The Color Purple (1985)

Director: Steven Spielberg
Cast: Danny Glover, Whoopi Goldberg, Margaret Avery, Oprah Winfrey, Willard E. Pugh, Akosua Busia, Adolph Caesar, Rae Dawn Chong, Dana Ivey, Leonard Jackson, Carl Anderson, Susan Beaubian, Laurence Fishburne, Leon Rippy

This film follows the life of Celie, a young black girl growing up in the early 1900's. The first time we see Celie, she is 14 - and pregnant - by her father. We stay with her for the next 30 years of her tough life…





The Color Purple follows the life of Celie Johnson as she struggles through life in the early 1900s. The film begins with Celie about 17 years old, giving birth to her second child, sired by her father. Her father takes the second child away from her and tells her never to tell anyone about it. Time passes and a local farmer, "Mister", comes by to marry Celie's younger, prettier sister, Nettie. Her father refuses to let Nettie marry and gives the man Celie instead. Mister neglects and abuses Celie until Nettie comes by asking to stay with them, because the father can't keep his hands off her. When Mister is unable to lure Nettie, he sends her away, leaving Celie more distraught than ever. Nettie promises to write unless death keeps her from it, but Celie never receives a letter. Meanwhile, Mister's lover, Shug Avery, comes to visit and befriends Celie, helping her to understand that she is more than Mister's servant. The movie culminates in Celie leaving Mister with the threat that everything he touches will fall apart until he does right by her. Mister finds compassion and goes to the INS to help Celie's sister Nettie prove that she is a US citizen and return from Africa where she has been living with Celie's two children who had been given to a missionary and his wife. Celie is reunited with Nettie and her two children in a heartfelt ending to an extraordinary film.