The Green Mile Film Analysis

How are the themes of healing and death portrayed in The Green Mile? Use film techniques to support your answer.

The Green Mile, directed by Frank Darabont in 1999 tells the story of inmate John Coffey living on death row. Narrated by The Mile’s head corrections officer Paul Edgecomb, The Green Mile explores themes of supernatural healing power and death explored on The Mile through the use of various film techniques.

John Coffey, a gigantic African-American man, is convicted of raping and murdering two little girls and sentenced to death. However, once arriving on The Green Mile, John Coffey begins to show signs of a supernatural ability, the power of healing. This healing power is first seen when John cures Paul’s urinary infection. As
This is a complete juxtaposition to John’s healing powers, as John postpones death in a place revolving around the death of humans. This juxtaposition is also shown through Darabont’s use of film techniques as they differ from the healing qualities. Similar to the healing scenes, the executions occur in three. The first death is that of Arlen Bitterbuck an inmate on the ‘Mile’. Unlike John’s healing scenes, Darabont doesn’t incorporate any music, choosing only to use diegetic sounds such as Bitterbuck’s heavy breathing as he gets strapped into the electric chair. Other sounds such as the squeaking of the electrical cord and the water from the sponge are also used. “Electricity shall now be passed through your body until you are dead in accordance with state law. God have mercy on your soul,” as this is said, the clock begins to tick loudly and Bitterbuck’s breathing becomes frantic. Similar to John’s healing, the lights in the room grow slightly brighter as the generator is placed on high. When Brutal, the second head officer, commands “role on two,” the switch gets flicked up and Bitterbuck begins to die. Contrasting the magical feel surrounding the supernatural healings, this scene is horrific and explicit as the only thing seen is his thrashing with the high pitched squeal of the electricity mixed with his screams. These film techniques are again used in a later death scene of Eduard Delacroix’s (Del). In Del’s death scene, Darabont utilises other film techniques such as the non-diegetic sound of an oncoming storm and the flashing lightning to add to the suspense of this scene. Similar to Arlen’s death, the lights begin to glow as the generator is turned on. However, unlike the first execution, the sponge doesn’t get wet resulting in a horrific death. As the chair starts smoking and shoots sparks the storm gets more intense with the thunder