Death along the Green Mile
Seodaemun Prison in Seoul
During my stay in Korea, i happened to visit a place called Seodaemun Prison in Seoul. It was a notorious prison during the Japanese occupation of Korea from 1930 till the end of the war. After Korea gained independence, the prison was converted into a memorial. The experience of visiting it was quite unsettling, as there were visuals, graphic depictions of prisoners being tortured and executed. Now in that memorial, there was an exhibit, where you could actually experience a live hanging. It was a kind of arrangement, where you sat on a stool, heard your death sentence being prononunced, and then all of a sudden, a click, and for a moment, i felt the noose around my neck, and the trapdoor opening. Yes it was simulated, but for a moment i felt like i was gone. And after my visit to the prison, for some time i was feeling like “what the heck”, i mean if a simulated hanging could throw me off kilter, what about those people who really face the death sentence. I mean what would be the state of mind of a person who knows that in a couple of minutes the entire world would come to an end for him? And more important what would be the feelings of people who actually execute the order? Are they just doing their job? Or would the experience of seeing people being executed right in front of their eyes affect them at some level?
Something which Paul Edgecomb( Tom Hanks) does for a living in The Green Mile, director Frank Darapont’s second adaptation of a Stephen King novel, after The Shawshank Redemption. Paul is a corrections officer in charge of the Death Row at Cold Mountain Penitentiary in Louisiana. In more simpler words, Paul had the responsibility of marching condemned prisoners to their exeuction along the Death Row, also called as “The Last Mile”, to Old Sparky, the electric chair, which was the common mode of execution for prisoners. The Green Mile funda is due to the greenish color of the floor, along which the prisoners spoke. As a much older Paul explains in flashback to Elaine, his co inmate at an old age home.
They usually call death row the Last Mile, but we called ours the Green Mile, because the floor was the color of faded limes. We had the electric chair then. Old Sparky, we called it.
And thus begins Paul’s flashback. One thing to be noted here is the way director Darapont makes use of title cards, to depict certain key moments. Also one more thing, the movie starts off with a series of montages from the Depression Era, giving us a clue that the main story could be set in that period. So now with Paul’s character and the era set up, we see Paul along with fellow guards Brutus Howell aka Brutus and Dean Stanton, receiving a prisoner. Also the director gives us an inkling of Paul’s urinary problem, which as we see later into the movie becomes a key element. The director takes that part from where Paul walks along the Green Mile to introduce us to two other prisoners, Arlen Bitterbuck, a Cherokee Indian and Eduard Delacroix aka Del, a Cajun from Louisiana. Both the men are on Death row.
Michael Clarke Duncan
But nothing prepares Paul for what he sees. The new prisoner is a 7 foot, 300 lb black giant of a man called John Coffey( Michael Clarke Duncan). With his huge build, his shaved head, his rugged appearance, John appears every inch the giant of whom we had our worst nightmares. All the inmates and guards are taken aback by the prisoner, but Paul handles the situation with a cool head. The preceeding scenes, gives us an insight into the characters, Paul is the level headed sensible person, who believes that prisoners are to be treated with care. In sharp contrast to Paul’s dignified demeanour is Percy Wetmore( Doug Hutchinson), a nasty, low life, slime weed, uses his connections and the fact that he knows “big people”( read connected), to behave in a boorish and sadistic manner. Percy is hated not just by the prisoners, but even by the other guards Brutal, Harry and Dean. Paul of course believes Percy is the scum of the lowest kind and wants him out of the prison as soon as possible.
Coffey has been sentenced to death for the brutal rape and murder of 2 small white girls. He had been found with the girl’s bodies in his hands, and though he claims he is innocent, no one is ready to believe him. Also a reflection of the age, when the words of a black man, had no value. John Coffey is poor, black, uneducated and add to that a huge build, makes society condemn him to death. But for all his fearsome looking appearance, Coffey is actually a gentle giant. He is a child trapped in a giant’s body, he is afraid of the dark, as he tells Paul, during his first day in prison. He sobs like a child, when he listens to the sounds of the prisoners being executed. But more than that Coffey is a miracle worker, he is certainly no ordinary man. When he cures Paul of his problem, he is convinced that a man with such a miraclous power, could never have killed two innocent girls in such a brutal manner.
The Green Mile, shares some similiarities with Darapont’s earlier work The Shawshank Redemption. Both are prison dramas, both are based on Stephen King’s work. If Shawshank Redemption was about the bonding between Andy and Red, two condemned prisoners, the Green Mile, focuses on the relationship between the captor Paul, and the condemned, Coffey. Both had the nasty crook, the corrupt prison warden in Shawshank, and the slimy Percy in Green Mile. But where Shawshank was about Andy’s eternal hope amidst all his suffering, there certainly seems to be no hope here in The Green Mile.
The prison itself is a dark and depressing place, but even by those standards, the Death Row is something else. In Shaswhank, Red speaks about the walls, behind which they put you away for life, and then take away that part of your life, which really does matter. The convicts walking along the Green Mile, however do not even have a chance to hope for. Some like Bitterbuck bear it stoically, and some like Delacroix, try to forget their pain, by fooling around, pretending everything is fine. Of course there are some really vicious convicts like “Wild Bill” Wharton, a totally pyschotic, deranged convict who shows no remorse for the crimes he has convicted. In one of the movie’s best scenes, Paul and the guards, do a mock execution, of Bitterbuck, trying to make sure everything is in place. Bitterbuck keeps joking, keeps fooling and when asked his final wish says
Yeah ! I want a fried chicken diner with gravy on your tatters.I want to shit in your hat, and i got to have Mae West sit on my face.
The sombre mood is shattered, and all the guards around start laughing out. All except Paul, though he is somewhat amused by it. When Brutal says it was too funny, Paul retorts back saying that later on this is something they would be doing for real.
Which is what the movie focuses, the grey world between life and death, between faith and reason. As the camera tracks the prisoners, being marched to their execution, you find it totally unsettling. And director Darapont, creates that sense of unease, you know these men are convicted criminals but still watching them die. One moment Bitterbuck is wondering if he could repent for what he has done, and then you know it the next moment he is dead. I loved the detailing too in this part, the use of terms “Old Sparky”, “Dead Man Walking”, and the practice of wetting the victim’s head with brine, to make sure that the current hits the brain immediately, to bring sudden death.
Another real chilling scene, is when the execution of Delacroix goes horribly wrong. For me this has to be one of the finest cinematic moments ever. Because it shows that however efficient and ostensibly painless the system you have in place to execute a person, there is always a chance that rogues like Percy, could always manipulate it for their own selfish ends. Percy is a shallow, spineless rogue, and he too wants to get out of the prison. But before he leaves , he wants to get even with the guards and so he begs for a chance to handle the execution. The main reason of course is for him to get even with Delacroix, whom he hates as a worthless Cajun. And when it does go awry, he is too scared to watch the consequences of his act, until Paul, grabs him by the collar, and forces him to look at whats happening.
Tom Hanks and Michael Clarke Duncan
The best parts of the movie however are the scenes involving Coffey. If “Hope” was the leitmotif of Shawshank, in Green Mile, here its faith and the supernatural. When Coffey cures Paul of his long standing urinary problem, it is clear that he is no ordinary man, and Paul is even more convinced that a man with such miraclous powers, could never have committed such brutal murders. Paul is convinced that Coffey is some one special, and in another brilliant scene, he even breaks the rules, to take Coffey out of prison, to heal the warden Hal Moore’s terminally ill wife Melinda. One thing i found common in the movie was the lights flashing around and the unearthly glow, that lights up the Green Mile, whenever a prisoner is executed, giving it a sort of otherworldly look, or a sort of metaphor for the passing of the soul from one stage to another.
Like Shawshank, The Green Mile too has lots of spiritual and philosophical issues when you look at it deeper. When you see Delacroix wondering if he can repent for what he has done, just before execution, makes you ask , “ Why? Do we have the right to take the life of a person?”. And basically it takes a look at the whole issue of death penalty. While one feels justified when it applies to pyschotic criminals like “Wild Bill”, who bears no remorse for his actions, should it be applied to people like Bitterbuck and Delacroix, people who repent their actions? And should it be applied at all to men like Coffey? Paul knows the truth, about the real murderer of the girls, but he is helpless to reveal it, as Coffey does not want him to. And that brings us to the main question, Why does a gentle giant like Coffey, not use his miracle powers to prevent his own execution? Is it simply because he has seen so much suffering and pain in the world, that he wants to leave? Or is it because Coffey feels that even if he is acquited, he could never survive in the real world, where there is no place for guys like him? Was Coffey a Christ like figure, who took upon the job of healing the world, and was crucified for it? Even if Coffey wanted to die, why did Paul not use his powers to stop his execution, and prevent the death of an innocent man?
Paul does try to explain it away in the climax, where he says he feels guilty about living, while letting a man like Coffey die. It is this sense of moral ambiguity, that makes Green Mile a rewarding experience. It is one of the most emotionally intense movies, and every stage makes you question the motives of the characters. At many stages in the movie, i found myself being overwhelmed by the sheer emotional intensity. I some how never understood why this movie was rated lower than Shawshank Redemption. Yes there were times when the movie just dragged on, especially in those mouse related scenes, but when you come to the key moments, the emotional scenes, it packs a solid punch. I guess the mix of faith and supernatural stuff, did not go down well with some of the critics, but for me thats what gave its strength. I would still rate Shawshank as my favorite, but Green Mile for me is equally brilliant as a movie.
The movie also hosts some fabulous performances, be it Doug Hutchison as the crook Percy, Sam Rockwell as the vicious Wild Bill, David Morse as the level headed Brutal, James Cromwell as Warden Hall Moores, all the supporting acts fit in wonderfully. Tom Hanks, as usual, gives in one of his customary brilliant performances. The one thing i love about Tom is the way he blends into the character, not being too obtrusive, nor trying to project himself much. Watch his expression in the final scene, where he executes Coffey, as he holds back his pain, his tears, and finally after Coffey dies, goes home and breaks down sobbing. And finally Michael Clarke Duncan, as the gentle giant, miracle worker John Coffey, in a natural straight from the heart performance, that moves you. He makes you feel so much for his character, that when he is executed in the end, its not just Paul, you feel as much as for his loss.
Tags: Faith Healing., Frank Darapont, Prison Dramas, Shawshank Redemption, Spiritual Movies, Stephen King, Tom Hanks
Anurag Kashyap
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Onir
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PS: I have forgotten to add a Disclaimer Alert, at the start of the Article. So please keep it in mind, before you begin to jump on me for that.
** Typo- I meant Spoiler Alert, the post is likely to contain Spoilers, and i had forgotten to add this at start.
Nice post as always Ratnakar, this movie is indeed emotionally overwhelming….what a performance by Michael Clarke.
I must be the only person in the universe who thinks this film is overrated.
It’s not a bad film, and I do remember quite liking it back then, but I wouldn’t put it on a pedestal.
‘Shawshank..’, on the other hand, really left a huge impact!
I think Vikram Bhatt was meant to remake this film.
THANK GOD he didn’t!
Steve, well you are not alone, there are many who dont think the movie is too great. Matter of fact, i did not like it as much as Shawshank, which still remains my favorite. But then again after seeing it couple of times, that final scene of Coffey being executed, and then the moral dilemma, “Why”, has made it one of my favs. I guess where this loses out to Shawshank is the final 10-15 minutes. I mean Shawshank had Red driving down, walking along the beach, and finally meeting Andy, boy totally champagne stuff. Here the ending on other hand is not too effective.
It was a really long ago…
Maybe I might value it more now that i’m older/wiser?
I’ll watch it again at some point :-)
@ Steve
Older and Wiser, LOL, i am 40, so dont tell me ur older than that.
Anyway even during my younger days, i was seen as some one much older for his age, so main barson pehle se budda hoon.
Lol!
Yeah, even I was the youngest ‘old’ man back in the day!
Not 40 yet, but if i carry on eating junk food and watching films on my sofa, I probably won’t make it till then!
I guess main toh budda hi paida huwa tha.
Oh, that must make me the Indian Benjamin Button!
I guess i’ll call myself by that name, lol!
Or the indian equivalent?
Baiju Bawra! :-)
Beautiful Movie.
Nice Post Ratnakar, really like the way u write the articles…and most of the time its about the movies I loved watching
.. I think this was one of his first major roles after Armageddon.. But what a performance… I was just thinknig about Steve’s comment on Vikram Bhatt remaking this movie .. Who would have been cast as John Coffey :D
@ Scorpion
Thanks for the comment. Well yes ur right, it was his second major role after Armageddon, and it made him famous. Incidentally he was reccoed for this role by Bruce Willis, who became his close friend while shooting for Armageddon. He has played important roles later in The Whole Nine Yards, and the role of the gangster Manute in Sin City.
Interestingly he also worked as the body guard for celebs like Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Jamie Foxx, but after the assasination of rapper Notorious B.I.G he quit that line of work.