The Color Purple is the latest film to receive the 4K treatment during the year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Warner Bros. Studio. Fans of the film will be happy to hear that it looks fantastic and is a worthwhile upgrade to the 2011 Blu-ray release if you’re looking to have the best of the best in your collection. For those who may not have seen the 1985 Steven Spielberg film, well, this is the version to watch if you’re looking to do so; however, let’s dive into the movie itself before doing so.
The Color Purple is based off of Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Price winning novel of the same name, and while plenty do enjoy watching the movie adaptation of a book over actually reading it, this is a case where I feel the emotional impact of the book has a hard time being captured on the screen. Now, The Color Purple was nominated for 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and maybe it just checked all the boxes for the Academy back in 1985, as even though this is the exact type of story that should do it, I just don’t get Best Picture vibes from this adaptation, personally.
With that being said, let me also say that there are some incredible moments in the film, and the acting is phenomenal right across the board. It’s more the tone of the film, and the way the story is presented that takes away from it. There’s no denying that Spielberg is one of the greatest directors ever, and some of the most iconic movie moments have stemmed from his works; but I believe The Color Purple would’ve had a better chance of being done justice from a storytelling perspective if in the hands of a different director.
The novel is composed of letters written by Celie, who is a young black woman growing up in early 1900s Georgia. That’s not the easiest of stories to adapt, but when watching it feels like Spielberg is all over the map tonally, which hurts the picture overall. The movie begins with Celie (who at age 14 is played by Desreta Jackson), giving birth to a baby during a storm with the help of her sister Nettie (Akosua Busia), as her impatient father watches over, ready to rip the newborn from her arms moments after it’s born. We find out moments later that Celie was being raped by her father, and this was the second child he’d taken away from her.
Things continue down this road, as Celie is given away at age 14 to Mister (Danny Glover), a widower looking for someone to watch over his house and kids. Mister initially wanted Nettie, who he’d been gawking at in church every week, but Celie’s abusive father had begun to gain interest in the youngest, and viewed Celie as ugly, and twice used up – which is exactly how he describes her to Mister. This barrage of terrible physical and emotional abuse continues in the years ahead, with Celie now married to Mister.
Celie’s inescapable circumstance is the driving force of the film, but it’s the way Spielberg tries to constantly lighten the mood that hinders things overalls. If you take a movie like this and go incredibly dramatic, it can be hard to watch, yet engrossing at the same time. It’s a dark story, and while there can be brief moments of light, to go flat-out slapstick fairly consistently just seems out of place and makes everything feel awkward.
There are jokes that take place about the physical abuse happening, and they’re not there to make light of the topic, but it feels like it’s being done to lighten the tone and it just feels out of place. It’s entirely possible that there are moments in the book where sillier things are happening and Celie is writing about them, but the way they’re depicted on-screen just feels awkward, as they can come off as a wacky little gag right after something terrible has happened. All this does is take away from the emotional impact of the story.
There’s a scene in town where a proud black woman named Sofia (Oprah Winfrey) is standing up for herself after being slapped by the town’s mayor, and almost instantly she’s surrounded by an angry white mob who berate her right before she’s pistol-whipped by the sheriff. Eight years pass in the film, and Sofia is released from prison a shell of her former self. She’s ordered to become the maid for the mayor’s wife, and it’s a heart-wrenching development; however, we’re introduced to this outcome by having the mayor’s wife driving through town almost hitting everyone with wacky music playing as Sofia is teaching her how to drive. This is just one of many examples of the film’s tone feeling messy and pulling the audience out of a moment. If things are going to get ugly and painful for the character, let them get ugly and painful for the audience too.
The film spans over roughly 40 years, and at one point early on Celie makes the swap from Jackson to newcomer at the time, Whoopi Goldberg. Goldberg is fantastic for someone making their big-screen debut, as this is some intense character work, but she portrays a young woman turned meek incredibly well. Margaret Avery plays Mister’s mistress Shug Avery. Shug is a showgirl who can sing and draw a crowd, and also the admiration of Celie. Winfrey, mentioned above, also commands the spotlight when on screen, as all three of these women were highly deserving of their Oscar nominations in their respective acting categories.
The Color Purple is a film full of magnificent performances, all of which are reasons I’d recommend this movie if someone was interested. The movie itself I can’t fully recommend, as I do feel it does itself a disservice with the comedic aspects constantly being sprinkled throughout. There are some moments that should be quite powerful that are undermined by the tonal shifts, and while the movie does work on the basic levels, it never seems to reach its full potential that the performances and the audience deserve.
4K Blu-ray Video and Audio Review:
As mentioned at the start of the review, the movie looks fantastic. While I’m not a fan of the constant tonal changes throughout the film, there’s no denying that it’s shot beautifully. Spielberg was adamant that the film be lit properly so that the actors could all be seen properly, and Allen Daviau does a superb job at rising to that challenge. The colours are beautiful and rich, the details are abundant, and the set design looks wonderful. There’s a lot to love about this upgrade, so it’s a safe recommendation to those who love this film that this 4K upgrade is worth the double-dip if you already have the Blu-ray in your collection.
On the audio side we’ve got a DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio, which sounds great from all angles. There are a few musical numbers in the film and they come flying at you from all speakers in the room. This is also the case for the sound effects and dialogue, with the sound effects being scattered about the room, and the dialogue coming through cleaning front and center.
Special Features:
The special features are legacy features carried over from the Blu-ray release, so while the film got a remastering, there’s nothing new to report on the features front for those who have already seen them. Still, it’s nice to have them carried over so that they’re all in one place, as that’s heavily preferred to a bare bones release.
Conversations with Ancestors: The Color Purple From Book to Screen – This feature comes in at just under 27-minutes in length and mainly sees Alice Walker talking about the inspiration for the book, the history behind it, meeting with Spielberg and talks about the film.
A Collaboration of Spirits: Casting and Acting The Color Purple – This feature comes in at just under 29-minutes in length and sees Spielberg talking about wanting to make the film, it being his first real foray into purely dramatic works, as well as working with various cast and crew members. Definitely a solid watch for those wanting to learn more about the actors and casting process.
Cultivating a Classic: The Making of The Color Purple – This 24-minute feature is just as hefty as the others, filled with behind-the-scenes info, as well as cast and crew interviews.
The Color Purple: The Musical – This featurette is the shortest of the bunch, coming in at under 8-minutes and focusing on the musical numbers in the film, as well as how Spielberg enjoys fitting them into movies where he can.
Trailers – There are also two trailers for the film to check out as well, if interested.
Disclaimer: A review copy of this Blu-ray was sent to me to cover in honest and truthful fashion.
Warner Bros. Pictures Presents The Color Purple. Directed by: Steven Spielberg. Written by: Menno Meyjes. Based on the novel by: Alice Walker. Starring: Whoopie Goldberg, Danny Glover, Margaret Avery, Oprah Winfrey, Willard E. Pugh, Akosua Busia, Desreta Jackson, Adolph Caesar, Rae Dawn Chong, Dana Ivey. Running time: 154 Minutes. Rating: 14A. Released on 4K Blu-ray: Dec. 5, 2023.
