Steven Spielberg already thought about making his film version of Alice Walker's novel "The Color Purple" in 1985. As some will remember, the outcome of the adaptation remained sadly linked to the negative record of no Oscar wins out of eleven nominations, despite a more than satisfactory box office result. Almost forty years later, the same dark tale about African-American society in the early twentieth century returns to a completely appropriate historical period, and it does so by choosing to take inspiration from the Broadway musical in this round. Having reappeared as a producer, Spielberg handed over the command behind the camera to his colleague Blitz Bazawule, who, making use of his consolidated experience in the musical field, carried out an effective synthesis of different languages, attracting the attention of critics with various nominations at the Critics Choice Movie Awards , the Golden Globes and the upcoming Academy Awards.
In Georgia, in 1909, Celie was forced while still young to abandon her children, born as a result of the abuse suffered by her father. In the place where she grew up, men do not recognize equal rights for women, and use force to reduce them to a mere instrument whose purpose is only to procreate and take care of the home. Following an agreement, Celie is entrusted as a wife to Albert "Mister" Johnson, a rude farmer who intends to use her only as a servant on whom he can vent his bad moods when necessary. The only person who has real affection for Celie is her sister Nettie, cultivating with her the dream of a life far from abuse in which they can finally be themselves. But after asking for asylum at Mister's house, Nettie will suffer horrendous blackmail from the farmer, forcing her to run away to save her life. Even more painful is the choice made by Mister to hide from Celie the letters sent by his sister to receive news from her, thus losing all trace of it.
After a few years of exhausting immobility, the jazz singer Shug Avery comes to visit the city, staying in the house of the farmer, her former lover: an unexpected change of perspectives then begins to make its way into Celie's life. Adopting the expressive register of the musical made it possible to establish two opposing levels of meaning: the "darkness" of the disparities between the sexes, the personal conflict experienced by the characters and the dramatic implications of some narrative phases is contrasted by the "light" of the clearly visible landscape views in south-eastern America, of the typical characteristics of "black" culture - both in terms of behavioral profile and for the most common style and movements highlighted by the choreographies - of the spiritual level raised by blues and gospel music which infuses depth into the flow of events as well as the background from which they arise. Both on the vocal and interpretative aspects, the exceptional actors demonstrate great familiarity, especially in moments of extreme tension and emotional transport in which the trio of Fantasia Barrino, Taraji P. Henson and Colman Domingo excel. A remake that brilliantly manages to distil the sense of hope from the tragic element, in the wake of a distant past inevitably attributable to the infinite complexities of our present.
