Worth: $17.50
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Taraji P. Henson, Fantasia Barrino, Danielle Brooks, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Ciara, H.E.R., Colman Domingo, David Allen Grier, Louis Gossett Jr, Corey Hawkins, Halle Bailey
Intro:
… a rapturous, nigh-on-spiritual experience …
The 1985 film version of The Color Purple is an odd duck in the Spielberg catalogue. The director’s first major transition from the popular flicks that codified the Hollywood blockbuster into more ‘important’ work, it’s a film that continues to have a welcome reputation among fans of weepies… with some caveats. Spielberg himself has admitted that he was “shy” about the more explicitly lesbian themes of the source material, and to this day, he’s been criticised for how he, a White man, presented this story all about Black women.
As muddled as his version got, its strongest moments came from the use of music (‘Maybe God Is Tryin’ To Tell You Somethin’’ in particular; legendary scene), which makes it a sensible move to turn the story into a musical. Chances are that even the original’s most ardent defenders will be unprepared for just how much this outshines its predecessor.
Taking the high-spirited and impossibly infectious energy of that ‘Maybe God’ scene and transplanting it into basically every showstopping moment in this new iteration, MC-cum-director Blitz The Ambassador (Bazawule) takes the raw physical and verbal power of the Broadway musical and expertly translates it to the big screen. The soundtrack itself is dynamite from start to end, blending gospel, jazz, blues, field hollers, and traditional African music (showing Blitz furthering the connection to the diaspora that went into his work on Beyonce’s Black Is King), but as sung by this cast in particular, it’s taken to an even higher level.
Much like the original, the film is carried on the backs of its three female leads. Fantasia as the broken Celie amps up the tragedy of her domestic situation (opposite the equal parts superficially charming, vile, and pathetic Mister as played phenomenally by Colman Domingo) by showing the richness of her interior life, like with the tantalising ‘Dear God – Shug’; Brooks fills Sofia with a righteous fire that brings out the adamant refusal to be made into less of a woman in the fist-pumping ‘Hell No!’; and Henson as Shug channels her inner Lucille Bogan, as she commands the ladies in the audience to channel their own inner Shug, with the horny-and-proud ‘Push Da Button’. Ain’t no shyness happening here.
Along with a much better job portraying the sexual dimensions of the story, both the text and the songs bulking it up go much further in highlighting faith as a key component of the lives of the characters. From the pulpit-pounding ‘Mysterious Ways’ to the quiet and thankful reprise of the title song, the Christian ideals of forgiveness and triumph through struggle shine as much through the characters as it does through the many genres that they use to express their faith. All while emphasising Black Joy over Black Pain, doing justice to their strife without making it define them.
The Color Purple is a vivid womanist portrait that takes everything that worked about the Spielberg original (and even everything that didn’t work), and rejuvenates them to create a rapturous, nigh-on-spiritual experience of a film. It’s a hard-hitting and toe-tapping story about Black women refusing to let life break their souls, with their connection to song, dance, film, and each other, serving as their guides down the harsh path. All backed by what is already the film soundtrack to beat for the rest of the year. Whether you’re a fan, a sceptic, or a newcomer, this will make you feel the spirit like never before.
