The Color Purple (1985)

Director:

Steven Spielberg

Writers:

Alice Walker (novel)
Menno Meyjes (screenplay)

Release Date:

18 December 1985 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Alice Walker's Pulitzer Prize Winning Story.

Plot:

The life and trials of a young African American Woman.

Plot Keywords:

1900s | African American | Rural | Face Slap | Sister Sister Relationship

Awards:

Nominated for 11 Oscars. Another 11 wins & 8 nominations

Cast

Danny Glover	...	Albert
Whoopi Goldberg	...	Celie Johnson
Margaret Avery	...	Shug Avery
Oprah Winfrey	...	Sofia
Willard E. Pugh	...	Harpo Johnson (as Willard Pugh)
Akosua Busia	...	Nettie Harris
Desreta Jackson	...	Young Celie Harris
Adolph Caesar	...	Old Mister Johnson
Rae Dawn Chong	...	Squeak
Dana Ivey	...	Miss Millie
Leonard Jackson	...	Pa Harris
Bennet Guillory	...	Grady
John Patton Jr.	...	Preacher
Carl Anderson	...	Reverend Samuel
Susan Beaubian	...	Corrine

Also Known As:

Moon Song (USA) (fake working title)

Runtime:

154 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Canada:PG (Ontario) | South Korea:12 | Brazil:Livre | Philippines:PG-13 | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Canada:14A | Chile:14 | Finland:K-16 | France:U | Netherlands:AL | Singapore:PG | Spain:T | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | USA:PG-13 | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Anson County, North Carolina, USA

Company:

Amblin Entertainment

Trivia:

Whoopi Goldberg's first feature film.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: After Sofia is knocked unconscious by the sheriff, her right hand starts to reach out for her wind-blown skirt.

Quotes:

Celie: [on leaving the farm in Shug's car, shouting to Albert] I'm poor, black, I might even be ugly, but dear God, I'm here. I'm here.

Movie Connections:

Featured in 15th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards (2009) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Old Ship Of Zion

Vintage Spielberg In Both The Good & Bad

As with many Steven Spielberg films, this is a beautiful-looking movie, scene-after-scene almost looking like paintings. To me, that was the main attraction of the movie because the story - although powerful - to me, wasn't as appealing as the rich visuals. It's also one of those films almost guaranteed to bring a tear or two to ones eyes at the end.

This is much more involving story if you are a woman or black person, because you can relate more to the characters in the film. As with typical Hollywood, political correctness rules: most of the men (white or black) are bad while the women (mostly black) are all good. If you are a male watching the movie, this bias in the story can be very annoying.

Individually, I remember first watching this (I've seen it a couple of times) and being surprised what a good actress Oprah Winfrey was, and how appealing was Whoopi Goldberg's character "Celie." Goldberg became a star after this film (also for her comedy appearances on TV) but I always thought this role was, by far, her best or, at the least, her most appealing.

Rae Dawn Chong never looked prettier and Margaret Avery played a real charmer. Danny Glover was effectively nasty. You wanted to punch his lights out!

Overall, expect for what I mentioned above, this was good storytelling and certainly an involving, emotional story.