These days, Whoopi Goldberg is a talking head on TV, and most people recall her previous endeavors as a Hollywood Squares jokester or the fraudulent medium from Ghost. Before all that, she starred in the 1985 classic The Color Purple, which just made its Blu-ray debut last week.
Just as The Color Purple shows us a surprising side of Whoopi Goldberg, it also delivers powerful performances from a pre-world domination Oprah Winfrey and Danny Glover two years before Lethal Weapon, not to mention decidedly heartfelt and non-sci-fi direction from Steven Spielberg. Based on Alice Walker’s award-winning 1982 novel, the film takes us from 1909 through 1949 to tell the life story of Celie Harris (Goldberg). Spanning forty years, The Color Purple is a vast and yet intensely personal film that explores love, oppression, deceit, and triumph through the eyes of a black family and community in rural Georgia.
Celie’s life is a difficult one, filled with physical and verbal abuse. Celie’s father, who also fathered two children with her before she turned fourteen, marries her off to an older man, Albert Johnson (Glover). Albert continues the pattern of abuse toward Celie, forcing her into a life of servitude for him and for his children, whose mother has died. The movie follows Celie’s life with Albert as other members of their family and past move in and out of their lives and home. Akosua Busia plays Celie’s sister Nettie, Margaret Avery is Albert’s old flame Shug Avery, and most notably Oprah Winfrey plays Albert’s new daughter-in-law Sofia.
Through her encounters with her sister and Shug and inspiration drawn from Sofia’s unwillingness to accept abuse, Celie tries to take hold of her own life, even as she is beaten down again and again, both literally and figuratively. Ultimately, The Color Purple is a story of strength over adversity and is a defining piece of art for American cinema, as well as for all the cast and crew involved. The movie received eleven Academy Award nominations, tying the record for the most nominations for a motion picture without a win.
The Color Purple‘s Blu-ray debut comes at the beginning of Black History Month in February, but it also is coming at the 25th anniversary of the movie’s original release in December of 1985. The Blu-ray case is suitably outstanding, comprising a 40-page book containing photos and production details with the back cover acting as the Blu-ray disc holder. The disc itself contains a gorgeous transfer of the film, as well as a number of special features and featurettes:
- Conversations with the Ancestors: From Book to Screen
- A Collaboration of Spirits: Casting and Acting The Color Purple
- The Color Purple: The Musical
- Cultivating a Classic: The Making of The Color Purple
- Behind the Scenes and Cast-Focused Galleries
- Theatrical Trailers
The Color Purple released on Blu-ray January 25 at a suggested price of $34.99.
