More monochromania...

I saw this for the second time today, after so many years have passed since I last saw it, and I'm glad I did.



Towards the ending, when John Coffey was asked what he wanted before he died, he asked to watch a romantic movie. I thought it was one of the most moving moments in cinema. I got up from my seat and cried hard as Coffey delighted himself watching Fred Astaire sing to Ginger Rogers in Top Hat.


Heaven
I'm in heaven
And my heart beats so that I can hardly speak
And I seem to find the happiness I seek
When we're out together dancing cheek to cheek

When the movie ended, I took a few moments to ponder the reasons why I cried. The movie that Coffey enjoyed was romantic, while the real movie that he witnessed was unenjoyably tragic. It was a powerful juxtaposition of two dramatic ironies of life that moved me to the edge of my seat. Some characters live their lives experiencing all bad things, and never really getting a break from it to experience good things. Coffey lived his whole life seeing the bad in people, and he was tired of it all. Oddly enough, he found redemption from all the miseries and evil of his world in death. His endless string of pain was so highlighted in that moment that he watched Top Hat, in that, he's been through so many sad things, that the happiest experience to end his misery was as basic and simple as watching an old movie.

Kind of makes me thankful that I am where I am. So many people live their whole lives without having seen a single good movie, or slept comfortably, or tasted a good meal. I get to watch at least 2 movies a week. I have a roof over my head. I eat complete nourishing meals at least 3 times a day. I can go on and on, and this kind of thinking can really get old. But that's exactly the idea, one can easily lose grip of the basic things, in their constant search of the bigger, better things. But if they look closely, they'll find that they've got more than many other people ever really have their whole lives.

I know it's gotten sappy. But touching movies usually have that effect on me.