Released in 1985, the historical coming-of-age drama ‘The Color Purple’ is one of the most important titles in Steven Spielberg’s immensely impressive filmography. The work is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name by Alice Walker and marked an important turning point in Spielberg’s career.
With his eighth feature film production, Spielberg distinguished himself for the first time from the subject of the summer blockbuster that made him famous. In this regard, “The Color Purple” paved the way for other projects such as “Empire of the Sun”, “Schindler’s List” and “Saving Private Ryan”.
Set in the rural South of the US at the turn of the 20th century, the film tells the story of African-American Celie Harris (Whoopi Goldberg). Even as a child, she was regularly raped by her brutal father (Leonard Jackson) and then, as a teenager, she was forced to marry the callous neighbor farmer Albert Johnson (Danny Glover). Isolated from the rest of the world, it is only her unwavering faith in God that allows her to simply endure her suffering. Only through her friendship with her sister Nettie (Akosua Busia) and two other strong women (Margaret Avery, Oprah Winfrey) does Celie manage to find some self-respect and thus find her way to a somewhat normal life…
Spielberg was plagued by (self)doubts
Despite or because of the film’s enormous relevance to his future career, Steven Spielberg initially had major doubts about whether he should really direct “The Color Purple.” When he was offered the job, there were many doubters who wondered whether he was the right person to portray the subject and do justice to the source material – not least himself. After all, it was the story of a black woman who spoke about experiences that were completely foreign to the director.
Spielberg, however, had a passionate advocate in legendary jazz and R&B musician Quincy Jones, who not only served as the film’s composer, but also as a producer. “You need a black director for this job,” I told him at the time,” the filmmaker said in a recent interview Interview with the American magazine . But Jones apparently did not let that stop him from wanting to see the creator of “Jaws” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark” behind the camera. “He just asked me, ‘Did you have to be an alien to run ET?’ “Quincy was really convincing,” Spielberg laughed.
Another factor that convinced the master director to take on the task despite his doubts was the full support he received from novelist Alice Walker: “She was on set every day. After each take, I turned to her and her deep, calm confidence and warm eyes said to me, “That was good.” Keep going!’” he said, recalling the recordings from 40 years ago.
This is how Spielberg ultimately gained the confidence he needed to make what he calls his “first film for adults.” A remake of the Spielberg classic “The Color Purple” is currently on the big screens, with the old master working as a producer, while this time Blitz Bazawule (“The Burial Of Kojo”) took over the direction.
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