The Green Mile: A Really Strong Movie

Some movies do more than just entertain, they touch your soul. The Green Mile  (1999) is certainly one of them.

It’s not an easy movie to sum up in a few words. That is why we have decided to dedicate this article to this amazing creation of the “seventh art form”.

The Green Mile : A Unique Movie

It’s not just something we say. It is truly unique. Why? First, The Green Mile is  one of those movies that is hard to categorize or label. Some critics define it as a drama. Others say it’s a mystery or a thriller. Some people even say that it fits best with the science fiction genre.

The truth is that they are right that the film fits into these genres. But at the same time, they are all wrong. The Green Mile probably has different elements to belong to any of these categories without belonging to the others. It is actually an adaptation of a Stephen King book of the same name.

This movie is not just unique because it is hard to classify. It also has absolutely unique characters, plot and context. The main character is a prison guard named Paul Edgecomb. His job is to monitor the prisoners on the Cold Mountain Penitentiary’s death march (called “the green mile”) in 1930s Louisiana.

Edgecomb, along with his team of prison guards, begins to experience strange things after the arrival of an unusual inmate, John Coffey. Coffey is a black man, about 2 meters tall. He is extremely strong and extremely sensitive. In time, Coffey shows how special he is, thanks to his amazing power.

Emotions are the true star of The Green Mile

Paul and John are main characters on paper. But having said that, one element that is present throughout the film is emotion. We say this because one of the effects of the film is the many different emotions it can evoke in the viewer. It can be funny, intensely dramatic, exciting and even scary.

John Coffey is the means of transportation for the emotional force. Despite being on the verge of death for allegedly murdering two little girls, this mysterious prisoner seems as sensitive, naive and optimistic as a child. There is a clear contrast between the way he acts and the way we might perceive him, based on his great size.

John also has a special strength: He can eliminate the diseases that consume people. As the story progresses, he uses this power on more and more people. His extreme sensitivity gives him the ability to be empathetic with anyone who is in pain and he uses his powers to give them relief.

The undeniable goodness of John Coffey

Are some people who are absolutely good while others are completely evil? Personally, I do not think so. I believe that there are actions, behaviors and attitudes that we can describe in these terms, but even then it is a reduction and simplification of reality.

However, John is certainly one of those people that you could generally describe as good. The power we have mentioned above makes him a person who tries to do good almost instinctively.

The representation of his character and the play is based on a well-developed moral compass. He uses his powers on anyone who needs it, whether they have been kind to him or not.

A sad lesson

In a hateful environment where people carry weapons, kill and abuse their power, John Coffey is almost like a miracle. He is a powerful force of nature. The root of this power is love, which he expresses in many different ways as in his joy over the little things.

If this supernatural man were to show up in our lives, we would basically have no choice but to take care of him so he could continue to do good in the world. So that he could make it better with each person’s life he touched.

But that’s not what’s going on in the movie. Due to a series of events and the fact that John is a black man in America, he does not get a happy ending. Eventually, he is killed in the electric chair. The weird thing is, he seems to want it to be his end.

In an insensitive world, his hypersensitivity causes him more pain than he seems to be able to bear. But the real world we live in, is not really so different from the world in The Green Mile . I have a bad feeling that if John were to live in our world, he would have the same unhappy end.

In life, some people seem to do well no matter where they go, even though they do not know why. But we do not always give these people the treatment they deserve. This is sad because any display of sensitivity in a desensitized world is truly revolutionary.