The Color Purple on DVD

Steven Spielberg tackled serious literature in his film version of Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel. And now it’s been given a serious DVD treatment in a two disc special edition that’s well worth owning if you’re a Spielberg fan or just like classic movies.

Probably his most honored film next to E.T. the Extraterrestrial - until Schindler’s List nearly ten years later - The Color Purple was nominated for 11 Academy Awards. Unfortunately, in what some considered a slap in the face to Spielberg - who until then had made lighter, more commercial fare - it was stiffed when the awards were handed out.

Too bad. This reviewer must admit he didn’t care for the movie upon first seeing it on videocassette back when it first came out on home video (Panned and Scanned and with VHS quality), but came away impressed on the second viewing - which was of this marvelously made DVD that truly does the film’s ugly beauty justice.

Whoopi Goldberg, in her film debut, is outstanding as Celie, the poor southern girl who has two children by her father while still in her early teens and is then married off to an abusive widower (Danny Glover) who terrorizes her until she shrinks into herself, becoming little more than a meek and submissive slave, a young woman trapped in a horrible and loveless existence.

Goldberg is at her best during these scenes, during which she seems to be 180 degrees removed from her now-well-known public persona. Her performance is marvelous, a tour de force; it’s a shame that she’s become more of a “personality” than an actress since Purple.

Spielberg et al have crafted not only a good movie, but a beautiful and touching movie despite the ugliness of many characters in it, chiefly that of Alfred, Celie’s louse of a husband.

The supporting characters are also excellent. Oprah Winfrey was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for her portrayal of Sophia, Celie’s sister-in-law who goes from strong and independent to completely broken - and back again. Glover is outstanding as the despicable Alfred, the master of his world until his actions catch up with him. Margaret Avery is also very strong as Shug Avery, the woman Alfred has always loved and, perhaps not too coincidentally, the woman who takes the shriveled shell of Celie and helps it blossom into the flower we see as the movie ultimately unfolds.

Watch for Willard E. Pugh, Rae Dawn Chong, and Laurence Fishburn in supporting roles as well.

The script follows the sad life of Celie, told through her eyes, from her youth (the movie opens with a very pregnant Celie, aged about 14, and closes at the end of the 1930’s - with a very different Celie who has weathered all and managed to come through it a changed and much stronger and more independent person.

Spielberg does a great job of portraying the time, the setting, and the people, and the movie is full of gorgeous cinematography, images that are beautiful and images that are horrible. And Quincy Jones’ score is beautifully appropriate, at times reminiscent of Spielberg’s usual musical collaborator John Williams - the master of the genre.

The DVD does justice to the visual beauty of The Color Purple. Presented in a newly remastered digital incarnation, it features anamorphic widescreen video, 16x9 TV compatible, and most of the shots are clean and clear and rich and colorful. There are a few grainy shots, but they’re few and far between and don’t spoil the overall majesty of the images.

Audio is Dolby Digital 5.1 surround and, though the surround channels are used sparingly, the overall audio quality is very good.

Extras abound as well. Disc One includes a list of the film’s awards and some trailers, but the real meat is on Disc Two, which features four new documentaries on the making of The Color Purple. They vary in length (and depth), with most running nearly half an hour. They cover “From Book to Screen” (featuring author Alice Walker), “Casting and Acting,” “The Musical” (which explains that, while not a traditional musical, Spielberg argues that Purple can be considered as such) and “The Making of The Color Purple.” It’s pretty interesting stuff, though we wished it were presented in anamorphic widescreen.

You also get storboard and photo galleries.

An excellent DVD of a moving film.

The Color Purple, from Warner Home Video
153 min. anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1), 16x9 TV compatible, Dolby Digital 5.1 surround
Starring Danny Glover, Adolph Caesar, Margaret Avery, Rae Dawn Chong, and introducing Whoopi Goldberg as Celie
Produced by Steven Spielberg, Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall, Quincy Jones
Written by Menno Meyjes, Directed by Steven Spielberg

Tell us at TechnoFile what YOU think