Review of The Color Purple (1985) by Mister C — 09 Nov 2015

Alice Walker's novel comes to the screen under the direction of Steven Spielburg the director that brought you some of the biggest blockbuster hits of the era including "Jaws", "Close Encounters of the Third Kind","Raiders of the Lost Ark",and more.

This was indeed one of the top ten films of 1985 and to understand on its golden 30th anniversary why this movie moved audiences so deeply and why the greatness of this masterpiece was not by perfection or logic but by heart.

Despite what critics and some audiences who may have inconsistencies or confusions or improbabilities,but there is one perfect thing at it's center,and that is the character of Celie,played with riveting and emotional fire by Whoopi Goldberg in her first ever theatrical role that consisted of its predominately African-American cast that also included Margaret Avery, Rae Dawn Chong, Laurence Fishburne,and Adolph Caesar.

Because of her electrifying performance,"The Color Purple" became a phenomenon upon it's release and a runaway boxoffice hit becoming one of the top ten highest grossing films of 1985. The movie was nominated for an impressive 13 Oscar Nominations including Best Picture,Best Director(Steven Spielburg),Best Actor(Danny Glover),Best Actress(Whoopi Goldberg),Best Supporting Actress Nominations for Oprah Winfrey and Margaret Avery,along with Best Supporting Actor(Adolph Caesar),and Best Original Musical Score for a Motion Picture(Quincy Jones)which was the first time in any Spielburg produced film that composer John Williams did not compose a film score for a Spielburg movie.

Out of the amazing 13 Oscar nominations that it received it did not win a single Oscar(it lost the Best Picture Oscar to Sydney Pollack's Out Of Africa) but it was among number eight of the top ten highest grossing films of 1985(behind that year's top grossing movie which was "Back To The Future" that was produced by Steven Spielburg).

It also marked at the time of it's release the only movie that featured a diverse cast of talent including some that were newcomers like Oprah Winfrey and Whoopi Goldberg who turned out astounding performances.

"The Color Purple" focuses on the character of Celie,a woman cruelly treated by the world,a shy,frightened little creature whose life is consists mostly of eluding the men who want to rape and beat her.

Her eventual flowering provides one of the most joyous experiences that expands through the years 1909 to 1949 where she is treated like a non-human by a brutal farmer she calls Mister(Danny Glover) who beats her,uses her as a servant and a low-life and convinces her that she is ugly.

But here is where the film blossoms and Celie finally gets revenge on Mister too(the scene where Celie is shaving Mister with a straight sharp razor where she is about inches from cutting his throat),along with other characters that blend into this movie.

The movie itself takes place in a scene that resembles more of "Green Pastures" or "The Grapes of Wrath"(filming of this movie was done in North Carolina within Anson County and Union County within the towns of Wadesboro, Lilesville, Sneadsboro, Marshville,and Morven to give it a more rural setting).

"The Color Purple" was Whoopi Goldberg's first major performance and it earned her the Oscar nomination for Best Actress,and it remains her best because she was allowed to draw from her inner truth and not required to play a sappy or comic role.

She has had other true moments including a scene of personal revelation in "Fatal Beauty",and another Oscar nominated performance in "Ghost" along with some astounding work portraying civil right icon Rosa Parks in 1990's "The Long Walk Home",and playing the wife of Medgar Evers in 1996's "The Ghosts of Mississippi".

These movies and a few others show that Whoopi was a serious actress when she did "The Color Purple", and "Ghost",and we really lost her when she started playing second hand characters such as nuns("Sister Act" sequels),and playing off the radar "Star Trek" characters not to mention we totally lost her when she went from acting into the daytime talk show circuit of garbage.

"The Color Purple" upon it's release was released exclusively in larger citles on December 20, 1985 with New York and Charlotte,North Carolina getting the film's world premiere. It went into general release everywhere in February of 1986.