2007/11/18

GREEN MILE REFERS TO NAME OF THE DEATH ROW, DO YOU KNOW?

Well-meaning and well-acted, but also with wonderful secenes, The Green Mile is a movie that feels and thinks it is bigger than it is....Actually I have read its book. And when I compare both of these, I want to mention that it is an epic, and would have been much better had the filmmakers realized the quiet dignity and limited scope of what they had to offer. The problem lies at that point. I should note that I often enjoy quiet, well-acted movies.

I think Before Sunrise is a wonderful movie, I whole-heartedly enjoyed Nobody's Fool, I think a Simple Plan was one of the ten best movies of the 1990s... I mean, each would have been better with some prison scenes, but they were good nonetheless. Why? Because each accepted that the essence of what they had to offer rested with the nature of the characters. The Green Mile isn't satisfied with that. It thinks it wants to make big statements about the nature of faith, the possibility of redemption, and the responsibilities of authority. As a result, it misuses strong performances by Michael Clarke Duncan, David Morse, and Tom Hanks.

The movie begins and ends with completely unnecessary framing sequences set in the present. The bulk of the movie is told as a flashback set in the 1930s. Setting the movie in the 1930s and cutting out the beginning and end would have been much more effective.For the ones who do not know the movie, it will be beneficial to tell it:) The Green Mile tells the story of a year in the lives of guards and prison inmates on a death row in a Louisiana prison. At first, I could not get understand, but later, I recognized that The Green Mile refers to the name of the death row because of its green floors. Tom Hanks plays Paul Edgecomb. Paul is a very respectful person. He has a some kind of dignity. Therefore, seeing such kind of a person in the position of a prison guard was suprising for me. Nevertheless, this is a fact that Tom Hanks does his role very well:)

David Morse plays Brutus. Brutal and Paul run a kinder, gentler, death row. Their goal is to make the condemned men pass the last days in a respectable, dignified manner. Actually many times I asked the question "Why do they care so much about a group of men whose sole common characteristic is having committed so dreadful acts as to deserve to the death sentence?" I never got a direct answer. Perhaps they think there is nothing more dangerous than a bunch of criminals with nothing left to lose. But sure, it is much more than that. Paul is also simply a decent and humane person. For men like Paul and Brutal mistreating the prisoners is inconceivable.

Everything changes with the arrival of three men, one is a bad guard, the second is a giant prisoner, the third is a sociopathic killer. The guard, Percy Wetmore is a coward and a sadist.I confess that I did not like him..He is such a bad person that his words and behaviors made me crazy...Also, I believe that he does not deserve his position because he owes his position to political connections. What is much worse was his fondest wish is to see a man die up close. He is reaaly a sadist!!! Paul does not also love Percy and o of the scnes he said for Percy:

"Percy is mean, careless, and stupid.Yup. And boring. He doesn't grow. He doesn't learn. He just is."


More interesting is the first new prisoner.His name is John Coffey. And Michael Clarke Duncan plays that role. John Coffey is my favorite:) He is so sweet. His apperance combine with his character very well:) He is a seemingly simple-minded, giant, black man. He was found guilty of the rape and murder of two little white girls. Needless to say, he would never have survived long enough to be sentenced to death in real life:( The movie tellss Coffey's innocence right from the start. He is respectful and obviously gentle. His guilt is scarcely conceivable. Would the movie have been better for allowing some doubt in the matter at least early on? I don't know.

Yes, Coffey is capable of miracles, specifically healing the sick. But does that make Coffey happy and be away from sadness? NO:(

Oh yeah, there is also a mouse :) Here, the mouse mostly provides comic relief. Indeed, the mouse's reappearance at the end of the movie is, um, laughable and detracts from the solemn feel the movie is trying to develop:) I advise you to watch the movie:) You will like it..The accents of the people in the movie are not difficult to understand:) I understood most of the things:)


No comments: