The Color Purple

Alice Walker's masterpiece, looking forward to watching Beloved

[8/10] I’m truly surprised it took me this long to watch this film. I believed I would like it, but knew little about the story, so nearly all of it was a surprise to me. This is my favorite role I’ve seen Whoopi Goldberg in. I was surprised to find that I personally didn’t care for Oprah's performance as much, though it wasn’t necessarily bad or wrong for the film.

The story starts strong, but some unfamiliar parents may be surprised by the more intense subject matter throughout the first 10 or 15 minutes. There is more physical and verbal abuse (and other traumas) over the course of the film, though it’s slightly more toned down as the story progresses.

I found the relationship between Celie and Shug (and Mister/Albert) to be fascinating. This is a story I imagine would be even better in book form (I have not read it!), though the film really is well done. I do wonder what compelled Steven Spielberg to direct it. It's hard not to wonder what it might have been with a different director, but Spielberg’s direction was clearly intentional and left a lasting impact on audiences then and now.

I cried many times throughout—sometimes from very small and subtle moments, and at other times, I was sobbing. [spoiler]The reunion of Celie and Nettie was so incredibly bittersweet. My heart felt broken and full all at the same time.[/spoiler] I can see why it's a classic, though I’m not sure it will make it to a rewatch for me.

It was a good film. I did like the acting of Danny Glover, Whoopi, and Oprah. I think the tone of the film was confusing at times. In what was supposed to be serious subject matter, it seemed too light-hearted at times. I agree with the previous post, as amazing as Spielberg is, maybe he wasn't the right choice for this.

Steven Spielberg, in a futile search for prestige and Oscars.

Whoopi Goldberg gives an amazing performance.

That’s it that’s the review.

**THE WACPINE OF ‘THE COLOR PURPLE’**

WRITING: 7
ATMOSPHERE: 8
CHARACTERS: 9
PRODUCTION: 9
INTRIGUE: 6
NOVELTY: 6
ENJOYMENT: 7

----

**The Good:**

This is such a beautiful film to look at. The production design makes one feel warm and fuzzy, like hearing a good story from better days long gone. The camera moves seamlessly across the world and amidst the characters, creating a wholly satisfying experience.

Deserta Jackson is one of the better young actors I've ever had the pleasure to watch. She immediately captures the personality of Celie and delves deep into the character, bringing her alive. It's impossible not to feel sorry for her or not to find her wonderful. Even better is Whoopi Goldberg in a touching and vibrant performance as the older Celie. Her emotional spectrum is amazing and she brings so much heart to the role. The fact that she can say so much by not saying anything at all is amazing.

Danny Glover is impeccable as the cold and ruthless Albert. You want to punch him for bullying Celie so, and his willingness to fully bring forward the dark and unlikeable aspects of the character is what makes him such a compelling villain.

I like how the script deals with domestic violence and the black community in the state of Georgia in the early 1900s. The script feels ahead of its time by bringing up social, racial and feminist issues that still haunt us to this day, even if the debate has turned into a new gear in the past few years.

It’s fascinating how this film tells the wider story of several different people in the same area for several decades - but they're all connected by Celie's journey through life, trying to find her place in society.

Despite the historical drama and the very real-life issues that this film centres around, it's not difficult to find some of the magical and escapist elements Spielberg is best known for through his fantasy and science-fiction films. There are those lighter moments of wonder and faith that bring back memories from some of the director’s best movies.

----

**The Bad:**

After a very promising beginning, with a solid groundwork laid and the elements of an immersive story planted, the middle part of the film drags out somewhat with several sequences that don’t seem to develop the plot much.

Despite several wonderful moments and "Spielbergisms", this film doesn't hit quite as hard as I'd hoped. The steam runs out halfway through and the emotional side rarely delivers the punches the script needs to remain engaging for the full 150 minutes.

The plot strays away to Celie's sister’s story, which is understandable since we want to know what has happened to her just as much as she does, but it takes away the focus from Celie's journey, which is already stretched out.

----

**The Ugly:**

It takes 130 minutes before the film's title is mentioned in dialogue. That's a long wait.

(This is the third Spielberg film to end on a shot of a sunset, so that's becoming something of a director trademark).

----

**WACPINE RATING: 7.43 / 10 = 3,5 stars**

The themes explored in this movie are obviously bad and this isn't an easy watch. It drags in the middle and is too long. This isn't Spielberg's best and I'm not sure if he was the right guy to make a movie like this.

This movie is old and famous, so it's too late to say bad things about it, but...

It's long and dreary. It stresses how a female is at the mercy of constant rape by a man, even her dad.

There is a line delivered by Oprah like, "Ain't no woman safe in a world where there is penises!"

The only comfort the main character, Celie, gets here comes from women. There is the love of her sister and the sexual touches of the lady who sings the song "Sister." Women are good here and men are bad.

Celie is too shy to speak up for herself or take any action that would improve her life until the last third of the movie, where it comes as a surprise. She is at the dinner table and suddenly starts giving a speech about how much she hates her husband.


Now, after all these long years and this very long movie, she is ready to make a change. It's like it was planned to happen just in time for the movie to end on something positive.


We see from two different female characters that there are opportunities for women to leave a bad situation for something better. The lady who sings "Sister" leaves her husband and goes on to have an entertainment career and enough success to come back driving a fancy car. Why she comes back, other than to show off, is not clear. Oprah's character also leaves her husband but later gets too uppity, and society moves to put her in her place.

Unfortunately, for Celie, her path forward is really not that positive. She's a grown woman but goes into a field to play patty-cake with her long-lost sister, like they did when they were children. That is happiness for her.

Now it's time to say some crazy stuff...

This movie needs a sequel. One where Celie is a female avenger like Lorena Bobbitt. Going around punishing bad men and chopping off their parts! Total Bad Ass!

She has money now and doesn't need anyone's permission to do anything she wants. "The Color Purple" can be a symbol of the pain she brings to all the men who she takes out her female revenge on!

Perhaps it's better if she just stays at home and keeps playing patty-cake, but I can see Whoopi and Oprah's characters going on a crazy man wounding spree that is totally justified.... All the women in the town can join in.

"AINT NO MAN'S PENIS SAFE IN A WORLD WHERE THERE IS A VAGINA OUT FOR VENGEANCE!"

(Maybe Octavia Spencer's character in "Ma" is really Celie. This movie gets better when thought of as a hero origin story!!)

This movie should not exist. I can’t watch a single frame of it without know Spielberg was unequivocally the wrong man for this material. I’ve never hated a score this much, and it fuses with the schmaltzy directing and framing to create something offensively palpable. Spielberg admitted as much; this is his version of the story he wanted to make to appeal to his tastes and reach that crowd pleasing PG-13 audience and so everything is sanded down to a nub. From the queerness to the realness this material should carry, they’ve been washed away in the name of- honestly thankfully not rewarded- Oscar glory.

I almost gave this two stars for the cast alone. They showed up, from Goldberg to Winfrey to Avery to Glover. They put their heart and soul in their performances and it is where the film finds most of its quality. And Spielberg obviously has talent. I’m not going to claim he’s a bad director and that there are not fleetingly brief moments that stir something. But it doesn’t stop the film from being painful to sit through from the childbirth scene on and that godawful score and sentimental fairy tale cinematography and wacky family fare gags and falls drowning out anything real. It takes a personal specific work seminal to black audiences- black lesbians in particular- and tells them this isn’t for them. It’s for everyone. Well, Spielberg can keep it.