Filled with exceptional talent, this female centric film pulls out the stops, but we don’t think it rises higher than the celebrated serious film and the two recent Broadway musical productions. However, it does build to a soul-stirring climax.
Ghanaian Director Blitz Bazawule wanted to make this musical his own drawing from from Alice Walker’s 1982 best selling novel, Steven Spielberg’s 1985 adaptation starring Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey, and the 2002 and 2006 Broadway musical productions. Known for sketching his visualization, Bazawule hand drew more than a thousand frames to block out the film for Writer Marcus Gardley to show how he wanted to make it more spiritual.
We found this to be a hybrid of drama and a musical, but don’t think it flowed very well. There are times when there is awkward transition between the serious and the lyrical and back to drama. Some scenes feel cut off. The addition and range of new songs and styles from gospel and soul to jazz, but the changes didn’t seem compatible to those that had been written by Brenda Russell, the late Allee Willis and Stephen Bray for Broadway. We weren’t enamored some of the choreography, including a perfunctory chain gang set piece, nor the dance in Celie’s store which seemed to end too abruptly.
Fantasia Monique Barrino takes the lead as she did in the second iteration on Broadway. The winner of American Idol, reportedly hesitated being cast in this film, but was finally convinced the role of Celie was hers. And it is. Her voice, as well as her acting, is better than ever and she gives it her all. She plays a Black woman who’s been mistreated by all the men in her life. The film starts with young Celie having her second baby ripped out of her arms at birth by the stepfather who raped both times. Right there, you’re emotionally involved.
The loving relationship between Celie and her sister, Nettie provide the only comfort they have. It gets worse when Celie becomes the wife of an even more abusive Mister (Colman Domingo) who is just as malevolent. When Nettie fights off his lust, Mister sends her away to fend for herself. Domingo continues his hot streak on film as a much different character than his tour de force Civil Rights leader in Rustin. Actresses Felicia Pearl Mpasi as young Celie, and Halle Bailey (The Little Mermaid) as little Nettie play well as the inextricably tied sisters who only love and trust each other. Nettie tells Celie, “Just keep your head up high, just like Mama told us.” Wait till you hear Fantasia sing “I’m Here.”
It’s tough to watch the physical and mental brutality Celie suffers from Mister, living more as a browbeaten slave than a wife. Mister’s son Harpo (Corey Hawkins) is a good guy who wants to open a juke joint. He falls in love with Sofia (Danielle Brooks), a strong-willed, loud-mouth, always looking for trouble who continually finds it bucking authority and racism in early 20th century Georgia. But can Brooks belt out a song! This role is her own, too, having played it on Broadway. Danielle Brooks is a powerhouse and a force to be reckoned when she sings the show stopper, “Hell No.”
Enter Taraji P. Henson to light up the screen as Shug. Henson sparkles as the modern woman living life her own way. Celie is entranced, especially when Shug takes her out of her drab existence and gussies her up to see the world. Shug has more than a passing interest and lesbian overtones are intimated. This is a first romance for Celie and she loves being in Shug’s orbit. Henson is a dynamo. Besides being drop dead gorgeous, she knows how to captivate a crowd, specifically men, with her singing. Even Mister is obsessed with Shug and her sensuality.
The film runs long spanning 40 years with so many ups and downs as Celie longs for her sister Nettie (Ciara). Despite the talents of Fantasia, Henson and Brooks, Bazawule’s musical adaptation doesn’t connect fully as the 1985 original, although the final scene brought us to tears. But this “Color Purple” is vibrant and still worth seeing as a symbol of resilience and love.
Warner Bros. 2 hours 20 minutes. PG-13
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