The Color Purple

Director: Steven Spielberg Steven Spielberg

Overview

Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Alice Walker, The Color Purple spans the years 1909 to 1949, relating the life of Celie (Whoopi Goldberg), a Southern black woman virtually sold into a life of servitude to her brutal husband, sharecropper Albert (Danny Glover). Celie pours out her innermost thoughts in letter form to her sister Nettie (Akousa Busia), but Albert has been hiding the letters Nettie writes back, allowing Celie to assume that Nettie is dead. Finally, Celie finds a champion in the don't-take-no-guff Sofia (Oprah Winfrey), the wife of Glover's son from a previous marriage. Alas, Sofia is "humbled" when she is beaten into submission by angry whites. Later, Celie is able to forge a strong friendship with Albert's mistress Shug (Margaret Avery). Emboldened by this, Celie begins rifling through her husband's belongings and finds Nettie's letters. Able at last to stand up to her husband, Celie leaves him to search for a new life on her own. A major box-office hit, The Color Purple was nominated for eleven Oscars. The film was co-produced by Quincy Jones, who also wrote the score.

Product Details

Release Date:	05/15/2007
UPC:	0085391163107
Original Release:	1985
Rating:	PG-13
Source:	STUDIO DISTRIBUTION SERVS LLC
Region Code:	1
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	2:34:00
Sales rank:	2,336

Special Features

Production notes; Theatrical trailers; Languages: English & Français; Subtlitles: English, Français & Español (Feature Film Only)

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Whoopi Goldberg	Celie
Danny Glover	Albert Johnson
Margaret Avery	Shug Avery
Oprah Winfrey	Sofia
Willard Pugh	Harpo,Harpo
Akosua Busia	Nettie
Desreta Jackson	Young Celie,Pa
Adolph Caesar	Old Mr.
Rae Dawn Chong	Squeak
Dana Ivey	Miss Millie
Bennet Guillory	Grady
John Patton Jr.	Preacher
Carl Anderson	Rev. Samuel
Susan Beaubian	Corrine
James Tillis	Buster
Phillip Strong	Mayor
Laurence Fishburne	Swain
Peto Kinsaka	Adam
Lelo Masamba	Olivia
Margaret Freeman	Odessa
Howard Starr	Young Harpo
Daphaine Oliver	Young Olivia
Jadili Johnson	Young Adam
Lillian Njoki Distefano	Young Tashi
Donna Buie	Daisy
Leon Rippy	Store Clerk
John Hart	Mailman
Carrie Murray	Loretta
Juliet Poe	Church Sister
Katie Simon	Church Sister
Ethel Taylor	Church Sister
Marcus Covington	Boy
Marcus Liles	Boo
April Myers	Emma
Maurice Moore	Child
Lechanda Lathrap	Child
Drew Bundini Brown	Jook Joint Patron
Arnold Turner	Jook Joint Patron
Jeris Lee Poindexter	Jook Joint Patron
James Hawthorne	Jook Joint Patron
Saunders Sonny Terry	Jook Joint Musician
Greg Phillinganes	Jook Joint Musician
Roy Gaines	Jook Joint Musician
Paulinho Da Costa	African Musician
Nana Yaw Asiedu	African Musician
Clarence Avant	African Musician
Bayo Martin	African Musician
Ndugu Chancler	African Musician
Jeffrey Kwashi	African Musician
Pete Munzhi	African Musician
Aniijia Rae Shockley	African Musician
Reuben Cannon	Actor
Job Seda	Actor
David Thomas	Road Gang Leader
Hawthorne James	Jook Joint Patron
Quincy Jones	Composer,Musician
Joel Rosenbaum	Composer
Rod Temperton	Composer
Randy Kerber	Composer
Jorge Calandrelli	Composer
Chris Boardman	Composer
Andraé Crouch	Composer
Jerry Hey	Composer
Fred Steiner	Composer
Jack Hayes	Composer

Technical Credits

Menno Meyjes

Steven Spielberg	Director,Producer
Menno Meyjes	Screenwriter
Kathleen Kennedy	Producer
Quincy Jones	Producer
Peter Guber	Producer,Executive Producer
Frank Marshall	Producer
Jon Peters	Producer,Executive Producer
Greg Elam	Stunts
Michael J. Benavente	Sound Effects
Willie D. Burton	Sound Effects
Don Digirolamo	Sound Effects
Jo Ann Doster	Casting

Editorial Reviews

Steven Spielberg's first cinematic attempt to delve deeper than escapism produced a rich, heartfelt epic that matched the Pulitzer Prize-winning credentials of Alice Walker's novel, receiving 11 Oscar nominations but famously winning none of them. The Color Purple is a triumph of all elements of production design, nominated for its screenplay, cinematography, makeup, costumes, art direction, score, and three of its actresses -- though not for director Spielberg. The snub may have helped push him as an artist toward such prestigious works as Schindler's List. One would hardly guess Whoopi Goldberg's roots were in comedy, given the layered dramatic performance she offers in her first real screen role. Oprah Winfrey (also debuting) and Margaret Avery are the other two-thirds of the heart-breaking dynamic between three black women in Spielberg's brutal world of racial and sexual prejudice. Even Danny Glover's role shows late-blooming sympathy, however agonizingly wrought, which demonstrates the dimension of Menno Meyjes' script. There's nothing simple about this early 20th century South, populated by characters paralyzed by the roles ascribed to them, and wickedly punished when they try to venture beyond their bounds. It boils the blood at the same time that it touches the soul, making for genuinely tear-soaked cinema with a visceral emotional payoff.