Steven Spielberg was a foresight, an advance when in 1985 he decided that his first “serious” film after Shark, Close Encounters of the Third Kind y Raiders of the lost ark It would be an adaptation of The color purplethe novel by Alice Walker that two years earlier had won the Pulitzer.
Visionary, the film had female protagonists, and African Americans, the theme was the overcoming of women in the face of slavery (the story begins in 1909) and machismo, with the role of patriarchy marked with Albert, Danny Glover’s character.
It took a while, but the film was adapted as a musical on Broadway. Released in 2005, now director Blitz Bazagule (Black es Kingthe Beyoncé film) cast Fantasia Barrino – who was in the original musical – as Celie, since Danielle Brooks -from the 2015 revival, including a Tony nomination- as Sofia.
The song is the same
And here, the song remains the same. Although it is a different film from Spielberg’s, and not only because it is a musical with nearly 30 songs – although many dramatic moments are not sung or danced – but because the adaptation of the work on stage to the big screen includes moments fantasy, or dream of the protagonists.
The story, we said, is the same. Celie is 14 years old and has two children, both from her own father, and she does not know if they live or not, or where they are. With her mother dead, her father not only abused her, but sold her to another African-American (Mister, the ascendant Colman Domingo) who made her his wife. And that he will want to abuse Nettie, Celie’s sister (when she is young, she plays her Halle Baileyof The little Mermaid). Mister kicks Nettie out of his house, so the sisters separate at a very young age.
The color purple shows how two other women will influence the subdued Celie. They are Shug Avery (Taraji P. Henson), the wayward daughter of the Georgia town reverend, a singer who “chose the blues over religion” and is Mister’s lover.
The other strong female character is Sofia (Danielle Brooks), wife of one of Mister’s children (Corey Hawkins, from 24: Legacy), a woman who is not afraid of anything, who goes head-on and if she has to pay the consequences, she will.
The color purple Spielberg’s film had 11 Oscar nominations, including film, direction, Whoopi Goldberg and even Oprah Winfrey (Sofia), in both of their film debuts. She didn’t win any statuettes. It was the year in which Sydney Pollack, getting up to receive the award for Africa Mine, approached Steven Spielberg and shook his hand. The version of the musical, which has only one nomination (supporting actress, Brooks, who is the best of the cast and well deserves the award), will leave the audience moving their feet and, yes, missing Whoopi Goldberg – she has a cameo: It’s the midwife.
Drama / Musical United States, 2023. Original title: “The Color Purple”. 141’, SAM 13. Of: Blitz Bazawule. Con: Fantasia Barrino, Danielle Brooks, Colman Domingo, Taraji P. Henson. Salas: Cinépolis Recoleta and Pilar, Hoyts Abasto, Cinemark Palermo, Showcase Belgrano, Norcenter and Haedo.