The Color Purple Review | A Lavish and Soul-Stirring Musical Adaptation

Summary

Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel gets a spectacular second adaptation that stands toe to toe with Steven Spielberg’s original film.
The Color Purple is a lavish and stirring cinematic experience that handles brutal themes with confidence and honesty.
The film addresses issues of abuse, incest, and domestic violence, but is ultimately triumphant and delivers rousing musical numbers.

Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize winning classic novel gets a spectacular second cinematic adaptation on par with the groundbreaking original film. The Color Purple, based on the Broadway musical by Brenda Russell, is a lavish and stirring cinematic feast for the soul. The heartbreaking and eventually uplifting story of an abused Black woman in the segregated South elicits tears and cheers. Brutal themes of incest, rape, and domestic violence are handled with deft aplomb to rousing songs and brilliantly choreographed dance sequences. Those who’ve criticized the film for supposedly glossing over certain aspects of the source material are mistaken. There’s no need to pound a nail already hammered.

In early 1900s Hartwell, Georgia, the teenage Celie (Phylicia Pearl Mpasi) is pregnant with her father Alfonso’s (Deon Cole) second child. She’s cared for by her beloved younger sister, Nettie (Halle Bailey), after the death of their Mama (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor). The wicked rapist Alfonso hides his misdeeds by giving away the infants at birth. Celie’s devastated when he plucks her newborn son away. She constantly wonders what happened to her children. Celie and Nettie protect each other as best as possible in their cruel environment.

Their awful situation gets worse when Albert “Mister” Johnson (Colman Domingo, hot off Rustin) takes a liking to the beautiful Nettie. Mister, a recent widower with a young son and daughter, visits Alfonso’s shop with a proposition to marry her. Alfonso refuses, but offers Mister the “ugly” Celie instead. The sisters are horrified to be separated. A distraught Celie is wed by the Reverend (David Alan Grier) in a tearful ceremony. She’s further disgusted after arriving at Mister’s dirty and disheveled house. Her first night as a bride is marred by another vile rape.

Colman Domingo as the Cruel Mister

The Color Purple

Release Date December 25, 2023

Director Blitz Bazawule

Rating PG-13

Mister beats Celie the following morning when she’s late with his breakfast. He makes it known that any backtalk, disrespect, or shirking of her duties will get the same response. Mister considers Celie his sexual slave, maid, and nanny. He lusts for Nettie, but is completely infatuated with Shug Avery (Taraji P. Henson), the Reverend’s daughter who became a famous juke joint singer. Celie finds herself alone and despondent when Nettie is forced to run away from Mister’s attacks. Years later, a browbeaten adult Celie (Fantasia Barrino) doesn’t understand why Nettie has never contacted her. Mister forces Celie into quick action to prepare the house for an important guest. Shug Avery is coming for a visit.

Audible gasps were heard the first time Mister punches Celie in the face like a heavyweight boxer, her small body crumpling to the ground and cowering in terror. You never see Celie assaulted by her father, but shiver in repeated horror at Mister’s deplorable treatment. Celie is a prisoner without bars. She’s resigned to an abusive fate. The introduction of Shug Avery finally shines a light in the darkness. Shug, who has every man, woman, and child under her spell, shows kindness to Celie for the first time since Nettie disappeared. She begins to realize that her life has value. Your heart swells as Celie’s trickle of self-worth becomes a flood of fortitude and retribution.

Ghanaian director Samuel “Blitz the Ambassador” Bazawule (The Burial of Kojo, Black Is King), also known for his musical career and collaborations with Beyoncé, delivers artistic greatness. The Color Purple ramps up production values as Celie gains confidence. A grim first act gives way to stunning theatrics born from her burgeoning spirit. Celie’s no longer a meek mouse hiding from a clobbering fist. Barrino, Henson, and an award-worthy supporting performance from Danielle Brooks light the screen on fire with incredible musical numbers. Drab settings indicative of racial oppression are transformed into luminous and dazzling displays of talent. Barrino soars to sonic heights as Bazawule allows her incredible vocals to fuel the film like a rocket.

A Light in the Darkness

Screenwriter and noted playwright Marcus Gardley (The House That Will Not Stand, The Chi) succeeds with a truly difficult task. The Color Purple’s previous iterations have been a bestseller, box office, and stage hits with critical acclaim. He had to capture the best of the musical and first film while giving this new adaptation its own footing. The dramatic elements had to be carefully measured to prevent the narrative from being too depressing or not serious enough. That’s like juggling knives while riding a unicycle. Gardley is masterful here and deserves a nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Some critics have denounced the film for whitewashing the lesbian love affair between Celie and Shug Avery that leads to her awakening. This is completely misguided and unwarranted. Bazawule and Gardley address sexuality and violence with a thoughtful approach. There’s no need for extending the scenes of suffering and misery. The audience clearly comprehends what’s happening without further sordid details, and the film is great as is.

The Color Purple is a production of OW Films, Amblin Entertainment, SGS Pictures, Quincy Jones Productions, and Domain Entertainment. It is currently in theaters from Warner Bros.

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