Film review: ‘THE COLOUR PURPLE’ by Nick Gardener from ‘Built For Speed’
The Colour Purple is the cinema adaptation of the stage musical adaptation of the 1985 Steven Spielberg film adaptation of the 1892 Alice Walker novel. This time, Blitz Bazawule rather than Spielberg directs although Spielberg and Quincy Jones return as producers alongside the stage musical’s producers Scott Sanders and Oprah Winfrey.
The stage to screen adaptation can be a tricky one and as the very disappointing remake of The Producers showed, the screen to stage to screen adaptation can be particularly fraught. Given that The Colour Purple is largely a story of poverty, racism, sexism, violence and sexual abuse, the prospects of pulling off a musical film version seemed precarious. Impressively, Bazawule has for the most part, successfully combined elements of the original film and the stage production to deliver a vibrant but thought-provoking mix of personal drama and social issues that seems to rush by in much less time than its 141 minutes.
At the story’s centre is Celie (singer Fantasia who appeared in the stage version) a young African American woman living in Georgia in the early 1900s who becomes the victim of multiple tragedies. Raped by her abusive father Alfonso (Dean Cole) forced to give up her children, married off to violent local farmer named ‘Mister’ (Colman Domingo) and separated from her beloved sister Nettie (played as a younger woman by Halle Bailey) she seems imprisoned in a life of constant torment. A flicker of hopes arrives, however, in the form of several forthright women including friend Sophia (Danielle Brooks) and famed singer Shug (Taraji P Henson) who show Celie there’s a chance of a better life.
As it’s based on the stage version, the film is more a series of set pieces than a completely fluent narrative. Consequently, there are a few abrupt time shifts and changes in characters’ circumstances but this doesn’t hurt the story’s thrust too much. The musical set pieces are energetically staged and visually striking as they traverse the stunning Georgia countryside, Juke joints and dream-like 1940’s big band settings. The songs, which are a mix of bluesy ballads and energetic spiritual numbers, are all listenable if not indelible. The idea of musical numbers amidst such disturbing and tragic circumstances may seem odd but these represent the characters joyous resilience to the situation as well as their aspirations. The musical set pieces are therefore appropriate to the characters but the format does take some getting used to.
Above the fine production values and music, the cast performances define this film. In her first film role, Fantasia is terrific making Celie a genuinely empathetic figure. Brooks and Henson are also wonderfully exuberant and heroic as Sophia and Shug. Supporting performances from Halle Baily, Ciara as the older Nettie and Louis Gossett Jr as Mister’s misogynist dad are also memorable. Critically, the film connects us to the characters allowing some very emotional sequences and it would take an exceptional grump not to be moved by them.
Some viewers may still have trouble reconciling the more confronting content of this film with the musical format but Bazawule has shown these disparate elements can co-exist to, at least part of the time, create rousing cinema.
Nick’s rating: ***1/2
Genre: Drama/ Musical/ Historical.
Classification: PG
Director(s): Blitz Bazawule.
Release date: 25th Jan 2023.
Running time: 141 mins.
Reviewer: Nick Gardener can be heard on “Built For Speed” every Friday night from 8-10pm on 88.3 Southern FM.