Capital Punishment in Films: 'The Green Mile': Critical Essay

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Capital Punishment in Films: ‘The Green Mile’: Critical Essay

The Green Mile is an American fantasy, mystery, and crime drama adapted from Stephen King’s novel [1996] and directed by Frank Darabont in 1999. The stars of the film are Tom Hanks, which appears as Paul Edgecomb, the commanding officer of the death row cellblock at Cold Mountain Penitentiary in Louisiana, and Michael Clarke Duncan in his breakout of a supporting role as John Coffey, an innocent and physical strong looking black man, placed on a death row for a crime he never committed. The film is composed between reality and John Coffey’s superpowers, and it also crosses highly meaningful themes, for example, racism, punishment of an innocent, death, and faith. The film was nominated for four academy awards[footnoteRef:1] and had other important awards and nominees, likewise a high IMDb rating (8.6)[footnoteRef:2]. This movie would appeal to young mature adults due to its cruelty, violence, and tearful scenes. [1: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120689/awards?ref_=tt_ql_op_1] [2: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120689/ratings?ref_=tt_ov_rt]

The story of the film is told by used to be commanding officer Paul Edgecombe (Thom Hanks) and he flashes back to the 1930s at the Louisiana State Prison where he was responsible for his colleagues and took care of condemned men who were sentenced to die in the electric chair. Although he had seen many cons, he met a completely different con named John Coffey (Michael Clarke Duncan) – a massive black man who was convicted of killing young twins. As he appears to the E block, he makes an impression of a strong and huge man with poor linguistics who could kill anyone, however, his politeness, behavior, and superpower to mainly heal injured or ill people, portrays him as completely opposite to that person. That is how from the very start Paul starts wondering if Paul Coffey is really guilty and responsible for murdering the sisters. The structure of this movie is simple to follow because it goes chronological from the beginning till the end. Firstly it shows the present, then the protagonist starts telling the story that happened years ago.

The movie mostly uses metaphors and symbolism that are related to faith, but not only because through several scenes appears the figures of Christ. More importantly, one of the main characters, John Coffey, can be understood as a sign and may be represented as the figure of Jesus, as it was stated by Paul Edgecomb “I just can’t see God putting a gift like that in the hands of a man who would kill a child.“[footnoteRef:3] Coffey appears from nowhere, and at the begging of the movie, he mentioned that he is afraid of the darkness. No surprise that in the healing process, the lights in the jail start flickering and after that, he realizes diseases as a black swarm of flies from his mouth. Furthermore, a little mouse whose name is Mr Jingles, is considered by many as a form of the angel, who was sent for a con to prepare him for his death. In contrast to these characters, an evil part devolves into the guard named Percy Wetmore who enjoys watching prisoners dying and suffering, and murderer Will Bill. Thus, symbolism requires a deeper understanding and remarking for the audience. [3: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/green_mile/quotes/]

The Green Mile is set in a Mountain Penitentiary in Louisiana, E block, in the 1930s. It is believable that it is summer, because of the characters’ vivid sweat on their faces which is clearly visible as the camera shows them from very close. The characters’ costumes give the accuracy of what year it is, it is understood from prison guards’ uniforms, and cons’ simple clothing, and even from women’s hairstyles. The lighting makes the movie look realistic, and it dramatically changes when Coffey by his powers showed a guard who is really guilty of murdering two girls – the scene becomes darker. Thus, the mise-en-scene plays a great part in creating a movie atmosphere, and in this case, it sure did its job.

The context of the movie obviously revolves around the theme of death and faith. Death appears as a punishment for every prisoner and every one of them has to walk “The Green Mile” and wait for the execution on the electric chair. Moreover, John Coffey’s character portrays a real example of racism, because he has dark skin, and it conveys people’s mindset at that time; it shows that he is already guilty and inherently disadvantaged because of his skin. Thus, the innocent person is punished for this horrible ending even though he has a gift from God. The context of this movie can be pagalvotas bet kuriame gyvenimo laikotarpi

The Green Mile may leave a remarkable impression on almost every viewer. With deeper symbolism, it touches very thoughtful themes such as racism, faith, and death, and overall it would be hard to deny the thought that it still is and was considered at some point in every part of the world in every decade. Even though this movie is between reality and fantasy, it can leave mature adults wondering about their faith and morality. On this wise, Frank Darabont completed every aspect and directed this movie as a treasure for the audience.

References:

https://books.google.lt/books?id=KNA7gfXJw9sC&pg=PT40&lpg=PT40&dq=the+green+mile+mr+jingles+angel&source=bl&ots=85G7qq4ezf&sig=ACfU3U15KYjNx0k3mHolAcBAK6Rfryab6A&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjRgIbu7rPiAhVKl4sKHUhBDOU4ChDoATAJegQICBAB#v=onepage&q=the%20green%20mile%20mr%20jingles%20angel&f=false

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