The Color Purple

Rating:
Summary: THE GREATEST MOVIE THAT I HAVE SEEN!!!!!
Review: What can I say? It's the greatest movie in the whole wide world! I saw this movie many times and I never get tired of it. Definitely this movie is the greatest movie ever created and with the greatest director it has becomed a classic masterpiece.

Rating:
Summary: A must-see for everybody
Review: Whoopie in her debut performance is phenomenal. It is kind of a tragedy that she probably never will exceed this. The story and the directing is also great. My all-time favorite movie.

Rating:
Summary: The greatest history and film that someone has ever made!
Review: I have eard people talking about this film but I didn't expect it to be what it really is. I thing that nobody will make a film so lovely, suffering and full of hope. I really has admired the women that gave life to this history. I had only saw this film cause I had to make a work about it. It was very hard. I saw it 6 time and I still want to see it more and more. I always cry when Nettie and Celie are separated. I relly wanted to know the answer to Nettie's question "Why?". And I'm still asking "Why?"...

Rating:
Summary: The Best Film Ever Created !!
Review: As many other viewers..I've seen this movie a 1000 times. And I will view it a 1000 more. I've been searching for a copy I can purchase, and every place I GO...They're sold out. Well I'm not surprised. This movie gives you a lump in your throat. It is and will be my favorite of all time!!

Rating:
Summary: GREATEST MOVIE OF ALL TIME
Review: This is the BEST movie in the history of the world. I've seen it a dozen times, and still always cry at the end. Finally had to buy it.

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Loved It!
Review: Wow! I really liked this movie. It was heartwarming. I really liked the ending, in fact, I liked everything. It really is a must watch film!

Rating:
Summary: The one that got away from the Academy...
Review: I was shocked and dismayed when the Academy gave this movie the cold shoulder. It is a wonderful achievement in film-making and Steven Spielberg should be proud. Each time I watch it, it gets better and better. One of the few movies that truly transcends the book. Better have some tissue with you when you watch it! END

Rating:
Summary: "It's about time we had some stability around here."
Review: This film received 11 Oscar Nominations back in 1985, won none of them(Shame on you, Academy voters!), and really should have won Best Picture over "Out of Africa." Whoopi Goldberg never got another role like this one, showing her incredible and untapped acting talent by way of Steven Spielberg's inspired and altogether ambitious direction. Mr. Spielberg was not even nominated for Best Director(Shame on you, Academy voters!). It was great to hear that he did win the Director's Guild Award(handed out by his peers), but this horrible oversight still needles me to this day. Back to the acting. Oprah Winfrey was given an Oscar nomination, as was Margaret Avery, but there are so many stunning performances here from the entire cast that pointing out any standout performances is nearly impossible. There is also some clever film editing(certainly the most under-rated facet of filmmaking), that keeps the film constantly fresh and the story moving forward with some fantastic cinematography. The only thing that breaks the continuity is that the character "Celie" is played by two different actresses, while her sister "Nettie" is played by a single actress both at a young age and when she is older. It is really a small discrepancy given that both actresses that play "Celie" are excellent(in particular, Whoopi Goldberg). For those who know only Whoopi's fairly lame films like "Burglar," I guarantee you will be pleasantly surprised by her amazing work here. There are many moments in the film that are so genuinely touching and heartfelt that by the end of the final scene I suddenly realized that it never felt so good to cry. This is easily one of my favorite "Spielberg" films. Everything about this movie is gorgeous! Thank you.

Rating:
Summary: The most TOUCHING movie of all time!!
Review: There is not a movie in this whole world that moved me more than "The Color Purple". It is an instant classic. Spielberg made great character developments and characteristics, unlike the uninspired characters from his other movies, such as Saving Private Ryan. The women of the movie were absolutely UNFORGETTABLE. Whoopi Goldberg gives the performance of the lifetime as the shy, abused, and mistreated Celie. This is the finest screen debut ever!! Oprah Winfrey was heartbreaking as the strong Sophia. Margaret Avery gives an outstanding dramatic and musical performance as the singer Shug Avery, who were only one of the few people that cared about Celie. These 3 women were all nominated for an Academy Award for these performances. Whoopi- Best Actress, Oprah And Margaret Avery for their suporting roles. This film was tied with "Out of Africa" as the film with the most nominations coming to the 1985 Academy Awards (11 nominations each). But it was the ultimate shut out in oscar history. First of all, director Steven Spielberg wasn't even nominated as its director, after winning the prestigious Director's Guild Awards, but was nominated for Best Picture. Second, The Color Purple didn't even receive a single award out of its great feat of 11 nominations. Out of Africa won the award that year, which was undeserving in The Color Purple's presence,similar to this year's Oscars when Shakespeare in Love won instead of the far greater "Saving Private Ryan" (which is also Steven Spielberg's film). But unlike Shakespeare in Love, Out of Africa was a great masterpiece, but not as great as The Color Purple. This film is a must see. It will make you cry every single time you see it.

Rating:
Summary: The Color Purple Is Cinema Royalty
Review: I saw The Color Purple first in the cinemas in 1985 when it first came out. I remember the scandal when it failed to win a single Academy Award after it received eleven nominations. After I saw the films that won the Oscars, I felt the outrage. This movie deserved the award for Best Picture without a doubt, and while some people could have debated if Whoopi Goldberg deserved Best Actress, hindsight would have ended that debate instantly, because it was the only time she ever played a role with subtlety; she was magnificent, and there's no arguing that point.

The arguments against the film were that the film is a tear-jerker, the story stereotypes all the women as virtuous, all the men as evil, all the whites as victimizers -- but this is an adaptation of a novel, not an original screenplay, and the blame for these shortcomings lies in the Alice Walker original novel, not Steven Spielberg's work. Alice Walker's works all revolve around similar themes, so anyone familiar with her writings knows what to expect. Some critics claimed that Spielberg's rendition made the story seem much too glamorous, too glorified, too sweet, but years later, those criticisms seem too absurd to take seriously, as the stark realism that he later revealed in Schindler's List is evident in the scenes of brutality in which Celie is brutally raped and does her best to survive the experience.

The story is, however, a very emotional one, the story of a bond between two sisters who grew up under very difficult conditions by anybody's definition. It is the bond betwee those two sisters, the separation that takes place between them, and their ultimate reunion, that is the heart of the story, with a lot that happens along the way that can move mountains.

The performances of Margaret Avery and Oprah Winfrey are unforgettable and earned them Oscar nominations. Danny Glover as her brutal husband Albert appears as most of the men in the movie appear, but he is afforded the chance to show a true character that develops and grows as the story progresses so that at the end, he is able to show his repentance in the only way he knows how. Throughout the film, the sumptuous score of Quincy Jones gives a special touch that after twenty years has not lost its charm.

The film did not receive nearly as much credit as it deserved in 1985, which was criminal enough. As many times as I have seen it since, the more I have come to admire the film and realize just how monumental it really was.

The funny thing is that I remember on the day that I was sitting in the movie theater when I first saw the film (I was in Tel Aviv at the time, I remember), I had a key chain that was designed to beep when a person would whistle. When the music would start or when Whoopi Goldberg would shreik, the key chain would go off every time. I was constantly trying to cover it up so as not to disturb the people around me. Since that first viewing, I have found it much more relaxing to watch the film without such distractions, but even so, the film truly is a masterpiece, and it deserves all the credit that it did not receive in 1985.