Main Cast: Danny Glover, Whoopi Goldberg, Margaret Avery, Oprah Winfrey, Willard E. Pugh
Release Year: 1985
Country: US
Run Time: 154 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Alice Walker, The Color Purple spans the years 1909 to 1949, relating the life of Celie (Whoopi Goldberg), a Southern black woman virtually sold into a life of servitude to her brutal husband, sharecropper Albert (Danny Glover). Celie pours out her innermost thoughts in letter form to her sister Nettie (Akousa Busia), but Albert has been hiding the letters Nettie writes back, allowing Celie to assume that Nettie is dead. Finally, Celie finds a champion in the don't-take-no-guff Sofia (Oprah Winfrey), the wife of Glover's son from a previous marriage. Alas, Sofia is "humbled" when she is beaten into submission by angry whites. Later, Celie is able to forge a strong friendship with Albert's mistress Shug (Margaret Avery). Emboldened by this, Celie begins rifling through her husband's belongings and finds Nettie's letters. Able at last to stand up to her husband, Celie leaves him to search for a new life on her own. A major box-office hit, The Color Purple was nominated for eleven Oscars. The film was co-produced by Quincy Jones, who also wrote the score. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Steven Spielberg's first cinematic attempt to delve deeper than escapism produced a rich, heartfelt epic that matched the Pulitzer Prize-winning credentials of Alice Walker's novel, receiving 11 Oscar nominations but famously winning none of them. The Color Purple is a triumph of all elements of production design, nominated for its screenplay, cinematography, makeup, costumes, art direction, score, and three of its actresses -- though not for director Spielberg. The snub may have helped push him as an artist toward such prestigious works as Schindler's List. One would hardly guess Whoopi Goldberg's roots were in comedy, given the layered dramatic performance she offers in her first real screen role. Oprah Winfrey (also debuting) and Margaret Avery are the other two-thirds of the heart-breaking dynamic between three black women in Spielberg's brutal world of racial and sexual prejudice. Even Danny Glover's role shows late-blooming sympathy, however agonizingly wrought, which demonstrates the dimension of Menno Meyjes' script. There's nothing simple about this early 20th century South, populated by characters paralyzed by the roles ascribed to them, and wickedly punished when they try to venture beyond their bounds. It boils the blood at the same time that it touches the soul, making for genuinely tear-soaked cinema with a visceral emotional payoff. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide
Akosua Busia - Nettie; Desreta Jackson - Young Celie; Adolph Caesar - Old Mister; Dana Ivey - Miss Millie; Susan Beaubian - Corrine; Drew Bundi Brown - Jook Joint Patron; Rae Dawn Chong - Squeak; Laurence Fishburne - Swain; Bennet Guillory - Grady; Hawthorne James - Jook Joint Patron; Leonard Jackson - Pa; Jadili Johnson - Young Adam; Peto Kinsaka - Adam; Lelo Masamba - Olivia; Carrie Murray - Loretta; John Patton, Jr. - Preacher; Jeris Poindexter - Jook Joint Patron; Leon Rippy - Store Clerk; Job Seda; Phillip Strong - Mayor; James Tillis - Buster; Carl Anderson - Reverend Samuel; John Hart - Mailman; Donna Buie - Daisy; Marcus Covington - Boy; Lillian Njoki Distefano - Young Tashi; Margaret Freeman - Odessa; Lechanda Lathrap - Child; Marcus Liles - Boo; Maurice Moore - Child; April Myers - Emma; Daphaine Oliver - Young Olivia; Juliet Poe - Church Sister; Katie Simon - Church Sister; Howard Starr - Young Harpo; Ethel Taylor - Church Sister; David Thomas - Road Gang Leader; Reuben Cannon; Clarence Avant - African Musician; Arnold Turner - Jook Joint Patron
Credit
Carole Isenberg - Associate Producer, Jo Ann Doster - Casting, Aggie Guerard Rodgers - Costume Designer, Steven Spielberg - Director, Michael Kahn - Editor, Chris Boardman - Composer (Music Score), Andrae Crouch - Composer (Music Score), Jack Hayes - Composer (Music Score), Jerry Hey - Composer (Music Score), Quincy Jones - Composer (Music Score), Randy Kerber - Composer (Music Score), Joel Rosenbaum - Composer (Music Score), Fred Steiner - Composer (Music Score), Rod Temperton - Composer (Music Score), Jorge Calandrelli - Composer (Music Score), Caiphus Semenya - Composer (Music Score), Lionel Richie - Songwriter, Richard Alonzo - Makeup, Steve LaPorte - Makeup, Michael Laudati - Makeup, Gerald R. Molen - Production Designer, J. Michael Riva - Production Designer, Robert W. Welch III - Production Designer, Allen Daviau - Cinematographer, Peter Guber - Producer, Quincy Jones - Producer, Kathleen Kennedy - Producer, Frank Marshall - Producer, Jon Peters - Producer, Steven Spielberg - Producer, Linda de Scenna - Set Designer, Tom McCown - Set Designer, Greg W. Elam - Stunts, Menno Meyjes - Screenwriter, Lata Ryan - Production Coordinator, Richard L. Anderson - Supervising Sound Editor, Alice Walker - Book Author
Taking place in the Southern United States during the early- to mid-1900s, this movie tells the life of a poor African American girl, Celie Harris (Whoopi Goldberg), whose abuse begins when she is young. By the time she is fourteen, she has already had two children by her father (Leonard Jackson) (later discovered to be her stepfather), who takes them away from her at childbirth and forces Celie to marry a local widower named Albert Johnson, whom she calls "Mister" (Danny Glover). Albert, who had his eyes on Celie's younger, more attractive sister Nettie (Akosua Busia), treats Celie like a slave, making her clean up his disorderly household and take care of his unruly children. Albert beats her often, intimidating Celie into near silence and submission. Nettie comes to live with them, and there is a brief period of happiness as the sisters spend time together and Nettie begins to teach Celie how to read. This is short-lived, however; after Nettie refuses Albert's predatory affections once too often, he kicks her out.
Albert's old flame, the jazz singer Shug Avery (Margaret Avery), for whom Albert has carried a torch for many years, comes to live with him and Celie. Delirious with sickness, Shug initially insults Celie by saying "you sure is ugly" on their first meeting, but they eventually become close friends and Shug helps Celie begin to see her worth as a human being. Shug and Celie also entertain a lesbian affair (this was more pronounced in the book, and is only hinted at in the film). Celie also finds strength in Sofia (Oprah Winfrey), who marries Albert's son Harpo (Willard E. Pugh). Sofia has also suffered abuse from the men in her family, but unlike Celie, she refuses to tolerate it. This high-spiritedness proves to be her downfall, however, as a rude remark to the town mayor's wife and a punch to the mayor himself ends with Sofia in jail.
Nettie, meanwhile, has been living with missionaries in Africa and writing to Celie often. Unbeknownst to Celie, Albert confiscates Nettie's letters, telling Celie that she will never hear from her sister again. During a visit from Shug and her new husband, Grady, Celie and Shug discover many years' worth of Nettie's correspondence. Reconnecting with her sister and the assurance that she is still alive helps give Celie the strength to stand up to Albert. She almost slits his throat while giving him a shave, and is only to be stopped by Shug. During a family dinner Sofia is shown to be prematurely aged and permanently disfigured due to the severe beatings she received in jail, and demoralized into an almost catatonic state. During this dinner, Celie finally asserts herself, excoriating Albert and his father. Shug informs Albert that they are leaving, and that Celie is coming with them, despite Albert's attempts to verbally abuse Celie into submission, Celie stands up to Albert and leaves permanently. This also snaps Sofia out of her funk as she laughs hysterically at a dumbfounded and embarrassed Albert and is back to normal.
Celie opens up a haberdashery selling "one size fits all" slacks. Upon the death of her father, she learns that he was, in fact, her stepfather, and that she has inherited a house and shop from her real father. Meanwhile, Albert's fields and home languish into almost nonexistence as he slips into alcohol-fueled idleness, spending most of his time at Harpo's speakeasy. Years of guilt finally catch up to Albert, knowing he has been a horrible person most of his life, especially to Celie. In a sudden act of kindness unknown to Celie, Albert takes all the money he has saved over the years, goes down to the immigration office, and arranges for a family reunion for Celie. Nettie and Celie's children, Adam and Olivia, who were raised in Africa, are reunited with Celie. Albert looks on from a distance, smiling at seeing Celie finally happy.
The Color Purple was also nominated for five Golden Globes, including Best Picture (Drama), Best Director for Spielberg, and Best Supporting Actress for Winfrey. Its only win went to Goldberg for Best Actress (Drama).
"Mister" is not given a full name in the novel. In fact, a blank is in place where his name would be. However, in the book Shug refers to him as Albert and Celie writes that she didn't know that was his name. In the film, he is called "Albert" by Shug and others, and the "Johnson" surname is clearly seen on the mailbox and mail he receives.
The scene where Mister separates Celie and Nettie, then throws Nettie off his farm, did not happen in the novel. Instead, Nettie runs away before Mister had the chance. The reason for her sudden departure is the same as it was in the movie (with Nettie hitting Mister), but it isn't revealed until later on in the novel when Celie is reading her letters.
The novel goes into more details concerning Nettie's time in Africa, including her subsequent marriage to the Reverend after Corrine dies.
The novel also reveals that Corrine thought that Olivia and Adam were Nettie's children (not Celie's) because they look like her. This is the reason they allowed Nettie to join them for the missionary trip to Africa.
The scene where Celie meets Corrine and Olivia in the store, Olivia is a baby. In the novel, she is six years old.
The novel details the relationship between Grady, Shug's husband, and Squeak, Harpo's girlfriend. They get together and move to Panama where he grows marijuana. Eventually Squeak leaves him and returns to the US.
In the novel, Shug runs off with a young man named Germaine, then returns back to Celie.
In the novel, Mister did not have anything to do with Nettie's return to the US.
In the novel, Mister is actually with Celie and company when Celie is reunited with Nettie and her children, while in the movie, he watches the reunion from a distance, noticed only by Shug.
In the novel, Mister's father only appears in the scene on the porch, whereas in the movie, he also appears in the Easter dinner scene, and once more in the scene where Mister has fallen into an alcoholic haze after Celie leaves him.
In the novel, Celie's sexual development towards lesbianism and her relationship with Shug Avery are given much more prominence, whereas they are almost non-existent in the film.
In the novel, Celie's religious development from a patriarchal belief system to the more nature-oriented pantheism is given more prominence.
The Third Life of Grange Copeland (1970) •Everyday Use (1973) •In Love and Trouble: Stories of Black Women (1973) •Roselily (1973) •Meridian (1976) •The Color Purple (1982) •You Can't Keep a Good Woman Down: Stories (1982) •Beauty: When the Other Dancer Is the Self (1983) •Am I Blue? (1986) •To Hell With Dying (1988) •The Temple of My Familiar (1989) •Finding the Green Stone (1991) •Possessing the Secret of Joy (1992) •The Complete Stories (1994) •By The Light of My Father's Smile (1998) •The Way Forward Is with a Broken Heart (2000) •Now Is The Time to Open Your Heart (2005) •Devil's My Enemy (2008)
Poetry collections
Once (1968) •Revolutionary Petunias and Other Poems (1973) •Good Night, Willie Lee, I'll See You in the Morning (1979) •Horses Make a Landscape Look More Beautiful (1985) •Her Blue Body Everything We Know: Earthling Poems (1991) •Absolute Trust in the Goodness of the Earth (2003) •A Poem Traveled Down My Arm: Poems And Drawings (2003) •Collected Poems (2005) •Poem at Thirty-Nine •Expect nothing
Non-fiction
In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens: Womanist Prose (1983) •Living by the Word (1988) •Warrior Marks (1993) •The Same River Twice: Honoring the Difficult (1996) •Anything We Love Can Be Saved: A Writer's Activism (1997) •Go Girl!: The Black Woman's Book of Travel and Adventure (1997) •Pema Chodron and Alice Walker in Conversation (1999) •Sent By Earth: A Message from the Grandmother Spirit After the Bombing of the World Trade Center and Pentagon (2001) •Women •We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For (2006) •Mississippi Winter IV
