The Trouble With The Color Purple The Color Purple (Steven Spielberg, 1985) can now be seen as a kind of cinematic watershed. It was a sign of the times but also of things to come: what was still unusual in 1985 would become commonplace by 1990. Since then, movies based on this mentality have become pervasive. Around that time, black men came forward charging that the movie was sexist (for perpetuating negative stereotypes of black men) as well as racist (for pitting black men and women against each other instead of white society). What caused their fury? In a nutshell, it was that every male character, without exception, is either a hopelessly stupid buffoon, a fiendishly evil tyrant, or both. And every female character, without exception, is a purely innocent victim, a quietly enduring hero, or both. In The Color Purple, this cinematic world - viewers know it only from what they actually see and hear in movie theatres or on television - consists ultimately of a battle between the forces of light represented by women and those of darkness represented by men. Unless viewers supply other information from their own world (and thus contradict what is "said" by the movie itself) or from Walker's novel (and thus add at least some depth of humanity to the male characters), they must reach the conclusion that men are inherently worthless. What has made the male characters so worthless or evil is never shown; they just are that way. Was it because of the appalling conditions black people endured in the rural South of sixty years ago? Possibly. But if the situation was so destructive, why did only the female characters emerge with their dignity and humanity intact? From what viewers are shown, only one conclusion is possible: something innate in women allows them to rise above degradation, while something innate in men prevents them from doing so. Four women are triumphant and four men defeated: Harpo, the oaf who keeps falling through the ceiling as if in a rerun of Amos 'n Andy, is taken back at the very end by his long-suffering wife. No discernible change has taken place in him, while she has grown in wisdom and tolerance. Mister, a kind of black Simon Legree, eventually repents of his evil ways. But the last scene showed him so crushed by guilt that he cannot bring himself even to ask for Celie's forgiveness. She, meanwhile, has successfully transcended the past and can thus move on into the future. Even in contrition, then, the men are worthless. At their best, in other words, they are irrelevant anachronisms. Given the roles presented, the only people who can actually identify themselves with the characters on-screen are women, whether black or white. No healthy man, black or white, could possibly do so, not only because all male characters are so unspeakably vile and so incredibly stupid but also because they are so uncinematically lifeless. Unlike the women, the men are not really people at all. They are wooden caricatures who represent crimes or pathologies, cardboard cutouts that exist in only one dimension, straw men set up to be knocked down - in short, not complex human beings in whom male and female viewers can see some of the good and evil in themselves. But this movie is not addressed to male viewers, not even to racist, white, male viewers. Apparently, the possible reaction of male viewers was considered irrelevant. The movie indicates that men are irrelevant once they stop persecuting women. In the final shot, the camera looks upward at the women, thus conferring visual monumentality and dignity on those who have escaped from their men and gone off to live together. Their pride and independence is thus emphasized in precisely the same way as
the brutality and evil of the men, Celie's father and husband, were at the beginning. There are many positive things to be said about this film - the performances, the photography, and especially the direction by Spielberg, who at this point in time was still close enough to the peak of his powers to make anything he put his name to worth watching. But the message of the film is an ugly one, something that bypassed so many of its viewers when it was first released, and to look at the many reviews surrounding this one, continues to do so now. Remarkably moving story from the maestro This is a truly wonderful film from the guru of directing, Mr Steven Spielberg. This great director has suffered much criticism throughout his career. He was slammed by a lot of the press for 'never really growing up' and it took SCHINDLER'S LIST to quiten these critics. However almost ten years before his remarkable account of the Holocaust Spielberg directed this gem. It is the moving tale of a young black girl born into a male-dominated world, and tells the story of her gradual loss of identity followed by her defiance in reclaiming the life she lost. This was Whoopi Goldberg's remarkable screen debut that assured her of major stardom, and it is not hard to see why. Her fear towards her husband is frighteningly real, as is her silent rebellious side that ventures outwards in the last section of the film. Danny Glover paints a horrific image of a cruel husband, and still manages to give us a valid reason why he acts the way he does, before a moving conclusion to his character's development. The part of Sofia is also expertly played by Oprah Winfrey, especially during the Christmas reunion scene when the viewer can't help but share her pain through to joy. A special treat is an appearance by Laurence Fishburne (then Larry) in a small role. It is cinema such as this that proves Steven Spielberg's genius. You will often forget that it is him you are watching (not least by the lack of another genius, Mr John Williams), but it only adds to this director's credit that he is so versatile. If anyone passed over this film as a possible blip in Spielberg's career (as I shamefully did!) watch it now! You will not be disappointed. Spielberg's 1st "Serious" Film Is Beautiful and Powerful... A film that can make you shed tears of sadness and tears of joy would be considered quite a step in the career of a common filmmaker. The fact is, Steven Spielberg, probably our greatest story-teller, has been doing this in various movie formats for years. THE COLOR PURPLE, at the time, was considered risky, especially after action classics like JAWS and RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK. In hindsight, this film should have come as no surprise, for Spielberg had made us cry tears of joy and sadness in E.T. Critics called COLOR PURPLE his entrance into intellectual fare. It is quite an entrance. No special effects, no swashbuckling, just brilliant story-telling based on a literary classic by Alice Walker. One surprise is how Spielberg could present such a moving film about African-Americans in the deep south. Slavery is gone, but in the south depicted here, it seems as though blacks are using other blacks as slaves. Spielberg is always put down for sentimentalizing his pictures or adding an element of childishness to please the audience. This is really the first of overlooked films from his career that you cannot make these observations. It is the first in a line of films people either didn't see or wouldn't see because there are no aliens. EMPIRE OF THE SUN, ALWAYS, SCHINDLER'S LIST, etc.. His
awesome talent is obvious with this specific picture because A) he uses mostly untrained, first-time
actors, B) he tackles a subject most felt was unadaptable to the screen, and C) it is pure drama with no strings pulled where characters grow and change over the passage of roughly 30 years. It is almost epic-like in look and scope and the fact that it did not garner a single Academy Award from 11 nominations is a travesty and an insult. Whoopi Goldberg is fabulous as the tortured Celie, an unattractive woman given away by her incestuous father to an abusive Danny Glover, who she only knows as "Mister". The film follows a path of occasional beatings and mental torture she goes through while with "Mister". The PG-13 rated film is pretty open to the sexual issues raised by the Walker novel. This is not "The Burning Bed" in Georgia by any means. There is no blatant revenge taken as might be expected. It happens gracefully. Goldberg perfectly plays a human being, someone in need of love and someone who deserves it. The films' most poignant and heartbreaking moment comes when Goldberg and her sister, Nettie (played by Akosua Busia) are separated, maybe forever. (Possibly foreshadowing Holocaust separation of child and parent?) You may have to check for a pulse if you are not moved by this sequence. The color purple stands for the beauty of the fields and flowers surrounding these poor people. There really is something to live for, but love triumphs over all. Spielberg bashers take note: the guy can make an unforgettable classic without any cute aliens. A powerful insight into the life of a mistreated black woman in the Deep South
This stunning and enthralling portrayal, directed by the marvelous Steven Spielberg, is a true gem for reminding the world of the hardships of the ancestors of America's black peoples. Celie, an uneducated black woman is mistreated by her father, her "Mister", her step-children and almost anyone she is forced to endure – aside from sister Nettie of course whose companionship, I believe, reiterates an important message: to love each other no matter what.
The brief injections of comedic satire in the picture enable Goldberg, in her debut, to show the world what she really is – a comic. A Golden Globe Award-winning and Oscar-nominated performance allows Goldberg to profess the destitute situation of the protagonist. One feels this was Goldberg's time to shine and really did thoroughly deserve that golden statuette from the Academy in
comparison to her actual Oscar-winning supporting performance in 1990's Ghost. Nonetheless, the lack of real acclaim for this picture doesn't take away its drawing and moving storyline to see if, for once, Celie can really be happy.
I didn't really recognize much of the supporting cast of the movie, expect from Oprah Winfrey. Now, I was not expecting much from Winfrey's performance as time and time again you get the
occasional 'pop' and 'TV' stars who try and make the 'transition' into film. However, I was pleasantly surprised of Winfrey's portrayal of a distraught and let's say 'difficult' housewife Sofia. Although her character, I felt, did in a sense perpetuate the stereotype of the "big angry black woman" which I believe the film was trying to move away from. All in all, Winfrey garnered both an Oscar and Golden Globe nomination.
One of the most beautiful pictures I have seen in years, and, not a single Oscar win, that I'll never know. Spielberg for the first time showing different new colors as a director. As much as I love Spielberg, I never have been too fond of his more dramatic movie attempts. The drama in his movies often feels very melodramatic. This movie was his first real, straight-forward, dramatic endeavor and though I also have some real problems with this movie, people seem to forget and fail to see that as far as the genre goes, this still truly is one excellent movie. People look at this movie and see that it's not up to Spielberg's usual high standards of entertainment and film-making but that doesn't mean at all that this movie is an horrible one. There is simply no denying it that this is a skillfully made movie. It has all of the right settings and actors in it, as well as a compelling dramatic story, that focuses mainly on an African American woman, living and trying to survive life in the early 1900's America. She has to face lots of ordeals, such as the forced split-up of her and her sister that she was incredibly close with, taking beatings and rape. It's not necessarily a movie about racism, though it still plays some part in the story but it's more one that focuses on African American society, in rural areas, in the early 1900's and on its women and their position in particular. It follows its characters for some decades. Some things change for them, while others keep remaining the same. It's a good character driven drama with a compelling story, that ensures that the movie is always going and good to watch, even though the movie is being a bit of a long sit. It really is a movie that foremost works out thanks to its characters and actors that are portraying them. Amazingly enough two of its key characters are being played by debutantes; Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey but what a fine debut it was! Both are truly excellent and its hard to recognize them in this movie, not necessarily because they look different and younger but more because of their performances, that is unlike anything they have ever done since. I truly wish Whoopi Goldberg would had continued playing more roles like this, instead of choosing a more comical career. How different her career must have been but she wanted to stay loyal to her comical background instead, which is of course her right to do. But with all this talking about Winfrey and Goldberg, people tend to forget how great Danny Glover is being in this movie as well. But this is also only because the movie is being a sort of ode to African American woman and their strength and also tells the story from their perspective. It all combined ensures that "The Color Purple" has something that a good drama requires; some good powerful emotions and drama. It's a touching movie that perhaps goes a bit over-the-top at times but overall as a whole still works out as some powerful and memorable. Can't say I'm too fond about its last 30 minutes though. The movie tries to desperately to wrap everything up needly. Everything ends well for the 'good' guys and gals and the 'bad' ones end up badly. It feels a bit forced, as if Spielberg was too afraid to that his movie would end on a downer and would leave its audience depressed. This is actually something quite a lot of Spielberg movies suffer from; they desperately try to end on a positive and uplifting note. Even "Schindler's List" somewhat does!
It's far from my favorite Spielberg movie and it's also far from the best thing he has ever done but this movie still remains one fine, effective, powerful 'colored' drama, that by the way still really is missing a John Williams musical score.
The Trouble With The Color Purple The Color Purple (Steven Spielberg, 1985) can now be seen as a kind of cinematic watershed. It was a sign of the times but also of things to come: what was still unusual in 1985 would become commonplace by 1990. Since then, movies based on this mentality have become pervasive. Around that time, black men came forward charging that the movie was sexist (for perpetuating negative stereotypes of black men) as well as racist (for pitting black men and women against each other instead of white society). What caused their fury? In a nutshell, it was that every male character, without exception, is either a hopelessly stupid buffoon, a fiendishly evil tyrant, or both. And every female character, without exception, is a purely innocent victim, a quietly enduring hero, or both. In The Color Purple, this cinematic world - viewers know it only from what they actually see and hear in movie theatres or on television - consists ultimately of a battle between the forces of light represented by women and those of darkness represented by men. Unless viewers supply other information from their own world (and thus contradict what is "said" by the movie itself) or from Walker's novel (and thus add at least some depth of humanity to the male characters), they must reach the conclusion that men are inherently worthless. What has made the male characters so worthless or evil is never shown; they just are that way. Was it because of the appalling conditions black people endured in the rural South of sixty years ago? Possibly. But if the situation was so destructive, why did only the female characters emerge with their dignity and humanity intact? From what viewers are shown, only one conclusion is possible: something innate in women allows them to rise above degradation, while something innate in men prevents them from doing so. Four women are triumphant and four men defeated: Harpo, the oaf who keeps falling through the ceiling as if in a rerun of Amos 'n Andy, is taken back at the very end by his long-suffering wife. No discernible change has taken place in him, while she has grown in wisdom and tolerance. Mister, a kind of black Simon Legree, eventually repents of his evil ways. But the last scene showed him so crushed by guilt that he cannot bring himself even to ask for Celie's forgiveness. She, meanwhile, has successfully transcended the past and can thus move on into the future. Even in contrition, then, the men are worthless. At their best, in other words, they are irrelevant anachronisms. Given the roles presented, the only people who can actually identify themselves with the characters on-screen are women, whether black or white. No healthy man, black or white, could possibly do so, not only because all male characters are so unspeakably vile and so incredibly stupid but also because they are so uncinematically lifeless. Unlike the women, the men are not really people at all. They are wooden caricatures who represent crimes or pathologies, cardboard cutouts that exist in only one dimension, straw men set up to be knocked down - in short, not complex human beings in whom male and female viewers can see some of the good and evil in themselves. But this movie is not addressed to male viewers, not even to racist, white, male viewers. Apparently, the possible reaction of male viewers was considered irrelevant. The movie indicates that men are irrelevant once they stop persecuting women. In the final shot, the camera looks upward at the women, thus conferring visual monumentality and dignity on those who have escaped from their men and gone off to live together. Their pride and independence is thus emphasized in precisely the same way as
the brutality and evil of the men, Celie's father and husband, were at the beginning. There are many positive things to be said about this film - the performances, the photography, and especially the direction by Spielberg, who at this point in time was still close enough to the peak of his powers to make anything he put his name to worth watching. But the message of the film is an ugly one, something that bypassed so many of its viewers when it was first released, and to look at the many reviews surrounding this one, continues to do so now. Remarkably moving story from the maestro This is a truly wonderful film from the guru of directing, Mr Steven Spielberg. This great director has suffered much criticism throughout his career. He was slammed by a lot of the press for 'never really growing up' and it took SCHINDLER'S LIST to quiten these critics. However almost ten years before his remarkable account of the Holocaust Spielberg directed this gem. It is the moving tale of a young black girl born into a male-dominated world, and tells the story of her gradual loss of identity followed by her defiance in reclaiming the life she lost. This was Whoopi Goldberg's remarkable screen debut that assured her of major stardom, and it is not hard to see why. Her fear towards her husband is frighteningly real, as is her silent rebellious side that ventures outwards in the last section of the film. Danny Glover paints a horrific image of a cruel husband, and still manages to give us a valid reason why he acts the way he does, before a moving conclusion to his character's development. The part of Sofia is also expertly played by Oprah Winfrey, especially during the Christmas reunion scene when the viewer can't help but share her pain through to joy. A special treat is an appearance by Laurence Fishburne (then Larry) in a small role. It is cinema such as this that proves Steven Spielberg's genius. You will often forget that it is him you are watching (not least by the lack of another genius, Mr John Williams), but it only adds to this director's credit that he is so versatile. If anyone passed over this film as a possible blip in Spielberg's career (as I shamefully did!) watch it now! You will not be disappointed. Spielberg's 1st "Serious" Film Is Beautiful and Powerful... A film that can make you shed tears of sadness and tears of joy would be considered quite a step in the career of a common filmmaker. The fact is, Steven Spielberg, probably our greatest story-teller, has been doing this in various movie formats for years. THE COLOR PURPLE, at the time, was considered risky, especially after action classics like JAWS and RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK. In hindsight, this film should have come as no surprise, for Spielberg had made us cry tears of joy and sadness in E.T. Critics called COLOR PURPLE his entrance into intellectual fare. It is quite an entrance. No special effects, no swashbuckling, just brilliant story-telling based on a literary classic by Alice Walker. One surprise is how Spielberg could present such a moving film about African-Americans in the deep south. Slavery is gone, but in the south depicted here, it seems as though blacks are using other blacks as slaves. Spielberg is always put down for sentimentalizing his pictures or adding an element of childishness to please the audience. This is really the first of overlooked films from his career that you cannot make these observations. It is the first in a line of films people either didn't see or wouldn't see because there are no aliens. EMPIRE OF THE SUN, ALWAYS, SCHINDLER'S LIST, etc.. His
awesome talent is obvious with this specific picture because A) he uses mostly untrained, first-time
actors, B) he tackles a subject most felt was unadaptable to the screen, and C) it is pure drama with no strings pulled where characters grow and change over the passage of roughly 30 years. It is almost epic-like in look and scope and the fact that it did not garner a single Academy Award from 11 nominations is a travesty and an insult. Whoopi Goldberg is fabulous as the tortured Celie, an unattractive woman given away by her incestuous father to an abusive Danny Glover, who she only knows as "Mister". The film follows a path of occasional beatings and mental torture she goes through while with "Mister". The PG-13 rated film is pretty open to the sexual issues raised by the Walker novel. This is not "The Burning Bed" in Georgia by any means. There is no blatant revenge taken as might be expected. It happens gracefully. Goldberg perfectly plays a human being, someone in need of love and someone who deserves it. The films' most poignant and heartbreaking moment comes when Goldberg and her sister, Nettie (played by Akosua Busia) are separated, maybe forever. (Possibly foreshadowing Holocaust separation of child and parent?) You may have to check for a pulse if you are not moved by this sequence. The color purple stands for the beauty of the fields and flowers surrounding these poor people. There really is something to live for, but love triumphs over all. Spielberg bashers take note: the guy can make an unforgettable classic without any cute aliens. A powerful insight into the life of a mistreated black woman in the Deep South
This stunning and enthralling portrayal, directed by the marvelous Steven Spielberg, is a true gem for reminding the world of the hardships of the ancestors of America's black peoples. Celie, an uneducated black woman is mistreated by her father, her "Mister", her step-children and almost anyone she is forced to endure – aside from sister Nettie of course whose companionship, I believe, reiterates an important message: to love each other no matter what.
The brief injections of comedic satire in the picture enable Goldberg, in her debut, to show the world what she really is – a comic. A Golden Globe Award-winning and Oscar-nominated performance allows Goldberg to profess the destitute situation of the protagonist. One feels this was Goldberg's time to shine and really did thoroughly deserve that golden statuette from the Academy in
comparison to her actual Oscar-winning supporting performance in 1990's Ghost. Nonetheless, the lack of real acclaim for this picture doesn't take away its drawing and moving storyline to see if, for once, Celie can really be happy.
I didn't really recognize much of the supporting cast of the movie, expect from Oprah Winfrey. Now, I was not expecting much from Winfrey's performance as time and time again you get the
occasional 'pop' and 'TV' stars who try and make the 'transition' into film. However, I was pleasantly surprised of Winfrey's portrayal of a distraught and let's say 'difficult' housewife Sofia. Although her character, I felt, did in a sense perpetuate the stereotype of the "big angry black woman" which I believe the film was trying to move away from. All in all, Winfrey garnered both an Oscar and Golden Globe nomination.
One of the most beautiful pictures I have seen in years, and, not a single Oscar win, that I'll never know. Spielberg for the first time showing different new colors as a director. As much as I love Spielberg, I never have been too fond of his more dramatic movie attempts. The drama in his movies often feels very melodramatic. This movie was his first real, straight-forward, dramatic endeavor and though I also have some real problems with this movie, people seem to forget and fail to see that as far as the genre goes, this still truly is one excellent movie. People look at this movie and see that it's not up to Spielberg's usual high standards of entertainment and film-making but that doesn't mean at all that this movie is an horrible one. There is simply no denying it that this is a skillfully made movie. It has all of the right settings and actors in it, as well as a compelling dramatic story, that focuses mainly on an African American woman, living and trying to survive life in the early 1900's America. She has to face lots of ordeals, such as the forced split-up of her and her sister that she was incredibly close with, taking beatings and rape. It's not necessarily a movie about racism, though it still plays some part in the story but it's more one that focuses on African American society, in rural areas, in the early 1900's and on its women and their position in particular. It follows its characters for some decades. Some things change for them, while others keep remaining the same. It's a good character driven drama with a compelling story, that ensures that the movie is always going and good to watch, even though the movie is being a bit of a long sit. It really is a movie that foremost works out thanks to its characters and actors that are portraying them. Amazingly enough two of its key characters are being played by debutantes; Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey but what a fine debut it was! Both are truly excellent and its hard to recognize them in this movie, not necessarily because they look different and younger but more because of their performances, that is unlike anything they have ever done since. I truly wish Whoopi Goldberg would had continued playing more roles like this, instead of choosing a more comical career. How different her career must have been but she wanted to stay loyal to her comical background instead, which is of course her right to do. But with all this talking about Winfrey and Goldberg, people tend to forget how great Danny Glover is being in this movie as well. But this is also only because the movie is being a sort of ode to African American woman and their strength and also tells the story from their perspective. It all combined ensures that "The Color Purple" has something that a good drama requires; some good powerful emotions and drama. It's a touching movie that perhaps goes a bit over-the-top at times but overall as a whole still works out as some powerful and memorable. Can't say I'm too fond about its last 30 minutes though. The movie tries to desperately to wrap everything up needly. Everything ends well for the 'good' guys and gals and the 'bad' ones end up badly. It feels a bit forced, as if Spielberg was too afraid to that his movie would end on a downer and would leave its audience depressed. This is actually something quite a lot of Spielberg movies suffer from; they desperately try to end on a positive and uplifting note. Even "Schindler's List" somewhat does!
It's far from my favorite Spielberg movie and it's also far from the best thing he has ever done but this movie still remains one fine, effective, powerful 'colored' drama, that by the way still really is missing a John Williams musical score.