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Summary: This is the best movie ever!
Review: This movie gets 5stars because this movie teachs you about forgiveness and how to be a good person to your family and friends to always love them and never try to hurt them by doing things to them that would not be accecptible.When this movie first came out i was to young to understand what was going on . But now that i am older i get the concept of why they made the movie . they made this movie to show how the blacks lived but not jsut how you learn is school but from their point of view. This movie shows you how to be a real person how to love your family why you showed and what can be the end result . htis movie really help me grow up . from the childish ways that i am used to.
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Summary: One of Spielberg's best...
Review: Outstanding. 1985 was a good year for movies - because of "The Color Purple". Newcomers Whoopie & Oprah played roles like that had been acting for 20 years prior. It spanned the time (some 40 years in southern Georgia) over Celie's (Whoopie) life. Danny Glover was awesome in his role as an abusive father and husband. At the end of the movie, when an old & somewhat gray Celie is reunited with her long lost children - you have to cry with her. If you don't, there's something wrong with you. Nominated for 11 Academy Awards - and won none. I can't and will never understand this. This is on my Top 20 ALL-TIME movie list - you bet. This is an underrated classic.
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Summary: Ah, what a Beautiful Film!
Review: A film that can make you shed tears of sadness & tears of joy would be considered quite a step in the career of a common filmmaker. The fact is, Steven Spielberg, probably our greatest story-teller, has been doing this in various movie formats for years. THE COLOR PURPLE, at the time, was considered risky, especially after action classics like JAWS and RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK. In hindsight, this film should have come as no surprise, for Spielberg had made us cry tears of joy and sadness in E.T. Critics called COLOR PURPLE his entrance into intellectual fare. It is quite an entrance. No special effects, no swashbuckling, just brilliant story-telling based on a literary classic by Alice Walker. One surprise is how Spielberg could present such a moving film about African-Americans in the deep south. Slavery is gone, but in the south depicted here, it seems as though blacks are using other blacks as slaves. Spielberg is always put down for sentimentalizing his pictures or adding an element of childishness to please the audience. This is really the first of overlooked films from his career that you CANNOT make these observations. It is the first in a line of films people either didn't see or wouldn't see because there are no aliens. EMPIRE OF THE SUN, ALWAYS, SCHINDLER'S LIST, etc.. His awesome talent is obvious with this specific picture because A) he uses mostly untrained, first-time actors, B) he tackles a subject most felt was unadaptable to the screen, and C) it is pure drama with no strings pulled where characters grow and change over the passage of roughly 30 years. It is almost epic-like in look and scope and the fact that it did not garner a single Academy Award from 11 nominations is a travesty and an insult. Whoopi Goldberg is fabulous as the tortured Celie, an unattractive woman given away by her incestuous father to an abusive Danny Glover, who she only knows as "Mister". The film follows a path of occasional beatings and mental torture she goes through while with "Mister". The PG-13 rated film is pretty open to the sexual issues raised by the Walker novel. This is not "The Burning Bed" in Georgia by any means. There is no blatant revenge taken as might be expected. It happens gracefully. Goldberg perfectly plays a human being, someone in need of love and someone who deserves it. The films' most poignant and heartbreaking moment comes when Goldberg and her sister, Nettie (played by Akosua Busia) are separated, maybe forever. (Possibly foreshadowing Holocaust separation of child and parent?) You may have to check for a pulse if you are not moved by this sequence. The color purple stands for the beauty of the fields and flowers surrounding these poor people. There really is something to live for, but love triumphs over all. Spielberg bashers take note: the guy can make an unforgettable classic without any cute aliens.
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Summary: This movie will move you!
Review: Yea, Steven Spielberg can also create dramas, yes and Whoopie Goldberg can also act in dramas in an extremely moving and impressing way. "The color purple" is a movie which will surely move you, it is often very sad and emotional but still you just can't quit watching it till the end.It's so incredible how this movie can interpret pain and pressure in such a realistic and touching way. The story is dramatic and full of emotions. When the main character finally breaks free out of a life of suppression and pain, a life far beneath human dignity; that break free will make u feel really good inside and wanna fall into her arms and say: "Yea, u did it!". Anybody who is suppressed and persecuted , discriminated or anythng of that nature should have the strenght to break free if the tiniest possibility exists.
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Summary: Whoopi Goldberg & Oprah Winfrey's First Film!
Review: The Color Purple, 1985, was perhaps, the first movie that I saw with Whoopi. Just that fact alone would have given it at least 3 stars. But, add Danny Glover and Oprah Winfrey and you have an almost guaranteed hit! Filmed and dressed so accurately for its time frame in the early 1900's, the story opens with a heartwrenching scene of a young Black girl giving birth to a child of incest that she is forced by her father to place for adoption. She never forgets this child, and spends her entire life looking for her daughter. Celie, played by Whoopi Goldberg as an adult, is a strong, undefeatable character in spite of her horrible life and circumstances. When she finds herself the wife (slave would be a better term)of the man she calls Mister, she is determined to be herself and return someday to something better. This includes contact with her sister whom she sometimes feels is her only family friend. Contrary to what we would consider normal marital relations, Celie is actually happy and thankful for the mistress in her husband's life. Whenever "Shug" is present, "Mister" thankfully leaves Celie alone in favor of his lady friend. A strong friendship is formed between the 2 women, climaxing in a kissing scene which I never expected. But, Shug definitely has talent as well as insight and she knows the real reasons why Celia pampers her and shows no disdain. Racism is played out in its ugliest form. The scene where Opray Winfrey's character, Sophie, is beaten and degraded made me cry. Embarrassed and humiliated in front of a crowd who just stood there and watched was disgusting. How anyone could treat others that lowly is beyond me. Her later portrayal of an empty, scarred, ugly woman who lost her beloved children is so very, very sad. The superiority of Black men over women was portrayed extremely openly. I do not know if this was factual for that timeframe, location and race, but somehow I don't think so. However, I asked a good friend who is Black and male and he seemed to think it was not terribly out of the ordinary. Since I am a literacy teacher, the scenes of Celie's learning to read were superb! Looking back, I see that reading was one thing that could be well hidden and used only when and if it was needed. A shame, but I guess it was true then. I loved the music and singing and the graphic demonstration of their idea of a swinging nightclub where Shug sang and cavorted. When Celia finally had a chance to leave, I cheered her on, watching and expecting her to cement her intentions. Her looks, words and actions as the car pulled away were excellent! I was a little surprised at what was hidden in the chicken coop. That twist was a definite plus for the film. Of course, the hidden letters were a pivotal point in the movie as well. The title and the color purple were not clear to me until the very end, but I felt Steven Spielberg did a remarkable job and for the life of me, I cannot understand why, with 11 Academy Award nominations it did not win at least 3 or 4! I have not read the Pulitzer prize winning book of the same name by Alice Walker upon which the film is based, but I would like to do so. If this was Whoopi's first movie, she started off excellent, and is still excellent! I am happy we bought the widescreen version, and happy we found decided to purchase this great film of Stephen Spielberg's!
Rating:
Summary: My Absolute Favorite Movie
Review: It seems impossible to rate a single movie a favorite with all the great movies out there, but ... this is simply my favorite. I rarely rate anything 5 stars, not to mention label something a favorite! There were just so many reasons I loved this movie, most importantly the acting (by Oprah, Danny, and Whoopi), the empowerment, cinematography, spirituality, & brutal honesty. The movie mainly gives you glimpses of the life of a black womyn who is tortured most of her life with more than her share worth of the pain that reality can bring but who overcomes all to feel the power of being a full, beautiful spirit in a humyn world regardless of circumstances, racism, poverty, etc. I hope others who have become hopeless will watch this movie and be inspired, because the power of spirit you can achieve in this world is more beautiful and fulfilling than can be described - and it is possible for anyone despite the cards you've been dealt! You will only beleive this when you get there. The question is, are you willing to believe in possibility? The Academy certainly is "not there yet" but maybe they will when they grow up like Celie did.
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Summary: Pales in Comparison
Review: The Color Purple was a good movie but it falls short of my expectations. I recently finished the novel on which the movie was based and was disappointed after viewing the film version. The film lacks character development and significant portions of the novel were omitted. The novel's emotional intensity was so much greater than that of the film, I was not moved by the tragedies and successes of many of the characters. The epistolary form with which the novel was written allows the reader to form a greater attachment to the characters and their experiences. Much of this emotional attachment was lost in viewing the film. However, there were bright spots in the movie. Whoopie Goldgerg and Oprah Winfrey's portrayal of Celie and Spohia was outstanding. Costumes fit the time period and I also enjoyed seeing Harpo's jukejoint come to life. If you loved the movie The Color Purple, I highly reccomend the novel by Alice Walker.
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Summary: Spielberg and Blacks.
Review: Of Spielberg's two films on Black culture in America, I feel that he can still take it one step further. I don't think he's really exposed the nastiness of racism and oppression against Blacks in American history. The Color Purple is an excellent film, with outstanding performances and great directing. My only criticism is the pace of the film--I felt it to be a bit slow. Otherwise, this film is excellent. This is certainly a must have for any film collector, and I have my own copy in my collection. But, if you want to see a more direct study of racism against Blacks, I'd recommend you see American History X. If Spielberg had done that film, I'm sure it would also be a classic as well (it's a classic anyway, in my mind).
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Summary: Shining Colors
Review: Steven Spielberg's first true masterpiece, "The Color Purple" traces the life of a lowly black girl named Celie, so brilliantly portrayed as an adult by the incomparable Whoopi Goldberg. From the opening shots to the closing moments, the film weaves a story so layered and complete, you become lost in this hierarchical, bigoted, male-dominated world, and try to salvage this girl from the shackles of her life. But the trick is, she doesn't need saving. As the beautiful flowers bloom in the fields at the end of the movie, so does her life with the beautiful people surrounding her. First time I saw this film, I hated it, second time it grew on me, and now I am mature enough to appreciate all of it in its finest glory. The Color Purple on DVD is something you will watch time and time again; Spielberg's colors, sound ,and subtle artistry is a perfect vehicle for this medium.
Rating:
Summary: A True Masterpiece
Review: The book by Alice Walker is my favourite book of all time, so I was wary of seeing the film, but I shouldn't have been. This is, in my opinion, the greatest film of all time, and I would recommend it to anyone and everyone. Not one of the actors gave a less-than-perfect performance - and the direction, photography and score are all equally awe-inspiring. The only critisism that I would give of the film (compared to the book) is that not enough is made of the physical relationship between Celie and Shug. Shug's influence on Celie's self-discovery was far greater than even suggested by the film. If you want to know more of the story of Olivia and Adam in Africa then I can strongly recommend "Possessing the Secret of Joy" by Alice Walker.
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