The Color Purple is a film by 2023 directed by Blitz Bazawule, based on the novel #IlColoreViola by Alice Walker and loosely inspired by Marsha Norman's musical, Brenda Russell, Allee Willis e Stephen Bray, film script : Marcus Gardley.
Synopsis: In the segregationist Georgia of the early twentieth century, Celie and Nettie are sisters and are inseparable. At least until the day the incestuous father sells out’ Celie to the lowest bidder, Albert, an alcoholic and violent man. Inconsolable and beaten’ by her husband, Celie endures everything, the shots, the humiliations, the children of the first marriage. But a vessel of life and love finally knocks on his door. With the south wind comes Sofia, future daughter-in-law’ from the overflowing personality he takes on (literally) punch the patriarchy, e Shug Avery, independent and sensual blues singer who teaches Celie beauty and self-love. Their presence awakens in her previously unsuspected feelings and desires. Celie then decides to live her life. Embarked for Memphis, finds emancipation and rediscovers lost affections.
Review:
Starting from two personal assumptions: I have never read Alice Walker's novel and I had a "vague" memory of the film directed by Steven Spielberg in 1985. I asked myself what the artistic urgency was in re-proposing this literary and cinematographic classic , back to the cinema in the form of a musical.
A doubt, a skepticism that during the first 45 minutes of viewing were turning into a resounding and clear rejection…
“The Color Purple” according to Blitz Bazawule's vision appeared as a "pretext" to give free rein to the director's authorial ambitions, eager to receive public applause.
A long one , rowdy, botched start that put my patience as a critic to the test to the point of the instinct to end the viewing early, branding the entire project as "useless"..
A temptation blocked first by the skill of the two young actresses, Phylicia Mpasi and Halle Bailey , decidedly credible and understanding in the young sisters Celie and Nettie. It is the two actresses who bear the weight of a boring musical and a rather poor and predictable script, thanks to a successful and strong acting alchemy on stage, preventing the spectator from escaping.
On the one hand, the spectator follows with participation and sincere displeasure the difficulties of the two sisters and the abuses suffered by their grim stepfather, and on the other we are pleasantly struck by the resistance of the two sisters and by the fraternal love that binds them deeply.
Brotherly love and resilience to the injustices of life represent the two lights of a truly disappointing and boring first phase of the film.
But fortunately for the viewer and the director, the film changes radically narratively and stylistically. With a time jump, we arrive at a now adult Celie, interpreted with painful physical and expressive mastery by Fantasia Barrino. Celie went without respite from her stepfather's abuse to the violence and humiliation of her master husband.
Celie is a harassed woman, deprived of everything, forced to live in unspeakable conditions , but a little hope still keeps her alive, being able to one day see his beloved sister Nettie who fled from her brother-in-law's house years earlier.
“The color purple” finds its reason for being, its own narrative urgency, in highlighting and amplifying through the musical genre, the condition of women in the last century , even among the ranks of African Americans already hard hit by the racism of their white compatriots.
The music, the colorful and noisy dance scenes simultaneously represent a break, giving the spectator a breather by joining the protagonist's dreams of redemption and happiness and at the same time an effective and incisive way of highlighting the constant and absurd chauvinistic and patriarchal society that also exists among blacks.
However, Celie struggles to emerge from her state of psychological as well as physical subjection, Two female figures burst into her life who give her hope and above all inspiration for redemption and independence.
The two ante litteram feminist women who burst onto the scene with strength and charm are: Sofia, Harpo's wife, son of Mister and Shug Avery, the blues singer, daughter repudiated by her father , pastor of the community. The two new protagonists played respectively by Danielle Brooks and Taraji P. Henson, they represent a further and significant leap in quality in the film, giving verve, incisiveness and finally narrative identity to this new version. Danielle Brooks is an acting force of nature, overshadowing Celie herself on the scene, becoming the symbol of the proud and combative woman even at the cost of suffering unjust detention for rebelling against the whites.
“The Color Purple” takes on an unexpected political and social twist which is also made enjoyable and engaging thanks to the right music and songs.
“The Color Purple” thus becomes a colorful musical in the central part, beautiful to see and above all to listen to as a winning tool in conveying a more important message: the freedom of women and their emancipation in a Georgia far from being a "democratic" state.
The final part which coincides with the end of Celie's "slavery" and the longed-for and deserved emancipation, while tearing a longed-for smile from the viewer, he inverts the register and the rhythm negatively, wanting a forced and out of tune fairytale conclusion.
An unfortunate choice that penalizes the good things seen previously.
In conclusion, the "musical" version of "The Color Purple" presents lights and shadows, thus making it an enjoyable operation, enriched by excellent acting performances, but not enough to make it memorable over time.
Vittorio De Agrò