中文从电影《肖申克的救赎》看美国的个人英雄主义_开题报告

1 Current research states 

The Shawshank Redemption is one of the most famous movies in the movie industry. It reflects very symbolic American cultures such as American dreams, the pursuit of freedom, never lose the hope in life and American individual heroism. So this movie has been a very popular research topic for a very long time. And taking a deep research on this movie helps us have a better understanding of the American cultures. On the cover of the movie, we can read “Hope can set you free”. Many Scholars have written articles about the freedom, hopes. Though it’s regarded as one of the greatest movies ever and was nominated for 7 Oscar Awards, actually it was not such a success when it’s released. On the contrary, it has acquired fame and prestige over the recent years. The proof is a recent survey carried out by The Hollywood Reporter that demonstrates so by placing Darabont’s movie on the fourth post in a list of Hollywood’s 100 favorite films. As critic Leonard Klady puts it: “A testament to the human spirit, the film is a rough diamond. Its languors are small quibbles in an otherwise estimable and haunting entertainment”.   

2.The purpose and significance of the study.

Movie is a common way of demonstrating cultures, meanwhile, heroism as one of the most important cultures in American history, is frequently portrayed in American movies. Since the 1930s, Hollywood has started to produce the blockbusters based on the topic of heroism. In the movies such as Superman , 007 or American Captain, the heroism is showed in the traditional stories. Normally the story happened with a huge disaster, there are always some villains trying to destroy everything and even dominate the world. Then the heroes showed up, with their super power the heroes saved the world. But The Shawshank redemption revealed the American individual heroism from a different perspective, it uses a more gentle way to present the spirit to audiences. As one of the greatest and most essential movies in history, The Shawshank redemption is an American movie written and directed by Frank Darabont in 1994, adapted from the Stephen King novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption. The film tells the story of Andy Dufresne, a banker who is sentenced to life in Shawshank State Penitentiary for the murder of his wife and her lover, despite his claims of innocence. During his time at the prison, with his personal efforts, he is not only set himself free, also gives the hopes to other cellmates. There is neither exciting save-the-world ending nor high-tech technology used in the movie. But when Andy manages to get through his tunnel and escapes under a very symbolical thunder light, the shock which audiences feel is not less than any other great movies. This paper mainly studies the individual heroism from the movie The Shawshank redemption. 

3 Methodology used in the analysis

Since the movie is adapted from a novella, so the text-based analysis is considered as  

the most accurate way to analyze this topic. I have read many articles and materials about the movie itself and American cultures and history in libraries,bookstores and on the Internet. Nevertheless, since I am analyzing this topic from a movie, it is essential that complement this text-based analysis with an exhaustive study of the image and subtitles of the movie itself.

4 Outline

1 Introduction 

1.1 The story of The Shawshank Redemption

1.2 From King’s novella to Darabont’s movie.

2 Individual heroism

2.1 The definition and original of the the individual heroism 

2.1.1 The individual heroism in movies

3 The Individual heroism from movie characters

3.1 Andy 

3.2 Red

4 Conclusion

5 Reference 

5 Reference 

[1]Stephen King, Different Seasons, 375 Hudson Street,New York:New American Library,1983.

[2]Clausie Smith,Defining heroism in movies,July 8,2013

<://.bonnersprings.com/news/2013/jul/08/defining-heroism-movies/>

[3]Kendra Cherry, Seven Qualities of Heroism. May 04, 2016

<s://.verywell.com/characteristics-of-heroism-2795943>

[4]THR Staff , Hollywood's 100 Favorite Films, June 25, 2014 

<://.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/100-best-films-ever-hollywood-favorites-818512/item/seven-samurai-hollywoods-100-favorite-818479>

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