lettucel0rd!
The Color Purple
Avg 3.7
Apr 02, 2024.
I really wanted to like this movie much more since this is an adaptation of one of my favorite books of all time; but it ended up falling a bit short for me. Because they decided to make a musical adaptation unlike the Spielberg version, I think they should have (and could have) gone more theater-y with the numbers, if that makes sense. Knowing Fantasia -- she could have gone much harder vocally -- also visually the numbers didn't do it for me (I'm talking specifically about "I'm Here" and "The Color Purple Reprise" -- the rest I think are great). At least for me, those songs are some of the most moving, and those should have been much more striking visually and aurally imo. I just feel like the book deals with such raw emotions and would have translated really well in a "theatre" format (bc to me, emotion is what theatre does best); and bc I was expected to be moved more, I left feeling kind of underwhelmed. Celie's letters/inner monologue also should have played more of a role; In the book, it was easier to see how she was processing everything as a child; of course, inner monologue is difficult to translate to a film medium, but I think more of an effort could have been made. It's her inner monologue and the way her young mind processes these things paired with her hopeless surroundings make the story that much more Another point for me is that I feel Mister was humanized too much; I think the male characters in Alice Walker's novel are forgiven less easily, which worked better for me. If Mister is going to have a dramatic redemption arc, then at least spend some time fleshing it out? This man went from a rapist to being invited to the cookout?? Maybe God does work in mysterious ways, but damn. Also, idk how they managed to miss the lesbian storyline not once, but twice?? I've seen a lot of contention around this and I totally agree that it kind of was a letdown; it was a step up from Spielberg, but still disappointing. I feel like leaving out parts like this, especially ones that play such an important part in the themes The Color Purple tries to drive home; but I digress. I feel like Celie's sexuality has been discussed so much that I can't really add much more other than it should have been handled better. One more thing! I was a little disappointed that the film didn't sit with the heavy topics in the way I would have liked -- we moved on a little too fast for me to feel what Celie was feeling. At the same time, I can understand the tone shift to be "happier", which is what I think Bazawule was trying to achieve -- black trauma is such a tiring trope, but is it worth getting rid of the parts that make the Color Purple, the Color Purple? Maybe the solution is to stop making remakes and instead make stories without trauma idk. All of this isn't to say that certain songs or moments didn't hit bc they definitely did; the songs and the casting were great imo. My main issue is that they just could have done more; there were plenty of small moments I enjoyed in everyone's performance and in the overall production, but it wasn't satisfying to me in the way the stage musical or the book was.