Although they are all adapted from Stephen King's original novels, apart from "The Mist", the other two works are not the horror themes that King is best at, but are not popular prison topics whether in literature or film. In fact, including "The Mist", these three works directed by Darabont can be regarded as adult fables to some extent. "Shawshank" is about people's rigidity in the system and their desire to pursue freedom, while "The Mist" brutally exposes the ugliness of human nature in extreme situations and the choice of human beings in despair. In contrast, The Miracle in the Green Mile, filmed in the last year of the last century, is more like a world-awakening fable full of religious metaphors.
With the same director, the same original author, and even the same prison genre, The Green Mile has inevitably been compared countless times to The Shawshank Redemption. The unfairness of this comparison is that, not to mention the classic status of the latter, which is difficult to surpass, as long as you notice that one of the two is full of mainstream positive energy such as inspiration and friendship, and the other is gloomy, hopeless and decadent, which one is more likely to arouse people's opinions The thrill of the movie and the rave reviews are very obvious.
But in my opinion, it is the taste of cruelty and determination contained in "Miracle in the Green Mile" and the extremely obvious religious meaning that endows the film with its unique artistic charm.
This is a modern version of the "Passion," and in a way, it can even be seen as a re-enactment of the biblical story. And the strong sense of religion generated in this "sacrifice" and "redemption" adds a bit of "divine" to the whole story on the basis of "human nature".
From "The Great Escape" to "Babylon", to the director's own masterpiece "The Shawshank Redemption", in almost all films of similar genres, the prison is used as a signifier that symbolizes the shackles of human nature or the shackles of the system Existence, and in this film, the prison is given the meaning of "original sin" in Christianity. Except for Card Fee and Wharton, we have no way of knowing the crimes of the others. But in the United States, where only first-degree murder can be punishable by capital punishment, every criminal who comes here must have committed an irreparable crime. And the only way for them to wash away their "sin" is to go through the narrow "green mile" channel and use the way of returning their lives to the kingdom of heaven to pray for the forgiveness of God and the victims.
From the point of view of the plot, it is difficult to judge whether the black giant Kafei with "magic power" is imprisoned, willingly or helplessly to treat Xue with injustice. But if he is regarded as the same signifier as the Son of God who is willing to bear thorns and crosses and awaken the world by death, then his imprisonment clearly carries a redemption for the world. His divine power is to suck all the pain into his body. And when he died with stigma, the onlookers applauded his death like the citizens of Jerusalem more than 2,000 years ago, which more clearly symbolized the loneliness of Jesus Christ. The Son of God was handed the cross of death by his beloved people, and Kafe was misunderstood and hated by the parents of the girl he was trying to save. When he stepped into the electric chair, when the electric current took life from his body, the flickering lights and the tears of the jailers were the tribute of the prophets to him, the gnashing of the victims' relatives and the indifference of bystanders Speechless is also the most appropriate portrayal of the ignorant world.
It's worth noting that Paul and the other jailers were willing to risk Kafee's freedom if he wanted to. But Kafe was exhausted. His pessimism about the world made him give up a life that could be extended and opportunities to help more people. It was the "evil" of this world that made him despair with the "power of God".
This kind of "evil" is represented by jailer Percy and prisoner Wharton in this film. They are the spokespersons for the two kinds of "evil" inside and outside the system. Pesci's contempt for the dignity of life not only shattered Draco's last warm expectation for this world, but even endowed him with the most painful death process. The power background brought by his background made him unscrupulous, and the little authority brought by his identity as a prison administrator was used by him to satisfy the despicable desires in his heart. Peyton, on the other hand, is another lawless beast whose only purpose in existence is to satisfy all kinds of primal desires. The pain of others is his happiness, and the contempt of others is his satisfaction. Such a scum with no moral bottom line and the most basic human social consciousness, but using the crimes that he can't forgive, let the kind card fee pay for it.
Kafei's final punishment to them has a bit of dark humor, and perhaps some metaphors that only evil can eliminate evil. But no matter what their ending is, Kafei can't be resurrected, a pair of little girls can't be resurrected, the ultimate winner in this ridiculous world is always the "evil" side.
Because of "evil", "God" no longer saves the world. I don’t know if this expresses Stephen King’s disappointment with reality, but even for those of us who have no religious beliefs, we still shudder when we think about it carefully.
And Paul, of course, took the shadow of Pilate, the Roman governor who personally ordered the execution of Jesus in the Bible story. But judging from his name, and the proclamation of Kafei's "miracles" in old age, it's not hard to see that Stephen King has in him the image of another biblical figure, the author of most of the New Testament. , The second person in Christian history after Jesus, the greatest saint, St. Paul. To unite the hero with the sinner, and the one who inherits Jesus and the one who killed Jesus, is another wonderful idea of the master of horror novels. The function of guiding goodness also implicitly expresses such a meaning: the life and death of the body does not mean the choice of Zang or not in the spiritual sense. And spiritual immortality begins precisely from the decay of the body.
In the end, Paul was given a much longer life than ordinary people, so he had to watch one by one relatives and friends leave, until he was alone and lonely. This is the ultimate punishment for the "God Killer", but it is also an alternative blessing to the "God Slayer". Of course, as to whether the long years are punishment or blessing to a person, the film does not stop there. If you want to discuss it, it will be another big article.
The tone of the whole film is filled with an outdated and depressing atmosphere, as if looking at the picture, one can smell the frozen, hopeless smell in the nose. It is a considerable test whether the lighting in an almost uniform indoor play is a considerable test. From the perspective of the effect of the film, this film has definitely achieved the level of textbooks. From the sacred effect highlighted by the top light, to the strange vision brought by the bottom light source, from the three-dimensionality of the character's face created by multiple lighting, to the oil painting texture and classical aesthetics of the entire scene, the director integrated a small prison into the world of the world. There are all kinds of things, and it also greatly highlights the ironic and critical role of the film as a theme of magical realism.
This is not a story of redemption, nor is it a story in which one can read inspirational, sensational, thrilling, thrilling, and mainstream Hollywood values. Even under the pen of Stephen King, who is known for his creative vitality and variety, the original text of the film is unique. The rich surreal colors and the background of the Bible give people a calm reflection, allowing the audience to understand the author's expressive ambitions from behind the mysterious narrative almost effortlessly. It's just that this kind of irony and criticism does not point to our daily ethical and moral boundaries, nor to social systems and behavioral norms, but to God-like compassion and love for the world. We usually refer to the author's manipulation of works as "God's perspective", this time, Stephen King really looked at this desperate world with a god-like perspective.
It suddenly occurred to me that Christ died at the hands of the Roman Empire, and just a few hundred years later, the Catholic center of the world has remained in the center of the Roman Empire forever, until today. Isn't this also a kind of embarrassing irony?
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