The Green Mile. Director: Frank Darabont. Three main characters: Paul Edgecomb, John Coffey, Brutus Howell. 1999. Highlights the lives of prisoners before they went to prison as well as the lives of guards on the outside and the things they have to deal with.
Summary: The Green Mile is a story about a unique prisoner who is placed on death row in a Louisiana prison. The prison officer in charge of death row is Paul Edgecomb (Tom Hanks). At the beginning of the movie the audience sees he is struggling with a urinary infection of some sort. John Coffey a giant but soft-spoken, shy and scared black man is accused of raping and killing two white girls, even though we later find out he was really trying to resurrect him when their father and other community members found him. Coffey has extraordinary powers which are shown through him curing the urinary infection as well as resurrecting a mouse and taking the cancer out of the warden’s wife. During the film there are many events which are significant. One is when one guard, Percy, who is hated by all of the other guards because he is arrogant and selfish, demands to manage an execution but fails to wet the sponge to put on the inmates head. As a result the shock is not sent through the body quickly and the inmate is set on fire. Coffey subsequently gives the disease he took out of the warden’s wife and puts the bad remnants into Percy’s body which makes him shoot another inmate and thus he is sent to a mental ward. The guards become friends and have sympathy for John Coffey during his time on the row and thus they struggle with the thought of sending him to die. In the end Paul asks him what John wants him to do and if he wants him to let him go. John responds with saying that he is tired of the pain he sees in the world every day, thus he is ready to die. During his execution the guards are very emotional and they regret what they are about to do, but they have to go through with it anyways. In the end of the movie the audience is shown that John gave Paul his gift so Paul has outlived all of his family members and friends, except for the mouse which was resurrected by John in the prison.
I chose to include The Green Mile in my anthology because I believe it connects with the theme of human beings well and in many different aspects. From the start of the film we are able to connect with the victims and the way the parents of the two girls are feeling, how they feel as though Coffey is an animal. But because of the flashbacks from Coffey’s memories the audience is able to see he is not an animal, in fact he was trying to save the girls and bring them back to life. Through this movie we are able to hear the stories and parts of the backgrounds of the inmates on death row, this shows us that they are human beings, even though they have committed a crime. One other aspect of this film showed the guards and the wardens and their lives outside of the prison, in this respect it shows them as human beings as well. Finally, I chose to include this film because of the way that the guards connect with the inmates, showing that the inmates are human enough for the guards to connect with them in the ways that they do.
Summary: The Green Mile is a story about a unique prisoner who is placed on death row in a Louisiana prison. The prison officer in charge of death row is Paul Edgecomb (Tom Hanks). At the beginning of the movie the audience sees he is struggling with a urinary infection of some sort. John Coffey a giant but soft-spoken, shy and scared black man is accused of raping and killing two white girls, even though we later find out he was really trying to resurrect him when their father and other community members found him. Coffey has extraordinary powers which are shown through him curing the urinary infection as well as resurrecting a mouse and taking the cancer out of the warden’s wife. During the film there are many events which are significant. One is when one guard, Percy, who is hated by all of the other guards because he is arrogant and selfish, demands to manage an execution but fails to wet the sponge to put on the inmates head. As a result the shock is not sent through the body quickly and the inmate is set on fire. Coffey subsequently gives the disease he took out of the warden’s wife and puts the bad remnants into Percy’s body which makes him shoot another inmate and thus he is sent to a mental ward. The guards become friends and have sympathy for John Coffey during his time on the row and thus they struggle with the thought of sending him to die. In the end Paul asks him what John wants him to do and if he wants him to let him go. John responds with saying that he is tired of the pain he sees in the world every day, thus he is ready to die. During his execution the guards are very emotional and they regret what they are about to do, but they have to go through with it anyways. In the end of the movie the audience is shown that John gave Paul his gift so Paul has outlived all of his family members and friends, except for the mouse which was resurrected by John in the prison.
I chose to include The Green Mile in my anthology because I believe it connects with the theme of human beings well and in many different aspects. From the start of the film we are able to connect with the victims and the way the parents of the two girls are feeling, how they feel as though Coffey is an animal. But because of the flashbacks from Coffey’s memories the audience is able to see he is not an animal, in fact he was trying to save the girls and bring them back to life. Through this movie we are able to hear the stories and parts of the backgrounds of the inmates on death row, this shows us that they are human beings, even though they have committed a crime. One other aspect of this film showed the guards and the wardens and their lives outside of the prison, in this respect it shows them as human beings as well. Finally, I chose to include this film because of the way that the guards connect with the inmates, showing that the inmates are human enough for the guards to connect with them in the ways that they do.
Brubaker. Director: Stuart Rosenberg. Three main characters: Henry Brubaker, Richard “Dickie” Coombes, Lillian Gray. 1980.
Summary: Brubaker is a film about prison reform and human rights reform in prison. Brubaker is a warden who has been assigned to a prison. To get a feel for the prison and how the prisoners are treated there he goes undercover posing as an inmate in the prison. Through his time as an inmate he sees other inmates being whipped as punishment as well as the old food they are served for meals, some even containing maggots. He also sees how overcrowded the prison is and how corrupt the staff is as well as how corrupt the trustees are. When he reveals himself he learns there is even more corruption than he thought previously. By the time he does reveal himself he has gained the trust of many of the prisoners and builds a prisoners panel to make decisions for the prisoners. He realizes that one of the trustees has been stealing food and soda from the kitchen and takes it all back and puts the trustee back in the prison. He also realizes that it will be hard to push the reforms because of the political controversies he will have to overcome because he doesn’t want the prisoners to be producing anymore wood or crops for the community, rather he wants to create a self-sustaining prison feeling that the prisoners are being exploited. He further realizes that the prison is corrupt from hearing from one of the elder inmates that men who have been murdered are buried in one of the fields. That man is subsequently electrocuted and then hung on a flag pole because he exposed a secret which was hidden for so long. Brubaker sends inmates and he himself also to dig the bodies out of the field, even though he has political opposition against it. After his gruesome discovery he is ousted as the warden of the prison. As he is being driven away he is told that he has made a change and all of the inmates clap for him as he drives away, moving from once fence to another along with the car.
I chose to include Brubaker in my anthology because of the way that it depicts how prisons need to be reformed especially because of the human rights of the prisoners. The way that the movie focused on certain characters and the way that they were treated in prison highlighted these characters as human beings. To me, one focal point in the movie is when Brubaker demands that the prisoners who are kept in solitary be let out daily instead of “every six months”. This was an important point of the movie for me because it shows how inhumane solitary confinement can be. The way in which the men reacted to the light hitting their eyes showed how long it had been since they were let outside last, and that alone is inhumane. Finally I chose to include this movie because I believe it pointed out an important reform that needs to be made in the prison system even today, a focus on the prisoners’ human rights.
Summary: Brubaker is a film about prison reform and human rights reform in prison. Brubaker is a warden who has been assigned to a prison. To get a feel for the prison and how the prisoners are treated there he goes undercover posing as an inmate in the prison. Through his time as an inmate he sees other inmates being whipped as punishment as well as the old food they are served for meals, some even containing maggots. He also sees how overcrowded the prison is and how corrupt the staff is as well as how corrupt the trustees are. When he reveals himself he learns there is even more corruption than he thought previously. By the time he does reveal himself he has gained the trust of many of the prisoners and builds a prisoners panel to make decisions for the prisoners. He realizes that one of the trustees has been stealing food and soda from the kitchen and takes it all back and puts the trustee back in the prison. He also realizes that it will be hard to push the reforms because of the political controversies he will have to overcome because he doesn’t want the prisoners to be producing anymore wood or crops for the community, rather he wants to create a self-sustaining prison feeling that the prisoners are being exploited. He further realizes that the prison is corrupt from hearing from one of the elder inmates that men who have been murdered are buried in one of the fields. That man is subsequently electrocuted and then hung on a flag pole because he exposed a secret which was hidden for so long. Brubaker sends inmates and he himself also to dig the bodies out of the field, even though he has political opposition against it. After his gruesome discovery he is ousted as the warden of the prison. As he is being driven away he is told that he has made a change and all of the inmates clap for him as he drives away, moving from once fence to another along with the car.
I chose to include Brubaker in my anthology because of the way that it depicts how prisons need to be reformed especially because of the human rights of the prisoners. The way that the movie focused on certain characters and the way that they were treated in prison highlighted these characters as human beings. To me, one focal point in the movie is when Brubaker demands that the prisoners who are kept in solitary be let out daily instead of “every six months”. This was an important point of the movie for me because it shows how inhumane solitary confinement can be. The way in which the men reacted to the light hitting their eyes showed how long it had been since they were let outside last, and that alone is inhumane. Finally I chose to include this movie because I believe it pointed out an important reform that needs to be made in the prison system even today, a focus on the prisoners’ human rights.
Shawshank Redemption. Director: Frank Darabont. Three main characters: Andy Dufresne, Ellis Boyd “Red” Redding, Warden Norton. 1994. Highlights the lives of prisoners and how they deal with life after prison. They fear life and it is hard for them unless they have something they need to do or they have planned to do. Shows what they do in prison to keep their minds off of the time they are spending there.
Summary: Andy Dufresne is an inmate who is sent to Shawshank State Penitentiary serving two consecutive life terms because he was convicted of killing his wife and her lover. While at the prison he befriends another inmate Ellis “Red” Redding who is essential to Dufresne’s eventual escape from prison (procuring a rock hammer for him to make chess pieces and buying him posters). Andy works in the prison laundry but he is regularly assaulted. Being a banker he informs a guard about a financial loophole landing him a job in the prison library which eventually leads to him managing financial duties for the prison. He expands the library in the prison and plays an excerpt from a book which lands him in solitary. After his release he tells Red he still has hope. The warden starts to exploit prison labor for public works undercutting labor costs and Andy launders the money for him under an alias. Another inmate reveals to Andy that another inmate at another prison claimed responsibility for the murder Andy was accused of. Andy then tells the warden but he puts him in prison and consequently has the inmate killed who was willing to tell about the real murderer. Andy tells Red about his plans if he is released and tells him where to meet him, in Mexico. Red pushes this idea to the side until he realizes, just as everyone else does, that Andy has escaped. Over the two decades prior he had been digging a tunnel with the rock hammer and he escaped through this tunnel and through the sewage pipe to leave the prison. Since he has the information about the money laundering he withdraws the money under the alias and sends the information about the corruption to a local newspaper. The police arrive at Shawshank and the warden, realizing what has happened, commits suicide. Red receives parole after serving 40 years but struggles with life outside of prison, that is, until he goes to pick up the package Andy left for him and goes to the city where Andy is staying in Mexico, finally feeling free.
The reason why I chose to use Shawshank Redemption in my anthology is because it highlights the lives of prisoners, specifically during their time in prison and after their time in prison. Much of the movie narrates how the prisoners deal with these times. It shows how they are still human in prison, occupying their time with reading and looking at pictures, while others also work while they are in prison. The film also shows how they deal with life once they are released from prison. Many released inmates will show the very human emotion of fear once they area released because they do not know what to do or how to act outside of prison anymore, they are also in fear of violating the terms of their parole. Finally I chose to include this film because I believe it highlights the prisoners humanity, how they are always looking for something to take up their time, some having plans for after prison and then following through with these plans after prison and making a place for themselves in the world outside of prison.
Summary: Andy Dufresne is an inmate who is sent to Shawshank State Penitentiary serving two consecutive life terms because he was convicted of killing his wife and her lover. While at the prison he befriends another inmate Ellis “Red” Redding who is essential to Dufresne’s eventual escape from prison (procuring a rock hammer for him to make chess pieces and buying him posters). Andy works in the prison laundry but he is regularly assaulted. Being a banker he informs a guard about a financial loophole landing him a job in the prison library which eventually leads to him managing financial duties for the prison. He expands the library in the prison and plays an excerpt from a book which lands him in solitary. After his release he tells Red he still has hope. The warden starts to exploit prison labor for public works undercutting labor costs and Andy launders the money for him under an alias. Another inmate reveals to Andy that another inmate at another prison claimed responsibility for the murder Andy was accused of. Andy then tells the warden but he puts him in prison and consequently has the inmate killed who was willing to tell about the real murderer. Andy tells Red about his plans if he is released and tells him where to meet him, in Mexico. Red pushes this idea to the side until he realizes, just as everyone else does, that Andy has escaped. Over the two decades prior he had been digging a tunnel with the rock hammer and he escaped through this tunnel and through the sewage pipe to leave the prison. Since he has the information about the money laundering he withdraws the money under the alias and sends the information about the corruption to a local newspaper. The police arrive at Shawshank and the warden, realizing what has happened, commits suicide. Red receives parole after serving 40 years but struggles with life outside of prison, that is, until he goes to pick up the package Andy left for him and goes to the city where Andy is staying in Mexico, finally feeling free.
The reason why I chose to use Shawshank Redemption in my anthology is because it highlights the lives of prisoners, specifically during their time in prison and after their time in prison. Much of the movie narrates how the prisoners deal with these times. It shows how they are still human in prison, occupying their time with reading and looking at pictures, while others also work while they are in prison. The film also shows how they deal with life once they are released from prison. Many released inmates will show the very human emotion of fear once they area released because they do not know what to do or how to act outside of prison anymore, they are also in fear of violating the terms of their parole. Finally I chose to include this film because I believe it highlights the prisoners humanity, how they are always looking for something to take up their time, some having plans for after prison and then following through with these plans after prison and making a place for themselves in the world outside of prison.