The Color Purple

UPC: 085391163107

Studio: Warner Home Video

MPAA Rating: PG13   Contains:[Violence, Nudity, Adult Situations, Rape & Sexual Abuse, Questionable for Children, Profanity, Watch With Your Teen]

Summary: Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Alice Walker, The Color Purple spans the years 1909 to 1949, relating the life of Celie (Whoopi Goldberg), a Southern black woman virtually sold into a life of servitude to her brutal husband, sharecropper Albert (Danny Glover). Celie pours out her innermost thoughts in letter form to her sister Nettie (Akousa Busia), but Albert has been hiding the letters Nettie writes back, allowing Celie to assume that Nettie is dead. Finally, Celie finds a champion in the don't-take-no-guff Sofia (Oprah Winfrey), the wife of Glover's son from a previous marriage. Alas, Sofia is "humbled" when she is beaten into submission by angry whites. Later, Celie is able to forge a strong friendship with Albert's mistress Shug (Margaret Avery). Emboldened by this, Celie begins rifling through her husband's belongings and finds Nettie's letters. Able at last to stand up to her husband, Celie leaves him to search for a new life on her own. A major box-office hit, The Color Purple was nominated for eleven Oscars. The film was co-produced by Quincy Jones, who also wrote the score. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Category: Drama

Awards: Best Adaptation – British Academy of Film and Television Arts Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama – null Best Actress – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Adapted Screenplay – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Art Direction – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Art Direction – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Art Direction – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Cinematography – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Costume Design – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Makeup – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Picture – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Score – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Score – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Score – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Score – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Score – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Score – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Score – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Score – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Score – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Score – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Score – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Score – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Song – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Song – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Song – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Supporting Actress – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Supporting Actress – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Picture – National Board of Review Best Actress – National Board of Review Best Picture – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Picture – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Picture – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Director – Directors Guild of America

Features: Production notes
Theatrical trailers
Languages: English & Français
Subtlitles: English, Français & Español (Feature Film Only)

The Color Purple

Format: DVD

Release Date: 03/25/1997

Audio: DD5.1 Dolby Digital 5.1, DD2 Dolby Digital Stereo

Runtime: 154 Minutes

Sides: 2

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English,French

Subtitles: English,French,Spanish

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Derek Armstrong

Steven Spielberg's first cinematic attempt to delve deeper than escapism produced a rich, heartfelt epic that matched the Pulitzer Prize-winning credentials of Alice Walker's novel, receiving 11 Oscar nominations but famously winning none of them. The Color Purple is a triumph of all elements of production design, nominated for its screenplay, cinematography, makeup, costumes, art direction, score, and three of its actresses -- though not for director Spielberg. The snub may have helped push him as an artist toward such prestigious works as Schindler's List. One would hardly guess Whoopi Goldberg's roots were in comedy, given the layered dramatic performance she offers in her first real screen role. Oprah Winfrey (also debuting) and Margaret Avery are the other two-thirds of the heart-breaking dynamic between three black women in Spielberg's brutal world of racial and sexual prejudice. Even Danny Glover's role shows late-blooming sympathy, however agonizingly wrought, which demonstrates the dimension of Menno Meyjes' script. There's nothing simple about this early 20th century South, populated by characters paralyzed by the roles ascribed to them, and wickedly punished when they try to venture beyond their bounds. It boils the blood at the same time that it touches the soul, making for genuinely tear-soaked cinema with a visceral emotional payoff. ~ Derek Armstrong, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Chris Boardman  Composer (Music Score) 
Andraé Crouch  Composer (Music Score) 
Peter Guber  Executive Producer 
Peter Guber  Producer 
Jack Hayes  Composer (Music Score) 
Jerry Hey  Composer (Music Score) 
Quincy Jones  Composer (Music Score) 
Quincy Jones  Producer 
Kathleen Kennedy  Producer 
Randy Kerber  Composer (Music Score) 
Frank Marshall  Producer 
Menno Meyjes  Screenwriter 
Jon Peters  Executive Producer 
Jon Peters  Producer 
Joel Rosenbaum  Composer (Music Score) 
Steven Spielberg  Director 
Steven Spielberg  Producer 
Fred Steiner  Composer (Music Score) 
Rod Temperton  Composer (Music Score) 
Jorge Calandrelli  Composer (Music Score) 
Danny Glover  Actor 
Whoopi Goldberg  Actor 
Margaret Avery  Actor 
Oprah Winfrey  Actor 
Willard E. Pugh  Actor 
Akosua Busia  Actor 
Desreta Jackson  Actor 
Adolph Caesar  Actor 
Dana Ivey  Actor 
Donna Buie  Actor 
Reuben Cannon  Actor 
Lillian Njoki Distefano  Actor 
John Hart  Actor 
Lechanda Lathrap  Actor 
April Myers  Actor 
John Patton, Jr.  Actor 
Job Seda  Actor 
Clarence Avant  Actor 
Rae Dawn Chong  Actor 
Leonard Jackson  Actor 
Bennet Guillory  Actor 
Carl Anderson  Actor 
Susan Beaubian  Actor 
James Tillis  Actor 
Phillip Strong  Actor 
Laurence Fishburne  Actor 
Peto Kinsaka  Actor 
Lelo Masamba  Actor 
Margaret Freeman  Actor 
Howard Starr  Actor 
Daphaine Oliver  Actor 
Jadili Johnson  Actor 
Leon Rippy  Actor 
David Thomas  Actor 
Carrie Murray  Actor 
Juliet Poe  Actor 
Katie Simon  Actor 
Ethel Taylor  Actor 
Marcus Covington  Actor 
Marcus Liles  Actor 
Maurice Moore  Actor 
Drew Bundi Brown  Actor 
Arnold Turner  Actor 
Hawthorne James  Actor 
Jeris Poindexter  Actor 

Country: USA