The Green Mile
USA 1999
Reviewed by Rob White
Synopsis
Our synopses give away the plot in full, including surprise twists.
In a US retirement home in the present, elderly Paul Edgecomb reminisces to his friend Elaine.
Flashbacks reveal events in 1935: Edgecomb is a death-row warder in a southern state prison. He takes custody of John Coffey, convicted of murdering two little girls. Another warder, Percy Wetmore, who treats the prisoners sadistically but is protected by powerful allies, asks to take part in the next execution. One day, Coffey calls over Edgecomb, who is afflicted by a urinary complaint, and heals him by touch. Afterwards Coffey breathes out a stream of tiny 'insects'. Later, Percy deliberately bungles an execution so the prisoner dies a horrible death.
Edgecomb and the other warders sneak Coffey out of the prison during which the drugged prisoner 'Wild Bill' is briefly roused and grasps Coffey as he's led past. They take Coffey to the prison governor's house where he heals the governor's terminally ill wife. Coffey holds the insects in and breathes them into Percy's mouth back at the prison. In a trance, Percy shoots Bill. Taking Edgecomb's hand, Coffey lets Edgecomb 'see' what he had found out when Bill touched him: Bill was the real killer of the murdered girls whom Coffey, when he was found, was trying to heal. Coffey is executed. In the present, Edgecomb tells Elaine Coffey's healing greatly extended his life span: he's now 108.
Review
Near the beginning of The Green Mile - adapted by Frank Darabont, the director of The Shawshank Redemption, from Stephen King's serialised novel - the ageing protagonist Paul Edgecomb is watching Fred Astaire sing 'Cheek to Cheek' in Top Hat (1935). The most joyful of Irving Berlin songs ("Heaven, I'm in heaven..."), it makes him weep uncontrollably, forcing him to run out of the retirement-home television room. Where does his sorrow come from? The rest of the film unravels the answer to this as Edgecomb recalls several weeks in 1935 when he worked as a death-row warder and met telepath and healer John Coffey, convicted of murdering two young girls. The bond between them is at the heart of both book and film.
Often King's God-fearing middle-aged protagonists are blandly stolid representatives of God-fearing middle-American decency. Here, unexpectedly, we see the Mom-and-apple-pie virtue which Tom Hanks so often personifies demystified: Edgecomb first benefits from then exploits his prisoner's power. He can continue with his professional duties towards Coffey in these circumstances only because he's capable of moral evasion, taking advantage of Coffey's powers without sufficiently repaying the debt he owes.
In fact, there are all sorts of hidden costs in the film's moral accounting. Coffey, played remarkably by Michael Clarke Duncan (whose few previous roles have mostly been bit-parts as bouncers or bodyguards), is black and enormous. His body, covered with the scars from numerous beatings, is fetishised as a kind of primal physicality. He's illiterate and, until being imprisoned, itinerant. (In one location scene the economic conditions of the time are sketched in by a sign reading, "No jobs here: transients turn back." King's novel is clearly influenced by John Steinbeck's Depression-era fiction.) Though Coffey is The Green Mile's most sympathetic figure, he's concocted more than any other character out of a bundle of folkloric stereotypes whose origins in bigotry don't seem entirely acknowledged. A prisoner eats a Sambo chocolate bar. The leader of the search party (lynch mob) sent after the two missing girls spits in Coffey's face. His own lawyer compares "negroes" to violent mongrel dogs. The language of the prison - "boy", "boss" and so forth - is also the language of racist contempt.
In another way, however, "boy" is right. Coffey's childlike quality is emphasised: he's afraid of the dark; when he's briefly released under supervision to attend the wife of the prison governor he takes intense pleasure in the sight of stars and the feel of wet leaves. Yet his acts of healing are depicted as almost sexual. To cure Edgecomb's urinary complaint he grasps Edgecomb's groin. To draw out the cancer in the governor's wife, and then pour it forth again into a sadistic warder, he must kiss them. The poignancy in this mock sexuality comes from Coffey's insufferable loneliness. "I want it to be over and done with," he says. "Tired of all the pain, like pieces of glass in my head."
On being touched by a fellow prisoner, Coffey perceives all the prisoner's murderousness. Coffey is an innocent forced to become aware of and be implicated in atrocious acts - like the child in The Sixth Sense (and other cursed telepaths in King's work and elsewhere). Both of these mainstream genre films belong to that strange branch of mass entertainment that is more than melodrama, and dwells on extremely traumatised protagonists who can expect little relief. What makes such films so interesting is that, for all their formulas, they never let go of their melancholy premises. The Green Mile is suffused with Coffey's deep and terrible grief at what he sees around him, and Edgecomb's guilty proximity to this grief. Watching Astaire reminds him that, in the end, he could do nothing or would do nothing for Coffey except arrange for him to watch Top Hat in the prison. Coffey watched in rapture, but for Edgecomb, so many years later, it's unbearable - just as a great deal else is unbearable. He's a very old, broken man hoping to die before he has to witness the deaths of more loved ones. How many blockbusters deal with that kind of grief?
Credits
- Director
- Frank Darabont
- Producers
- David Valdes
- Frank Darabont
- Screenplay
- Frank Darabont
- Based on the novel by
- Stephen King
- Director of Photography
- David Tattersall
- Editor
- Richard Francis-Bruce
- Production Designer
- Terence Marsh
- Music
- Thomas Newman
- ©CR Films, LLC
- Production Companies
- Castle Rock Entertainment presents a Dark Woods production
- Production Co-ordinators
- Carrie Durose
- North Carolina:
- Joanne Porzio
- Unit Production Manager
- L. Dean Jones Jr
- Location Managers
- Tennessee Crew:
- Mark Ragland
- Present Day Sequences:
- Edwin Dennis
- Post-production Supervisor
- Christy Dimmig
- 2nd Unit Director
- Charles Gibson
- Assistant Directors
- Alan B. Curtiss
- David Bernstein
- Jonathan Watson
- Basti Van der Woude
- 2nd Unit:
- Liz Ryan
- Present Day Sequences:
- L. Dean Jones Jr
- Sean Hobin
- Jules Kovisars
- Script Supervisors
- Susan Malerstein-Watkins
- 2nd Unit:
- Connie Papineau
- Present Day Sequences:
- Dea Cantú
- Casting
- Mali Finn
- Associates:
- Emily Schweber
- Maureen Whalen
- ADR Voice:
- Barbara Harris
- Director of Photography
- Present Day Sequences:
- Gabriel Beristain
- 2nd Unit Director of Photography
- Mark Vargo
- Camera Operators
- David Emmerichs
- Tennessee Crew:
- Robert LaBonge
- Present Day Sequences:
- Randy Nolen
- Steadicam
- David Emmerichs
- Visual Effects Supervisor
- Charles Gibson
- Visual Effects
- Industrial Light & Magic
- Visual Effects Supervisor:
- Ellen Poon
- Visual Effects Producer:
- Stephanie Hornish
- CG Supervisors:
- Carl Frederick
- Tom Rosseter
- Digital Artists:
- Pat Conran
- Jiri Jacknowitz
- Jodie Maier
- Khatsho Orfali
- Bob Powell
- David Weitzberg
- Film/Editorial:
- Kenneth Smith
- Visual Effects Production:
- David Valentin
- Visual Effects
- POP Film & Animation
- Visual Effects Supervisor:
- David Sosalla
- Executive Producer:
- Joe Gareri
- Digital Effects Associate Producer:
- Tom Clary
- Digital Effects Compositors:
- Michael Degtjarewsky
- Lawrence Littleton
- Tom Lamb
- Visual Effects
- Rhythm & Hues
- Visual Effects Supervisor:
- Chad Merriam
- Executive Producer:
- Bill Kroyer
- Lighting Supervisor:
- Eileen Jensen
- 2D Supervisor:
- Betsy Paterson
- Animators:
- Brian Dowrick
- Nancy Kato
- Lighting Artist:
- John Dietz
- 3D Matte Paintings
- Matte World Digital
- Visual Effects Supervisor:
- Craig Barron
- Visual Effects Producer:
- Krystyna Demkowicz
- Chief Digital Matte Artist:
- Chris Evans
- Digital Matte Artist:
- Brett Northcutt
- Digital Composite Supervisor:
- Paul Rivera
- Digital Compositor:
- Todd R. Smith
- Digital Compositor/Animation:
- Mike Root
- Special Effects Co-ordinator
- Darrell D. Pritchett
- Special Effects
- Corey Pritchett
- Puppeteers
- Hiroshi Ikeuchi
- Marc Irvin
- Luke Khanlian
- Louis Kiss
- Scott Patton
- Assembly Editor
- Alan Edward Bell
- Supervising Art Director
- William Cruse
- Set Designers
- Donald Woodruff
- Dianne Wager
- Set Decorators
- Michael Seirton
- Present Day Sequences:
- Natali Pope
- Storyboard Artist
- Peter Von Sholly
- Costume Designer
- Karyn Wagner
- Costume Supervisors
- Paula Kaatz
- Present Day Sequences:
- Gilda Texter
- Make-up
- Key Artist:
- Lois Burwell
- Present Day Sequences, Key Artist:
- John Elliott
- Artist:
- Deborah LaMia Denaver
- Special Make-up Effects
- KNB EFX Group Inc
- Supervisors:
- Greg Nicotero
- Howard Berger
- Sculptors:
- Garrett Immel
- Mark Maitre
- Gino Crognale
- Co-ordinator:
- Chiz Hasegawa
- Key Hairstylists
- Nina Paskowitz
- Present Day Sequences:
- Katherine Rees
- Hairstylist
- Janis Clark
- Titles/Opticals
- Buena Vista Imaging
- Orchestrations
- Thomas Pasatieri
- Music Editor
- Bill Bernstein
- Music Scoring Mixer
- Dennis Sands
- Music Scoring Recordists
- David Marquette
- Tom Hardisty
- Music Consultant
- Arlene Fishbach
- Soundtrack
- "Charmaine" by Lew Pollack, Erno Rapee, performed by (1) Mantovani, (2) Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians; "Old Alabama" by Alan Lomax, performed by B.B. and Group; "Stardust" by Mitchell Parish, Hoagy Carmichael, performed by Eddy Howard; "Three Little Words" by Bert Kalmar, Harry Ruby, performed by Duke Ellington; "Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams (and Dream Your Troubles Away)" by Ted Koehler, Billy Moll, Harry Barris, performed by Eddy Howard; "Cheek to Cheek" by Irving Berlin, performed by Fred Astaire; "Old Fashioned Love" by James P. Johnson, Cecil Mack, performed by Eddy Howard; "I Can't Give You Anything But Love", "Did You Ever See a Dream Walking" by Jimmy McHugh, Dorothy Fields, performed by Billie Holiday
- Sound Design
- Eric Lindeman
- Sound Mixers
- Willie D. Burton
- Present Day Sequences:
- Richard Goodman
- Re-recording Mixers
- Robert J. Litt
- Elliot Tyson
- Michael Herbick
- Recordists
- Marsha Sorce
- Kevin Webb
- Supervising Sound Editor
- Mark Mangini
- Sound Editors
- Howell Gibbens
- Dave Stone
- Supervising Dialogue Editor
- Julia Evershade
- Special Sound Effects
- John P.
- Ken Johnson
- ADR
- Recordist:
- Rick Canelli
- Mixer:
- Thomas J. O'Connell
- Supervising Editor:
- Julia Evershade
- Foley
- Supervisor:
- Aaron Glascock
- Artists:
- John B. Roesch
- Hilda Hodges
- Recordist:
- Carolyn Tapp
- Mixer:
- Mary Jo Lang
- Editor:
- Solange Schwalbe
- Stunt Co-ordinator/Animals
- Boone Narr
- Stunt Co-ordinator
- Jeff Imada
- Mr Jingles Provided by
- Boone's Animals For Hollywood
- Animal Trainers
- Betty Linn
- Carrie Simpson
- Mule Wrangler
- Tennessee Crew:
- Malcolm L. Jessup
- Film Extract
- Top Hat (1935)
- Cast
- Tom Hanks
- Paul Edgecomb
- David Morse
- Brutus 'Brutal' Howell
- Bonnie Hunt
- Jan Edgecomb
- James Cromwell
- Warden Hal Moores
- Michael Clarke Duncan
- John Coffey
- Michael Jeter
- Eduard 'Del' Delacroix
- Graham Greene
- Arlen Bitterbuck
- Sam Rockwell
- William 'Wild Bill' Wharton
- Doug Hutchison
- Percy Wetmore
- Barry Pepper
- Dean Stanton
- Patricia Clarkson
- Melinda Moores
- Jeffrey Demunn
- Harry Terwilliger
- Harry Dean Stanton
- Toot-Toot
- Dabbs Greer
- old Paul Edgecomb
- Eve Brent
- Elaine Connelly
- William Sadler
- Klaus Detterick
- Gary Sinise
- Burt Hammersmith
- Mack C. Miles
- Orderly Hector
- Rai Tasco
- man in nursing home
- Edrie Warner
- lady in nursing home
- Paula Malcomson
- Marjorie Detterick
- Christopher Ives
- Howie Detterick
- Evanne Drucker
- Kathe Detterick
- Bailey Drucker
- Cora Detterick
- Brian Libby
- Sheriff McGee
- Brent Briscoe
- Bill Dodge
- Bill McKinney
- Jack Van Hay
- Rachel Singer
- Cynthia Hammersmith
- Scotty Leavenworth
- Hammersmith's son
- Katelyn Leavenworth
- Hammersmith's daughter
- Bill Gratton
- Earl the plumber
- Dee Croxton
- woman at Del's execution
- Rebecca Klingler
- wife at Del's execution
- Gary Imhoff
- husband at Del's execution
- Van Epperson
- police officer
- Reverend David E. Browning
- reverend at funeral
- Certificate
- tbc
- Distributor
- United International Pictures (UK) Ltd
- tbc feet
- tbc minutes
- Dolby digital/Digital DTS sound/SDDS
- Colour/Prints by Technicolor