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| From left: Taraji P. Henson, Fantasia Barrino, and Danielle Brooks in "The Color Purple" Photo Credit: RottenTomatoes.com |
Alice Walker’s 1982 novel, “The Color Purple,” has had a huge impact since its publication. It won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, and was then made into a 1985 film by Steven Spielberg, earning 11 Oscar nominations. Later on, it ran as a Broadway musical from 2005-2008, earning 11 Tony Award nominations and winning one. Then, it had a revival from 2015-2017, which earned it four Tony nominations and won two. In the 41 years since the novel debuted, this is a story that has moved millions of people through different mediums and cemented a superb legacy for Walker’s creation that started it all.
This story now goes back to the big screen, but in a very different way. Director Blitz Bazawule brings audiences “The Color Purple” as a movie musical. With powerful performances and gorgeous song-and-dance numbers, this is a film that adds a beautiful new chapter to the ongoing footprint of the book.
The story follows Celie Harris-Johnson (Fantasia Barrino) as she works through many hardships to be reunited with her sister, Nettie, from whom she was separated as a child.
Barrino gives an outstanding breakout film performance, reprising the role that she had from 2007-2008 for the musical’s original run, which was her breakout on Broadway. This is melancholic work from Barrino as her character tries to find whatever happiness that she can in the world. Barrino shows her character trying to stand up for herself little by little, only to then be knocked down again. However, as the film goes on and Celie comes more into herself as a person, Barrino exudes a strength that her character never knew she had. By the time we get to the final third of the movie, we see a fully evolved Celie from what we’ve known before, and from the energetic musical number “Miss Celie’s Pants” to the triumphant and emotional “I’m Here,” Barrino transcends the screen with a character who goes from timid and withdrawn to larger than life.
Taraji P. Henson gives a vivacious performance as Shug Avery, a jazz singer. It’s a role that Henson has bursting with personality as she brings a character to life who commands the attention of whichever room she enters. We see this in full force during her show-stopping number, “Push Da Button,” where a swampland juke joint becomes even more the place to be than it already is, and it’s here where Henson’s party energy threatens to blow the doors down as she struts and dances her way through the sequence.
Danielle Brooks portrays Sofia, a friend of Celia who isn’t afraid to speaks her mind. Brooks, who was nominated for a Tony during the show’s revival for playing this character, gives a comical performance that adds brevity when it’s needed. It’s a performance that exhibits why Sofia’s the caring light who tries to show Celie why she must stand up for herself. In her character’s signature song, “Hell No!,” Brooks displays her character’s unapologetic command of herself in true assertive fashion and emphasizes that she’s not going to let anyone tell her what to do.
Colman Domingo offers a chilling performance as Celie’s abusive husband, Albert Johnson. He goes between a calculating sense of calm and angry outbursts to disquieting effect, making you feel the suffocation through which Celie goes every day. You recoil at his presence, knowing that Albert’s going to bring misery in his wake, and Domingo does unsettling work whenever Albert brings his oppressive wrath onscreen.
Phylicia Pearl-Mpassi and Halle Bailey show a heartwarming sisterly bond as a young Celie and Nettie, respectively. The connection that they share during the first third of the movie before they’re torn apart invests you right away in what will turn into an emotional, decades-long separation. With their upbeat duet of “Keep It Movin’” (a song that was written for the film), we see how Celie and Nettie do what they can to keep each other’s spirits up, and the sense of attachment that they have makes their estrangement that much more heartrending because you remember the good times that they shared, only to then be ripped away from each other. Their performances have you you feel the unbreakableness of their bond throughout the rest of the movie, even in Nettie’s absence.
The rest of the supporting cast is loaded with talent, and each performance has its moments to stand out. There’s Corey Hawkins as Sofia’s wife and Albert’s son, Harpo, who gets a memorable number with “Workin’;” Gabriella Wilson “H.E.R.” as Mary Agnes, a waitress who works at Harpo’s juke joint; Louis Gossett Jr. as Albert’s stern father; David Allen Grier as Samuel Avery, the town reverend and Shug’s strict father; Deon Cole as Alphonso Johnson, Celie and Nettie’s mean-spirited father; and Ciara Wilson as an older Nettie. With all of the cast members involved, this ensemble certainly doesn’t leave you wanting for a great display of performances.
The screenplay by Marcus Gardley takes this musical (written for the stage by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis, Stephen Bray, and Marsha Norman) and has the expansive nature of the story unfold in compelling fashion. We move with Celie through many years and witness the significant events and people that shape her life, and we travel through Georgia as we watch her become a much more confident person than what we see from the beginning. This is a sprawling odyssey that offers plenty of insight in regards to the main character as we follow her from childhood to adulthood, allowing us to see Celie’s evolution both through song and dialogue in equal measure. This is a superb breakthrough screenplay for Gardley, with him exhibiting an ability to juggle the show’s many characters and being able to keep the flow of the narrative as we go between dialogue-driven scenes and song-and-dance numbers.
As a director, Bazawule stages some remarkable musical sequences that both show the heartbreak of what the characters face and the exuberance of life when the sun decides to shine their way. These segments are shot with remarkable cinematography by Dan Laustsen. Over the last few years, Laustsen has provided stunning camerawork throughout three Guillermo del Toro films and three “John Wick” movies. With these films, he has shown that he knows how to work with detailed and complex production designs, and it’s a talent that translates well to a movie musical. He captures the immersive period detail and movements of the dancers to the utmost effect, giving us a grand spectacle that has rapturous visuals, and each musical number will stay in your mind because of their breathtaking composition. With Laustsen’s camerawork and Bazawule’s unbreakable confidence in helming a decades-old, decades-spanning story in a production of this size, we’re given a movie that’s loaded with genuine feeling and has the grandeur of a Broadway show.
There are so many emotions to be felt with this musical, and as you watch all of the passion that goes into it, you’ll see that “The Color Purple” is gold.
Grade: A
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