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The Color Purple (1985)
Starring Oprah Winfrey, Whoopi Goldberg, Danny Glover, and Margaret Avery. Cinematography by Allen Daviau. Edited by Michael Kahn. Produced by Kathleen Kennedy, Steven Spielberg, Quincy Jones, and Frank Marshall. Written by Menno Meyjes. Directed by Steven Spielberg.
It is early in the nineteenth century and Celie is a young black woman growing up in the South. We first find her as a teenager, and she is about ready to give birth to her second child fathered by her own father. The upcoming years don’t hold much more promise. She s married to a man named Albert; a man that she is forced to refer to as “Mister”. Albert constantly abuses Celie, verbally and physically, and eventually he brings another woman into the house. The other woman is named Shug and Celie is expected to wait on her as she has waited on her husband. But Celie and Shug soon find a special connection with each other and for the first time in her life Celie discovers what it is to be loved.
Over the decade spanning from the middle of the 1970’s to the middle of the 1980’s, Steven Spielberg had become one of the most celebrated and successful filmmakers in Hollywood. All of his films to that point had been popcorn flicks (no disrespect implied with the terminology) and he was now ready to prove his skill with a more dramatic subject. His childhood had been steeped in television, but with the years gone by he had discovered a new interesting in reading. One of the books he found himself most taken with was Alice Walker’s 1982 Pulitzer Prize winning novel, The Color Purple. Spielberg arranged for a conference with Walker to discuss a film adaptation and request her involvement. After their very first meeting she felt that he truly grasped the message of the material and was happy to give him her blessing. The first draft of the screenplay was actually attempted by Walker herself, but she ended up being unable to finish it. The project was then offered to Spielberg’s collaborator on E.T. the Extra Terrestrial, Melissa Mathision, but she turned it down. The job finally went to screenwriter Menno Mayjes, and with the constant involvement and influence of Walker the script was finally ready for production.
Not only was the subject a complete change for Spielberg, but the filming process was as well. There were no storyboards used in the project (usually a Spielberg mainstay) and much of the action was improvised on set. This looseness and spontaneity translated to the screen beautifully. But The Color Purple was not initially embraced as Spielberg would have hoped. He was actually criticized for trying to a new kind of film. Some say he made it as a blatant bid for an Oscar. He was also attacked by various individuals and organizations for skirting the book’s homosexual content to expurgating its harsh tones and themes. Ultimately it seemed that the underlying issue was that a wealthy Jew was attempting to relate to the struggles of a black woman, and that was just unbelievable. The fact that someone of any race could relate to a story of human struggle and find victory in it was totally cast aside, as was Spielberg’s obvious love for the material. But those who could see through the superficial claims then, and through the years since, have been greatly rewarded with a wonderful story of triumph and enlightenment.
Budget: $15,000,000
Total US Gross: $93,589,701
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 154 Minutes
US Release Date: 12/18/85
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Awards: Academy Awards: Nominated for best art direction/set decoration, best cinematography, best costume design, best makeup, best original score, best original song, best actress (Whoopi Goldberg), best actress (Oprah Winfrey), best supporting actress, best screenplay based on previous material, and best picture. Golden Globes: Won for best actress in a dramatic picture. Nominated for best original score, best supporting actresss, best director, and best picture. Directors Guild of America: Won the Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures. Writers Guild of America: Nominated for Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Source.
Tagline: It’s About Life. It’s About Love. It’s About Us.
Quote: “All my life I had to fight. I had to fight my daddy. I had to fight my uncles. I had to fight my brothers. A girl child ain't safe in a family of men, but I ain't never thought I'd have to fight in my own house!”
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