The Color Purple (1985)

Name: The Color Purple (1985)
Duration: 2 h 34 min

2hr 34m

3.9/5 (19.0K)
78

2hr 34m
3.9/5 (19.0K)
78

A tale spanning forty years in the life of Celie, an African-American woman living in the South who survives incredible abuse and bigotry. More Details »

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Trailer 1 (00:31)

Movie Info & Cast

Director:

Steven Spielberg

Producer:

Quincy Jones, Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall

Writer:

Menno Meyjes, Alice Walker

Runtime:

2hr 34m

Synopsis

A tale spanning forty years in the life of Celie, an African-American woman living in the South who survives incredible abuse and bigotry.

Cast

Danny Glover
Whoopi Goldberg
Margaret Avery
Oprah Winfrey
Willard E. Pugh
Akosua Busia
Desreta Jackson
Adolph Caesar
Rae Dawn Chong
Dana Ivey

Letterboxd User Reviews

3.9

RATINGS 2.2K FANS

3.9

Sep 13, 2023

Don't really know what to say so I just wanna point out that there's a guy named Adolph Caesar in this. Like what an unfortunate name to have

1.8K Likes

James (Schaffrillas)

Feb 6, 2019

the scene where Shug sings to Celie is as profoundly magical as any other infamous Spielberg scene

1.5K Likes

fran hoepfner

May 23, 2021

at one point whoopi goldberg uses the force on danny glover

1.5K Likes

kenn.
Jul 13, 2016

Spielberg: Can i habe Oscar pls? Academy: lol no

978 Likes

Andrew | A.J.

Aug 10, 2022

Unforgiving at times and there’s a lot to admire performance wise, but as you’re watching it becomes abundantly clear Spielberg was not the optimal choice to tell this story.

644 Likes

CinemaJoe

Mar 20, 2017

DANNY GLOVER TURN YOUR LOCATION ON I JUST WANT TO TALK

612 Likes

vitani
Jun 4, 2021

maybe the most bastardised adaptation I’ve ever had the displeasure of sitting through. Spielberg’s instincts towards easy wholesome sentimentalism (not always but it’s a problem here) completely haunt him in depicting a world and a life as dark as Walker’s novel…

576 Likes

Logan Kenny

Dec 7, 2023

One of the Spielbergs I've watched the fewest times. Anyway, pretty naive, certainly sanded down from the source, but it's also 40 years old, and of course it's loaded with great performances and he shoots the hell out of it. Extremely Ford-ian, including what it chooses to…

446 Likes

matt lynch

Jun 26, 2021

Whoopi Goldberg’s transformative and commanding performance is THE reason anything in The Color Purple works. Her versatility, power, showcase of defeat and desperation and overall emotional impact is riveting and deserving of all the praise in the world. It’s more an…

399 Likes

Sam

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Metacritic

metacritic

Based on 7 Critics

8.4

USER SCORE (119)

Universal acclaim based on 119 Reviews

100

The affirmation at the end of the film is so joyous that this is one of the few movies in a long time that inspires tears of happiness, and earns them. The Color Purple is the year's best film.

Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

Some parts of it are rapturous and stirring, others hugely improbable, and the film moves unpredictably from one mode to another. From another director, this might be fatally confusing, but Mr. Spielberg's showmanship is still with him. Although the combination of his sensibilities and Miss Walker's amounts to a colossal mismatch, Mr. Spielberg's ''Color Purple'' manages to have momentum, warmth and staying power all the same.

Janet Maslin

The New York Times

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