The Shawshank Redemption · written by Frank Darabont · 1994

Andy enters the cramped sewer pipe and crawls toward its outlet.

Scene 204 of 249 · ≈ 1 min on screen · Act three

Act oneAct twoAct three

Begins 1:40 into a 1:57 film

The story so farBefore scene 204

After a banker is wrongly imprisoned for murder, he uses patience, expertise, and friendship to survive Shawshank and build a path to freedom.

Scenes 1–8
Andy’s former life and conviction frame a banker whose apparent control has vanished.
Scenes 9–10
Inside prison, Andy needs a way to survive without surrendering the inner self he is trying to protect.
Scenes 11–30
Andy enters Shawshank and confronts its violence, hierarchy, and rules.
Scenes 31–154
He adapts through Red’s help, builds the library, and slowly earns trust while preparing for freedom.
Scenes 155–156
Tommy reveals that another inmate confessed to the murders, offering Andy a route to prove his innocence.
Scenes 157–166
Norton refuses to help and has Tommy killed, costing Andy the legal hope he had found.
Scene 176
The morning count reveals Andy is gone, confirming that the hidden plan worked.
Just before
Scene 201
Andy packs Norton’s clothes, shoes, chess pieces, ledger, and files in a bag.
Scene 202
Andy crawls through the tunnel in his prison clothes.
Scene 203
Andy squeezes through the shaft, nearly falling when a rat darts at him.
Scene 204
This scene

204INT -- SHAFT -- NIGHT (1966)

Andy squeezes through the hole head-first, emerges to the waist, He reaches for the opposite wall, manages to snag a steel conduit with his fingers. Suddenly, a huge rat darts for his hand. Andy yanks away and almost plummets head-first down the shaft. He dangles wildly upside-down for a moment, arms windmilling, then gets his hands pressed firmly against the opposite wall. The rat scurries off, pissed.

Andy snags the conduit again. He contorts out of the hole and dangles into the shaft. We now see the purpose for the rope: the plastic bag hangs from his ankle with about two feet of slack, He kicks his legs across the shaft, gets his feet braced. Wit3 his back against one wall and feet against the other, he starts down the shaft. Sliding dangerously. Using pipes for handholds. Flinching as rats dart this way and that, scurrying in the shadows. He drops the last few feet to the bottom. He approaches the ceramic sewer pipe and kneels before it. Pulls out the rock-hammer and says a quick silent prayer. Raises the rock-hammer high and swings it down with all his might. Once, twice -- third time lucky. An enormous eruption of sewage cascades into the air as if rocket- propelled, the Mount St. Helens of shit. Andy is instantly coated black. He turns away and heaves his guts out. The shit keeps coming.