DVD Reviews

The Color Purple - Blu-ray Review

By Jeff Swindoll Feb 15, 2011, 16:16 GMT

Based on Alice Walker\'s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Color Purple is a richly-textured, powerful film set in America\'s rural south. Whoopi Goldberg, winner of the Best Actress Golden Globe Award and an Oscar nomination, makes a triumphant screen debut as the radiant, indomitable Celie, the story\'s central character. Her impressive portrayal is complimented by a distinguished cast that includes Danny Glover, Oprah Winfrey, Margaret Avery, Adolph Caesar, Rae Dawn Chong ...more

Steven Spielberg directed a film version of Alice Walker’s novel that at the time was somewhat controversial.  More for the color of its director, but it seems like much of a tame controversy as time has passed.  What you do find is a fantastic film.

In the 1930s South, Celie (Whoopi Goldberg) has had a hard life.  She was raped by her father (Leonard Jackson) and had two children by him by her fourteenth birthday.  She’s forced into an unhappy marriage with widower Albert Johnson (Danny Glover) who treats her more as the help than as a wife.  Not to mention the constant beatings that has broken Celie. 

Celie’s sister Nettie (Akosua Busia) comes to live with her and there is some happiness from her presence but Albert kicks her out when she refuses his affections.  An old flame of Albert’s, jazz singer Shug Avery (Margaret Avery), also comes to stay in the household and seems hostile to Celie at first, but the two women eventually become close. 

Celie also finds strength in Sofia (Oprah Winfrey), the wife of Albert’s son Harpo (Willard E. Pugh), but her high spiritedness proves to be her downfall.  Celie eventually finds enough inner strength to stand up to her oppressors and make a better life for herself. 

If filmmakers could only direct projects of their own associations then the Protestant raised Norman Jewison wouldn’t have helmed Fiddler on the Roof and the very male Ridley Scott should have never made Thelma and Louise. 

The Color Purple would go on to be nominated for eleven Oscars so Spielberg must’ve done something right.  It may have been that Speilberg, at the time, was known more for his blockbusters and not for “artistic” films. 

One of those nominations (best actress) would go to comedienne Whoopi Goldberg who flexed her dramatic acting muscles.  The entire film is grandly cast and features great acting from Busia, Winfrey, and even Glover, playing a less than likeable character. 

We follow each of the characters through their emotional journeys with the story of Celie forming the core that connects them all.  We see how she emancipates herself from her downtrodden circumstances.  It’s a story of empowerment from both a feminine and African American perspective that still holds power after all these years. 

The Color Purple is presented in a 1080p high definition transfer (1.85:1).  Special features come from the previous DVD release but are still very nice.  All are presented in standard definition.  The 27 minute “Conversations with Ancestors” details the book to the film.  The 29 minute “Collaboration of Spirits” is about casting the film. 

The 24 minute “Cultivating a Classic” is a behind-the-scenes making of.  Finally, there’s an 8 minute look at transforming the film/novel into a musical.  You can watch all of those separately or as one long documentary.  You also get galleries and 4 minutes of trailers.   The disc is housed in digibook packaging that offers more information. 

The Color Purple is still a powerful movie and showed that Spielberg could craft a film that didn’t need to be a “summer blockbuster.”  The acting is superb and the special features, though not exactly new, offer a grand look at the making of the film. 

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