I kill one of his true miracles, what am I gonna say? That it was my job? My job? 
John Coffey: You tell God the Father it was a kindness you done. I know you hurtin' and worryin', I can feel it on you, but you oughta quit on it now. Because I want it over and done. I do. I'm tired, boss. Tired of bein' on the road, lonely as a sparrow in the rain. Tired of not ever having me a buddy to be with, or tell me where we's coming from or going to, or why. Mostly I'm tired of people being ugly to each other. I'm tired of all the pain I feel and hear in the world everyday. There's too much of it. It's like pieces of glass in my head all the time. Can you understand?
Paul Edgecomb: Yes, John. I think I can. 
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Cheers,
Javed Afridi
http://javedafridiblog.blogspot.com