Frank Darabont
Le ali della Libertà

The collection "Different Seasons" by Stephen King consists of four stories, each set in a different season of the year, associating each with a suitable story in a metaphorical sense.
The seasons are "different" by the writer's own choice, but one of them was conceived as a "genre" season (wisely set in winter) after King was convinced by those who worked closely with him on the book, saying that the "King" of horror had to write at least one story of that genre, even within a context where he initially didn't want to.

The first of these stories is precisely "Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption (Hope Springs Eternal)", from which this film was adapted, which, as you well know, received 7 Oscar nominations in 1994 and boasts an excellent cast performance, besides being technically well-executed.
This is one of the rare cases (speaking of the works of the writer in question) where the cinematic representation gave the right tribute to the literary work, faithfully reflecting it and leaving all its charm unaltered without the slightest drop in tone.

The story (both in the film and in the book) proceeds from a first-person narrative style, by the friend Red (an exceptional Morgan Freeman) and is engaging from beginning to end.
Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins), a New England bank director with a passion for geology, is unjustly sentenced to double life imprisonment for the murder of his wife and her lover. Imprisoned in Shawshank Penitentiary, he starts his new life, and the harsh reality of incarceration where no detail is spared: smuggling, sexual violence (among inmates) and not (between inmates and guards), abuses of all kinds, and miserable living conditions, where those who should represent law and justice are the first to commit crimes, and if necessary, to see and hear nothing. It's interesting to notice, through this perspective, how the warden, so fanatical about the Bible, is the first to abuse.
In this harsh scenario, however, feelings such as friendship can also be born, masculine and sincere within small groups of people, like the small circle of friends Andy finds himself with, and, especially in the figure of Red, with whom he establishes a beautiful relationship.
Dufresne, with his perseverance, demonstrates that you can get anything as long as you want it. It's incredible how, through his knowledge, in addition to earning respect over time, he managed to get everything he needed once free by ensnaring the warden and guards.
The tenacity and thirst for justice, thanks to intelligence and resourcefulness, returned Dufresne to freedom after 19 years.

The film, besides its main story, through its details presents itself as a tribute to other art forms and to cinema itself.The figure of Rita Hayworth is a central theme of the story, and this is evident even from the title. Furthermore, it can be seen as a tribute to culture, music, and literature: Dufresne broadcasts Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro" through the microphone, astonishing the other inmates and incurring the wrath of the guards. He reorganizes the penitentiary's library in memory of the former inmate-librarian Brooks (who commits suicide as soon as he is released, because after 50 years of imprisonment, he is no longer able to live unless "institutionalized").
Therefore, the protagonist's personality, with its cultural level far superior to the average of the other inmates, also becomes a reason for interest and exchange of ideas within the prison and represents, along with willpower, the pillar on which the story's entire strength stands, demonstrating that even inmates, regardless of the crime committed, can be better individuals.

"I'm so excited that I can't sit still or focus on anything.
I think it's the excitement only a free man can feel.
A free man at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain.

I hope I can make it across the border.
I hope to see my friend and shake his hand.
I hope the Pacific is as blue as in my dreams.
I hope."