It sometimes happens that the title of a feature film gives us a serious clue about the outcome of the latter. This is for example the case of a monument to the prison film directed by Frank Darabont in 1995.
Directed by Frank Darabont and adapted from a work by Stephen King (exactly like The Green Line), Les Évadés was released to a certain indifference in the mid-90s, but largely recovered afterwards. With a remarkable rating of 4,533 stars out of 5, it is today considered one of the best films of all time by many film enthusiast rankings.
– Nobody realized it, but 20 years ago, the title of this film with Tom Cruise revealed the ending to us
A title that spoils the ending?
Particularly carried by two exceptional actors in the service of a poignant story, Darabont’s film moved millions of spectators by telling them the bumpy fate of Andy Dufresne, wrongly accused of the murder of his wife and imprisoned for life, and that of Ellis Redding, the inmate he befriends at Shawshank Penitentiary.
At the time of the release of Les Evadés, this may not have jumped out at you, but with years of hindsight, we can see that the French title of the feature film revealed (at least in part) the end of the ‘history.
After long hours spent digging a passage through the wall of his cell, Andy actually ends up escaping.
One or two escapees?
“But then, why is the title of the film in the plural?” you may ask. Indeed, if Andy manages to leave the penitentiary by using its tunnel, Ellis does not find his freedom in the same way. He still has to wait several years to be released on parole. After 40 years behind bars, where he was sent for a murder he had indeed committed, he finally reunited with his former cellmate outside the penitentiary.
Why is Frank Darabont’s film called Les Evadés, and not L’Evadé? Perhaps it was simply a matter of not creating confusion with the film directed by Charles Bronson in 1975 or with Escape from Alcatraz, directed by Clint Eastwood in 1979.
Or should we conclude that in a certain way, the two protagonists of the feature film ended up escaping from their respective prisons? Andy by digging a passage towards the exit, and Ellis by declaiming a powerful speech in front of a sentencing judge who decides to validate his rehabilitation.
Note also that the original title of the film (which is also that of Stephen King’s novel), The Shawshank Redemption, specifically evokes Ellis’ journey.
(Re)discover the trailer for Les Évadés…
