Having not seen her children in eight years, Sofia is allotted Christmas to be with her family by Ms. Years pass, and she, now a shell of her former self, is released from prison – only to be immediately ordered by the judge to become a maid to the mayor's wife, Ms. Meanwhile, Sofia has been imprisoned for striking the town's mayor after he slaps her for cursing at his wife. Celie packs her things to follow Shug to Memphis but gets caught by Mister. Shug tells Celie that she is beautiful and that she loves her, and they kiss. Shug tells Celie she's moving to Memphis, and Celie confides to Shug that Mister beats her. She nurses Shug back to health, and Shug, in turn, takes a liking to her, writing and performing a song about her at Harpo's newly opened jook joint. Celie, who has slowly developed a fondness for Shug through a photograph sent to Mister, is in awe of Shug's strong will. Mister and Harpo bring home the ailing Shug Avery, a showgirl and Mister's long-time mistress. After Harpo fails to change after years of continuous abuse between them, Sofia leaves and takes their children. She threatens to kill Harpo if he beats her again and tells Celie to do likewise to Mister. Sofia retaliates and confronts Celie, revealing her long history of abuse. Harpo attempts to overpower and strike Sofia, but he fails. Mister's son Harpo marries Sofia, and Celie is shocked to find her running a matriarchal household. Years later in 1916, Celie is meek from abuse.
Mister attempts to sexually assault Nettie, and he kicks her out after she fights him off. The sisters promise to write if they are separated. Celie's loving younger sister, Nettie, runs away from the abusive father and seeks shelter with Celie. He gives her away as a wife to Albert "Mister" Johnson, who also abuses her, and his children mistreat her. In early 20th-century rural Hartwell, Georgia, Celie Harris is a teenage African-American girl who has lost two children, taken away by her abusive father.
The film was later included in Roger Ebert's book series The Great Movies.īlack dress worn by Oprah Winfrey as Sofia in The Color Purple Spielberg received a Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement, and a Golden Globe nomination. It also received four Golden Globe Award nominations, with Goldberg winning Best Actress in a Drama. Nonetheless, the film was nominated for eleven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actress for Goldberg, Best Supporting Actress for both Avery and Winfrey, and Best Adapted Screenplay, but did not achieve a single win, and Spielberg did not receive a nomination for Best Director it held the record for the film receiving the most nominations without a win at the Academy Awards since The Turning Point (1977) at this stage. However, it was also criticized by some for being "over-sentimental" and "stereotypical", and was boycotted by some chapters of the NAACP for its depiction of rape. The film received acclaim from critics, with particular praise going to its acting (especially Goldberg's performance), direction, screenplay, musical score, and production values. The film was a box office success, grossing $142 million against a budget of $15 million. Celie is transformed as she finds her self-worth through the help of two strong female companions. įilmed in Anson and Union counties in North Carolina, the film tells the story of a young African-American girl named Celie Harris and shows the problems African-American women experienced during the early 20th century, including domestic violence, incest, pedophilia, poverty, racism, and sexism.
The cast stars Whoopi Goldberg in her breakthrough role, with Danny Glover, Oprah Winfrey, Margaret Avery, Rae Dawn Chong, Willard Pugh, and Adolph Caesar. It was also the first feature film directed by Spielberg for which John Williams did not compose the music, instead featuring a score by Quincy Jones, who also produced. It was Spielberg's eighth film as a director, and marked a turning point in his career, as it was a departure from the summer blockbusters for which he had become known. The Color Purple is a 1985 American epic coming-of-age period drama film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Menno Meyjes, based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning 1982 novel of the same name by Alice Walker.