The Color Purple - Directed by Stephen Spielberg - 1986 - Starring Woppi Goldberg, Oprah Winfrey, Danny Glover, Adolph Caesar, Margaret Avery and Rae Dawn

 

The Color Purple - Directed by Stephen Spielberg - 1986 - Starring Woppi Goldberg, Oprah Winfrey, Danny Glover, Adolph Caesar, Margaret Avery and Rae Dawn

Available on Amazon Prime Video 

Based on the Pulitzer Prize Winning novel by Alice Walker 

Filmed in Anson and Union counties in North Carolina, the film tells the story of a young African-American girl named Celie Harris and the brutal experiences she endured including domestic violence, incest, child sexual abuse, poverty, racism, and sexism.

 The film was nominated for 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actress for Goldberg, Best Supporting Actress for both Avery and Winfrey, and Best Adapted Screenplay, but did not achieve a single win. It also received four Golden Globe Award nominations, with Goldberg winning Best Actress in a Drama.

Wikipedia has a thorough article on the film so I will just share a few of my reactions to The Color Purple.

Winnie Goldberg is brilliant, Oprah Winfrey amazing in a complicated role and Danny Glover makes you hate him.  The Color  Purple is used with great power.  Spielberg follows the life of Celie Harris from 1909 to 1937. The greatest love in her life was her sister.  She was thrown off the farm by  Celie's abuse husband when she fought him when he tried to rape her.

Celie is beaten into submission.  We could a vivid picture of African American life in the deep rural south in the era.  White people are best avoided or approached head down.  The music in the Juke Joints was a great pleasure to hear and see.  Black men proof their manhood by beating their wifes, with some exceptions.  

Even given the lifetime of abuse Celie regains her spirit and turns on her husband,  having to be restrained from killing him.  

A transformation inspired by two of numerous lives that cross her path: the outspoken Sofia (a determined Oprah Winfrey), who marries Celie’s stepson, and charismatic blues singer Shug (Margaret Avery), Mister’s former mistress and Celie’s lover.

The heartwarming so gratifying close of the film was just a joy