Thoughts on The Color Purple

 

via Oscar Champs.com/courtesy Warner Bros.

*Easter 1936. Celie (Whoopi Goldberg) has spent nearly 30 years in an abusive marriage to Mister (Danny Glover) and she's had it. Mister tells Shug (Margaret Avery), who both he and Celie love, that the latter will leave over his dead body.*
"(to Celie) ... Now what's wrong with you?"
"You a low down dirty dog, that's what's wrong. It's time for me to get away from you and into creation. And your dead body be just the welcome mat I need."

I'll never get over the excitement that comes when a familiar movie still has some surprises in it. The Color Purple, Alice Walker's novel, received some unfortunate changes when it was brought to the big screen. The production itself was also flawed. I never realized until this viewing that Goldberg, Avery and Oprah Winfrey (as Celie's spirited and eventually broken daughter-in-law and friend, Sofia) all had to make due with less material or screen time than they were entitled to. That's not to criticize the work of Desreta Jackson, who played Young Celie, and Táta Vega, who provided Shug's singing voice, but it makes me consider how Purple's musical adaptation allows the actresses playing Celie and Shug more opportunities to genuinely stand out. Anyway, Goldberg and the Purple ensemble ultimately succeeded.

There were two major "Who do they think they are?" moments when it came to movie directors in the 1980s. The first was when Barbra Streisand made Yentl. The second was when Steven Spielberg made Purple. Infamously, neither received an Academy Award nomination for their work. The writing might have been on the wall early on for Spielberg, who rarely received an outright rave. There are things I don't like about Purple on both the technical and dramatic levels. As with Out of Africa, I began wondering if the source material would have been better as a miniseries. Menno Meyjes' script handled some changes, like Celie and Shug's relationship being less overt, as well as could be expected. On the other hand, Sofia's plight is handled awkwardly and you'd have to read the book to figure why or how she became friends with Squeak (Rae Dawn Chong), previously Sofia's rival for Harpo (Willard Pugh).

Spielberg was among Purple's producers, part of a team including executive producers Peter Guber & Jon Peters, plus Kathleen Kennedy & Frank Marshall and Quincy Jones, who also wrote the movie's score. In spite of whatever faults he brought or didn't mitigate -- Did Harpo really need to fall from the ceiling three times? -- Spielberg did what I thought was overall excellent directorial work. While on the whole, Purple didn't touch me like it has before, certain BIG MOMENTS! remain powerful. I finished this rewatch with a greater appreciation for Avery and Akosua Busia. Nettie (Busia), banished after keeping Mister from raping her, vows that only death will keep her from writing to Celie. I defy anyone not to be moved by that, or as Celie falls for Shug. The lesbianism wasn't as subdued as I remembered!

(Counterpoint from Janet Maslin: "The sole bedroom scene between Celie and Shug plays as an innocent, friendly encounter between two very nice people, and it ends with a shot of wind chimes.)

*Celie has read Mister and his family for filth, Sofia's mental health has returned, Mister has tried to undermine Celie's confidence, and ...*

"Any more letters come?"

"Could be. Could be not. Who's to say?"

*Celie grabs the carving knife, eventually holding it to Mister's throat*

"I curse you. Until you do right by me, everything you think about is gonna crumble."

In all honesty, I'm more bothered by Glover being snubbed by the Oscars. Mister is a difficult role and there were times where I felt like nobody quite had a handle on how menacing he's supposed to be. The scenes where Mister is dressing to see Shug, repeatedly coming back for items he's forgotten, or later, when he ineptly cooks breakfast and uses kerosene to increase the fire, played to me like something out of a sitcom. They're the exception, though. Glover is first rate with all of his scene partners. Rewatching the near rape scene, I was astounded by how much he could convey with silence. Sofia calling the shots when she first meets Mister is a triumph of both lead actors' skill (Goldberg and Pugh aren't slouching, either). To an extent, Glover/Mister helps humanize the OTT character of Old Mister (Adolph Caesar).

With just over a week left of The Movies of 1985, I've now seen the performances of four out of five Best Actress nominees for that year, not to mention a few notable also-rans. The only one that's left is the actual winner, Geraldine Page for The Trip to Bountiful. I'm just saying, Geri better have brought it.

Goldberg came late to Purple, first appearing about 45 minutes into the movie, but by the end credits, she's dominated it. It's a great performance, the work of an underrated actress. Watch Goldberg opposite Glover, navigating the minefield that is Celie's day by day interactions with her husband. See her with Oprah, in particular when Celie and Sofia reunite at the general store just before an ultimately ruined Christmas celebration. By all means, see Goldberg opposite Avery, experiencing the pleasure of smiling and having someone to smile for. Shoot, I even love the moment of a middle-aged Celie putting on her glasses, then excitedly shimmying after some good fortune finally comes her way. She deserves it!

Purple was made with compromises. No one can deny that. I feel like allowing the movie to stand on its own actually doesn't do it justice. I recommend reading Walker's novel and/or listening to the musical adaptation. But that's me. Anyway, going back to the point I made with Goldberg, while Purple has its share of questionable elements, it ultimately results in an unforgettable experience. 

"Everything you done to me, already done to you. ... I'm poor, Black ... I may even be ugly, but dear God, I'm here! I'm here!"

Recommended with reservations.

Thoughts:

-- "I think it pisses God off when you walk by the color purple in a field and don't notice it."

-- Box Office: Grossing $94.1 million on a $15 million budget, this opened in limited release at No. 11 and wide release at No. 2. Like Out of Africa, this had its biggest success in early 1986. Purple ended up at one position higher than Africa, No. 4 for 1985.

-- Awards Watch: Purple was the biggest also-ran at the 58th Academy Awards, going zero for 11 despite nominations including Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress (two total, for Avery and Winfrey) and Best Adapted Screenplay. The art direction, cinematography, costume design, makeup, score and "Miss Celie's Blues (Sister)" were also recognized but not awarded. Goldberg was Purple's lone Golden Globe winner, despite nominations for the movie, Spielberg, Winfrey and the score. The screenplay was BAFTA and WGA-nominated, while the movie and Goldberg won NAACP Image awards.

-- Memorable Music: The score is 63-46, with points going to "Miss Celie's Blues," "Maybe God Is Tryin' To Tell You Somethin'" and the full score. Shelia Benson, Los Angeles Times, called the "Blues" number the scene which hinted at how good Purple could have been.

-- I wouldn't trade anyone in the cast, but some of the possibilities (whether true or not) are fascinating as hell. Alfre Woodard as Celie. Tina Turner, Phyllis Hyman, Chaka Khan, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Lola Falana or Diana Ross as Shug. Nell Carter or Jennifer Holiday as Sofia.

-- You can't talk about Purple without acknowledging what a big deal it was for it to have been directed by Spielberg at such a point in his career. "Yeah, I'm a mogul now," he told Time in July 1985. "And I love the work the way Patton loved the stink of battle. But when I grow up, I still want to be a director. ... I'm not the bank. Sometimes I'm the guy holding the flashlight, trying to show filmmakers where the holes are so they don't fall in. ... George Lucas has an empire; I just have a small commando operation. ... I've always been very zealous about directors' rights. I retain final cut privilege, but I won't exercise it (unless necessary). ... I can dump on me better than anybody else. I find my leg stuck in the trap I built. To have directed a movie like Young Sherlock Holmes would have gnawed that leg right off."

-- Critic's Corner, the movie: "It is a great, warm, hard, unforgiving, triumphant movie, and there is not a scene that does not shine with the love of the people who made it," Roger Ebert raved. Revisiting Purple in 2004, he reconsidered things like how all of the African-American men were "weak, cruel or comic caricatures"* and Sofia's too brief holiday. Saying it took risks, Gene Siskel then claimed "nothing in the book appears to have been soft-pedaled in the film."

*David Denby went stronger than that, saying the movie "is a hate letter to Black men ... (it hasn't) distorted the politics of Alice Walker's book, but (has) exaggerated them."

-- Critic's Corner, the actors: At the time and with hindsight, Ebert loved Goldberg. "One of the most amazing debut performances in movie history," he wrote in 1985. "We lost a serious actress when Goldberg started playing nuns and Star Trek characters," he sniffed in 2004. Avery was warmly magnetic but lacking sensuality, Maslin wrote. Avery was the only performer who Denby liked, "because she's the only one around who seems like a human being." Benson: "In Oprah Winfrey's hands, Sofia is indomitable and unforgettable." Glover, Siskel wrote, is a fine actor who created a horrific but credible character. While Ebert was certain Goldberg would win the Academy Award for Best Actress, Siskel only went as far as a supporting actress nomination for Winfrey, who he did greatly enjoy. Peter Travers, People: "Winfrey and Goldberg give the movie a sense of pride that is the film's final glory."

-- Critic's Corner, Spielberg: Siskel was impressed with his direction of (or rather, toning down of) Goldberg. He was ready and able to make more serious and adult movies, Maslin concluded.

-- Detractor's Corner, the movie: "Dull, maudlin and misconceived -- in short, a failure, however noble," according to the Post, whose reviewer was apparently not credited. Variety: "Not a great film." Denby: "Inauthentic and unconvincing ... must be the most painfully square movie about Black people ever made."

-- Detractor's Corner, the actors: "Goldberg, unfortunately, is no actress, but essentially a clown, with a clown's range of emotion," the Post stated. The paper also found Glover's Mister "too hateful to be believed, just as Goldberg's Celie is too saintly." Denby also didn't like Goldberg, calling her "coy and calculating and ingratiating in some of the wrong ways."

-- Detractor's Corner, Spielberg: "With the single exception of casting, his almost every decision has been disastrous," Benson wrote. Pauline Kael: "(He) appears to have taken the novel seriously ... and been intimidated by it." The Post: "(He's) on unfamiliar terrain here, and it shows." The paper also called out Spielberg for not really progressing in his career. By 1985, it was known he owned the rights to Schindler's List. "His next movie, reportedly, is Peter Pan."

-- Hey, It's ...!: Laurence Fishburne, Dana Ivey (giving what Benson called "the film's most excruciatingly directed performance"), Carl Anderson and Gayle King.

-- Hey, It's 1986: Shortly after the Oscars, Winfrey hosted SNL. The references to Purple came early, with Celie (Damitra Vance) recommending Lorne Michaels beat Winfrey for refusing to do offensive material*. Later, Winfrey received "her" belated Oscar from pathological liar Tommy Flanagan.

*Art imitated life; Winfrey nixed playing Aunt Jemima, fired from the pancake factory.

-- "Like I said, fine with me."

-- Next: Brazil and Enemy Mine. On deck: The Trip to Bountiful and Murphy's Romance. Presumably coming soon: Police Academy 2: Their First Mission and The Stuff.