The Shawshank Redemption is an excellent example of Hollywood craftsmanship. It has believable acting, excellent pacing, good cinematography and tells the story in a very effective manner. But it is film as a craft, not as an art.

To put this film in the same category as those of Kubrick, Kurosawa, Truffaut or Bergman is like comparing a piece of quality furniture to a Picasso.

I doubt even one in a hundred people, who hold this film in such high regard as to vote it #2, could actually name the director if you asked them in the street.