Steven Spielberg, proving he's one of the few modern filmmakers who has the visual fluency to be capable of making a great silent film, took a melodramatic, DW Griffith-inspired approach to filming Alice Walker's novel. His tactics made the film controversial, but also a popular hit. You can argue with the appropriateness of Spielberg's decision, but his astonishing facility with images is undeniable--from the exhilarating and eye-popping opening shots of children playing in paradisiacal purple fields to the way he conveys the brutality of a rape by showing hanging... leather belts banging against the head of the shaking bed. In a way it's a shame that Whoopi Goldberg, a stage monologist who made her screen debut in this movie, went on to become so famous, because it was, in part, her unfamiliarity that made her understated performance as Celie so effective. (This may be the first and last time that the adjective understated can be applied to Goldberg.) Nominated for 11 Academy Awards, including best picture and actress (supporting players Oprah Winfrey and Margaret Avery were also nominated), it was quite a scandal--and a crushing blow to Spielberg--when The Color Purple won none. --Jim Emerson [show more]
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Please note this is a region 2 DVD and will require a region 2 (Europe) or region Free DVD Player in order to play. Based on Alice Walker's Pulitzer prize-winning novel, The Color Purple is the richly textured, decades-spanning story of Celie, an uneducated woman living in the rural American south. Forced to marry a brutal man she calls "MR.", Celie turns inward and shares her grief only with God. But she is transformed by the friendship of two remarkable women, acquiring self-worth and the strength to forgive. Actors Danny Glover, Rae Dawn Chong, Adolph Caeser, Whoopi Goldberg, Oprah Winfrey, Margaret Avery & Carl Anderson Director Steven Spielberg Certificate 15 years and over Year 1985 Screen Widescreen 1.85:1 Languages Side A & B: English - Dolby Digital (5.1) Subtitles Side A & B: English ; Arabic ; English for the hearing impaired Duration 2 hours and 28 minutes (approx)
Stephen Spielberg directed this adaptation of Alice Walker's Pulitzer prize-winning novel, which spans 40 years in the life of Celie (Whoopi Goldberg), a poor black woman who endures years of abuse from her father and her husband (Danny Glover). When her husband embarks on an affair with beautiful Shug (Margaret Avery), friendship also springs up between the two women, and Celie finally begins to blossom.
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