Shawshank Redemption Page #13

Andy shoots a worried look at Red, then heads off.

129INT -- GUARD DESK/WARDEN'S OUTER OFFICE -- DAY (1955) 129

Dozens of parcel boxes litter the floor. WILEY, the duty

guard, picks through them. Hadley enters, trailed by Andy.

ANDY:

What is all this?

HADLEY:

You tell me, f***-stick! They're

addressed to you, every damn one!

Wiley thrusts an envelope at Andy. Andy just stares at it.

WILEY:

Well, take it.

Andy takes the envelope, pulls out a letter, reads:

ANDY:

Dear Mr. Dufresne. In response to

your repeated inquiries, the State

Senate has allocated the enclosed

funds for your library project... "

(stunned, examines check)

This is two hundred dollars.

Wiley grins. Hadley glares at him. The grin vanishes.

ANDY:

In addition, the Library District

has generously responded with a

charitable donation of used books

and sundries. We trust this will

fill your needs. We now consider

the matter closed. Please stop

sending us letters. Yours truly,

the State Comptroller's Office.

Andy gazes around at the boxes. The riches of the world lay at

his feet. His eyes mist with emotion at the sight.

HADLEY:

I want all this cleared out before

the warden gets back, I sh*t you not.

Hadley exits. Andy touches the boxes like a love-struck man

touching a beautiful woman. Wiley grins.

WILEY:

Good for you, Andy.

ANDY:

Only took six years.

(beat)

From now on, I send two letters a

week instead of one.

WILEY:

(laughs, shakes his head)

I believe you're crazy enough. You

better get this stuff downstairs

like the Captain said. I'm gonna go

pinch a loaf. When I get back, this

is all gone, right?

Andy nods. Wiley disappears into the toilet, Jughead Comix in

hand. Alone now, Andy starts going through the boxes like a

starving man exploring packages of food. He doesn't know where

to turn first. He gets giddy, ripping boxes open and pulling

out books, touching them, smelling them.

He rips open another box. This one contains an old phonograph

player, industrial gray and green, the words "Portland Public

School District" stenciled on the side. The box also contains

stacks and stacks of used record albums.

Andy reverently slips a stack from the box and starts flipping

through them. Used Nat King Coles, Bing Crosbys, etc.

He comes across a certain album -- Mozart's "Le Nozze de

Figaro." He pulls it from the stack, gazing upon it as a man

transfixed. It is a thing of beauty. It is the Grail.

130INT -- BATHROOM -- DAY (1955) 130

Wiley sits in one of the stalls, Jughead comic on his knees.

131INT -- GUARD STATION/OUTER OFFICE -- DAY (1955) 131

Andy wrestles the phonograph player onto the guards' desk,

sweeping things onto the floor in his haste. He plugs the

machine in. A red light warms up. The platter starts spinning.

He slides the Mozart album from its sleeve, lays it on the

platter, and lowers the tone arm to his favorite cut. The

needle HISSES in the groove...and the MUSIC begins, lilting

and gorgeous. Andy sinks into Wiley's chair, overcome by its

beauty. It is "Deutino: Che soave zeffiretto," a duet sung by

Susanna and the Contessa.

132INT -- BATHROOM -- DAY (1955) 132

Wiley pauses reading, puzzled. He thinks he hears music.

WILEY:

Andy? You hear that?

133INT -- GUARD STATION/OUTER OFFICE -- DAY (1955) 133

Andy shoots a look at the bathroom...and smiles. Go for broke.

He lunges to his feet and barricades the front door, then the

bathroom. He returns to the desk and positions the P.A.

microphone. He works up his courage, then flicks all the

toggles to "on." A SQUEAL OF FEEDBACK echoes briefly...

134 INT/EXT -- VARIOUS P.A. SPEAKERS -- DAY (1955) 134

...and the Mozart is suddenly broadcast all over the prison.

135INT -- BATHROOM -- DAY (1955) 135

Wiley lunges to his feet, pants tangling around his ankles.

136 INT/EXT -- SHAWSHANK PRISON -- VARIOUS LOCATIONS -- DAY (1955) 136

Cons all over the prison stop whatever they're doing, freezing

in mid-step to listen, gazing up at the speakers.

137 THE STAMPING MACHINES IN THE PLATE SHOP ARE SHUT DOWN... 137

138 THE LAUNDRY LINE GOES SILENT, GRINDING TO A HALT... 138

139 THE WOOD SHOP MACHINES ARE TURNED OFF, BUZZING TO A STOP... 139

140 THE MOTOR POOL...THE KITCHEN...THE LOADING DOCK...THE EXERCISE 140

thru yard...the numbing routine of prison life itself...all grinds thru

143 TO A STUTTERING HALT. NOBODY MOVES, NOBODY SPEAKS. EVERYBODY 143

just stands in place, listening to the MUSIC, hypnotized.

144INT -- GUARD STATION -- DAY (1955) 144

Andy is reclined in the chair, transported, arms fluidly

conducting the music. Ecstasy and rapture. Shawshank no

longer exists. It has been banished from the mind of men.

145EXT -- EXERCISE YARD -- DAY (1955) 145

CAMERA TRACKS along groups of men, all riveted.

RED (V.O.)

I have no idea to this day what

them two Italian ladies were

singin' about. Truth is, I don't

want to know. Some things are best

left unsaid. I like to think they

were singin' about something so

beautiful it can't be expressed in

words, and makes your heart ache

because of it.

CAMERA brings us to Red.

RED (V.O.)

I tell you, those voices soared.

Higher and farther than anybody in

a gray place dares to dream. It was

like some beautiful bird flapped

into our drab little cage and made

these walls dissolve away...and for

the briefest of moments -- every

last man at Shawshank felt free.

146INT -- PRISON CORRIDOR -- DAY (1955) 146

FAST DOLLY with Norton striding up the hallway with Hadley.

RED (V.O.)

It pissed the warden off something

terrible.

147INT -- GUARD STATION/OUTER OFFICE -- DAY (1955) 147

Norton and Hadley break the door in. Andy looks up with a

sublime smile. We hear Wiley POUNDING on the bathroom door:

WILEY (O.S.)

LET ME OUUUUT!

148INT -- SOLITARY WING -- DAY (1955) 148

LOW ANGLE SLOW PUSH IN on the massive, rust-streaked steel

door. God, this is a terrible place to be.

RED (V.O.)

Andy got two weeks in the hole for

that little stunt.

149INT -- SOLITARY CONFINEMENT -- DAY (1955) 149

Andy doesn't seem to mind. His arms sweep to the music still

playing in his head. We hear a FAINT ECHO of the soaring duet.

150INT -- MESS HALL -- DAY (1955) 1 50

HEYWOOD:

Couldn't play somethin' good, huh?

Hank Williams?

ANDY:

They broke the door down before I

could take requests.

FLOYD:

Was it worth two weeks in the hole?

ANDY:

Easiest time I ever did.

HEYWOOD:

Sh*t. No such thing as easy time in

the hole. A week seems like a year.

ANDY:

I had Mr. Mozart to keep me company.

Hardly felt the time at all.

RED:

Oh, they let you tote that record

player down there, huh? I could'a

swore they confiscated that stuff.

ANDY:

(taps his heart, his head)

The music was here...and here.

That's the one thing they can't

confiscate, not ever. That's the

beauty of it. Haven't you ever felt

that way about music, Red?

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