Review of Green Mile, The

Introduction

Frank Darabont pulls it off again with another book-to-film translation of a Stephen King novel. The book was originally divided into six parts, each being a 100 page novella, and each part was released fortnightly. Darabont sticks very rigidly to the books, the only aspect missed is the opening of each novel back at the nursing home to remind the reader what went on in the previous book.

And I believe he was right to leave this out as the film draws you into this world in the mid-30s American Deep South. No other part of the novel is left unturned which is wonderful to see. This is one of the few times where a film has been accurately translated from the book. You get a feel for this world - which to me always seems like a hot Sunday afternoon, and the actors inhabit these 1930s characters well.

The principal characters are all well chosen and give the depth and resonance of the parts they play. Tom Hanks is outstanding as usual; also there is a standout performance from Michael Clarke Duncan as John Coffey. The film runs for a very unhurried 3 hours, but Darabont keeps the story moving. Your involvement in these characters is so high that you just wonder what’s going to happen next, rather than wondering where the 3 hours has gone.

Video

The picture has been enhanced for 16:9 TVs and is uniformally excellent throughout. Darabont has chosen once more to imbue his movie with a hot Sunday afternoon feel (the best time to watch a film like this I promise you), and the rich brown, oranges and yellows of the outside locations are shown off well. Inside the prison is a different matter, the faded lime green floor is shown to good effect, and in general the picture is sharp and detailed with no dirt or speckles.

Audio

Not a film you would tend to think would lend itself well to a good 5.1 soundtrack, but you would be hugely mistaken. The sound is clear and dialogue is well focussed and natural sounding. The soundtrack is used to convey the relaxed nature of this era and goes a long way to describe the heat and the general atmosphere.

Sound effects are located well around your speakers, an example of this is shown early on in the film when the old Paul is sitting having a coffee in the nursing home. The thunderstorm outside is very well placed in the sound field making you feel that you are in a large open space. My rear speakers felt as though they were outside singing to me from my garden rather than a couple of feet behind me.

At once the soundtrack has the feeling of distance and spaciousness, and the next it can feel very close and claustrophobic – the heated discussions between Paul and Percy being one example I can think of. During the more menacing parts of the film, your sub will kick in to immerse you in a feeling of danger lurking just round the corner.

It also has its helping of “big, large and loud” for the execution sequences. A feeling of power is generated (no pun intended!) as the electricity is bought up to the amount needed to kill a man, and a wide, dynamic sound is conveyed during the execution itself with the bass, midrange and treble firing off frequencies which complement the action on screen making these aspects of the film uncomfortable and unpleasant to watch – which is exactly as it should be!

Features

The extras on the DVD are rather sparse. Maybe this is due to the long running time, so not much more information could be fit onto the DVD. I must admit, all the 3-hour+ films in my collection don’t tend to have too many extras.

This one acquits itself (again, no pun intended) with a brief but detailed documentary on the making of this film. There are a couple of nice insights to be had here, and rather than tell you about them I’ll let you find those out for yourself. Also included on the DVD is the trailer.

Conclusion

When I saw the film in the cinema I knew this one was going to land in my collection. It is at that time that you hope the DVD production company doesn’t mess up with a bad picture or Dolby Digital 2.0 sound etc. Thankfully Warner Bros. has produced another excellent disk worthy of the film itself. Admittedly the long running time means this isn’t a film you watch often, as you have to dedicate a whole evening to watch it. This works in its favour also – you watch it occasionally so the film never gets tired, and therefore retains its impact with each viewing. The three hours will slip by with the excellent performances and characterisations of the players. The picture is clean and detailed with a wide and surprisingly dynamic soundtrack – not one that you would immediately think of for excellent and exciting sound production, but I assure you the level of care and attention that has gone into the rest of the film has been dedicated to the sound also.