1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die- The Color Purple

#763- The Color Purple (1985)
Starring: Whoopi Goldberg, Danny Glover, Oprah Winfrey
Directed by: Steven Spielberg


Plot Summary: Celie Harris is a young woman who has already lived an abusive life at such a young age. After birthing children from her father and have them taken away, she is married off to an older man named Albert Johnson. A wealthy widower, Albert, whom Celie knows as "Mister," treats Celie like a slave and has his eyes set on Celie's sister Nettie. When Nettie refuses Albert, he banishes her from his house with her promising that "nothing but death can keep me from her." For decades Celie tolerates the abuse and continues to try and live her life day by day, but there are times where the abuse is too much for her. There are only three real things that Celie finds strength in, her stepson's wife Sofia, who continues to stand up for herself against abuse that comes her way, Albert's old flame Shug Avery, who takes a fascination to Celie, and of course Nettie, in hopes that she will fulfill her promise and returns.


I know what many of you thinking: "Steven Spielberg made this?!?!" I had the same thoughts when I discovered this, but yes...in 1985, Steven Spielberg made a film adaptation of Alice Walker's iconic novel about African American culture in the early 1900s, The Color Purple. At the time of this film's release, this was a HUGE detraction from the Spielberg audiences knew. The man had made Jaws, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and E.T. (we will get to those last two eventually) movies that were huge with both the critics and the box office, so in the annals of history we have here a Spielberg movie that flies under the radar a lot, but it really laid the groundwork for the Spielberg we know today: the one who nowadays captivates audiences with periodic pieces on an epic scale. So in terms of my viewing experience...what went wrong? I thought The Color Purple was fine, but it seemed to be lacking in what I was expecting from Spielberg.

Whoopi Goldberg stars in one of her first movie roles as Celie Harris Johnson. This was a rather shocking thing to see since I'm so used to Whoopi being a great comedian. There was a certain level of respect I had to give her for starting off her movie career with such a serious role. Celie's development comes through some of the biggest hardships a woman could go through at the time, and her neverending will is honorable. She adapts through the times and is able to find the thinnest shred of humanity that remains her hope for a happy ending (which I'll get to later).

Celie's husband Albert Johnson is played by Danny Glover. Again, this was kind of shocking to see because I generally enjoy Danny Glover in most of his movie roles. Albert is an absolutely detestable and abusive husband character for about 90% of the movie. While he has his moments from time to time where he displays a general care for Celie, he usually reverts. For the love of humanity, he has an OPEN declaration of feelings for an old flame that his wife is very well aware of and somewhat accepting of...how awful is that? All I could think of when I saw Danny Glover act this way was "Murtaugh NO!!! What would Riggs think?"...which of course, would open the door for infinite Mel Gibson jokes, but let's not go there.

One of the most fascinating characters in the film is Sofia, played by Oprah Winfrey in her film debut. Now, this was before her talk show ever premiered on TV, so who would imagine that Sofia from The Color Purple would go on to be one of the most iconic and influential women in all of media? Sofia is still a really great character to follow because she is so high strung and in her ways that her character growth is from her "remembering her place." She is quite the fighter, and like Celie, we really root for her...but maybe that's a bias factor since it's freaking Oprah.

The film's tone hits some of the most depressing notes that I've ever seen on film. Celie endures so much crap throughout the movie and you see her develop so much throughout the movie that you're hoping she gets some light at the end of the tunnel. The ending tries to give the audience that happy ending, but after 2 1/2 hours, the question that remains is whether it's too little too late. I've often heard people theorize that you can throw a lot of hardships and depressing moments in a story, as long as it has a happy ending. BULL. CRAP. By the time Celie got her happy ending, I had lost so much interest. If we were able to shave a half hour off the film, then I'd almost say it would've been more satisfying simply for the runtime, but this movie is LONG and drawn out so by the time the ending hits, I'm already so bored that I didn't really care how it ended, just that it did.

There's a big elephant in the room with the idea that this doesn't look like the kind of film Spielberg would direct. The obvious reason is for the subject matter and the focus on the African American community in the early 1900s, but the more I thought about it, the more I started to see why it shouldn't be a weird choice. The film is critically acclaimed (nominated for 11 Academy Awards, and walked away with nothing), it's a period piece (something Spielberg would be very well known for later in his career), and it's adapted from a groundbreaking novel. So, with all those in check, maybe The Color Purple does fit the conventions of Spielberg's movies. Although, as much respect as I have for Quincy Jones and his collaborations to music, John Williams was very much missed as the film's composer (he and Spielberg go together like Tim Burton and Danny Elfman).


Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Whether or not you enjoy The Color Purple depends on if you believe the ending is "worth it." If you're a fan of the book and can stomach the hardships, it might be worth a watch, but it wasn't really my flavor of film. It may take me another opportunity if I ever get a chance to read the book and re-watch the film, but right now I'd put it at a weekend rental at best.

The Color Purple and movie images are copyrighted by Warner Bros.