Celie has the worst possible life with an abusive father, then allowing a man she only knows as Mister to take her as a wife who is cruel and continues the abuse. A Jazz Singer named Shug Avery will eventually help her realize she is worth more than anyone has ever told her.
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The Color Purple is a story that I have known very well since around 2003/2004 when it was the novel that I studied during my English Literature A Level. Therefore I have read (and analysed) the book many times and watched the first film quite a lot. I haven’t seen the musical version on stage and in all honesty I wasn’t really sure how that would work given the subject matter of the story, even when the film first started I was a little bit dubious, but it works in such an empowering manner.
Celie had two children due to abuse from her Pa which had started when her mother passed away, even from a young age she attempted to protect her younger sister Nettie. Trying to ensure that she did not suffer the same abuse that she had gone through, having two babies and having them taken away from her and unsure what happened to them. (Also can I just say what an increidble little surprise with a birth scene).
Mister a rather nasty man then marries Celie even though he wanted Nettie, to raise his children and quite frankly the abuse is about to continue for Celie and get even worse as it drains her as a person. It’s not something that you could ever get used to given the nature of how bad the abuse was, although I felt that it was actually quite tame in this film compared to the book. It was still extremely difficult to watch those scenes, you seriously just want to save Celie from it all. Enter Sofia who is with Harpo, Mister’s son and she shows Celie and everyone else that a woman doesn’t have to be pushed over by any man. It is a very difficult watch though with what happens to her.
Shug Avery is the woman that Mister felt he should have married and little did Celie realize that this woman would save her and empower her into a better life. The relationships between the women when they realize that they can reach out for help and support one another is reassuring.
The musical numbers are placed effortlessly throughout the film and manage to highlight the struggles and empowerment in different ways. It made it that extra bit powerful to give hope for horrendous and terrible situations, some amazing lyrics and quite frankly the performances were next level. Fantasia Barrino and Danielle Brooks had both been part of on stage musical productions in the same characters of Celie and Sofia which for me was essential in casting for the film. They had that passion for the project in a different way for characters they would have taken on for hundreds of shows.
Fantasia Barrino is utterly devastating as Celie, and I mean that in the best way possible. Everything about her expressions and sadness really hit hard and you just want to save her and be her friend. Danielle Brooks is the ultimate scene stealer and more than deserves that Oscar nomination (although a travesty that is the films only nomination but that’s for a different blog post). She has the acting and singing perfect and the demise and rebirth of the character is both heart wrenching and incredible to witness. Taraji P. Henson is always fabulous and she is given some great scenes as Shug Avery, the Jazz Singer moments really are brilliant.
Considering I wasn’t really sure about how the musical numbers would merge with the heartbreaking story it really did hit in a great way. Despite knowing everything about the story and the twists and turns, the hope and moving forward I still found myself fighting back the tears with different scenes and that has to be seen as a huge compliment for the film making.
