After becoming known for big blockbusters like Jaws, ET – The Extra-Terrestrial or Raiders of the Lost Ark, Steven Spielberg surprised in 1985 with a quiet melodrama. The color purple, which is running on Arte this week, was even nominated for 11 Oscars, but went away empty-handed. Spielberg was also back then criticized as a director for the film adaptation of the novel and was able to understand an argument myself.
Steven Spielberg partly sees himself as the wrong director for The Color Purple
Based on the book by Alice Walker, the action takes place in Georgia at the beginning of the 20th century. Here young Celie (Whoopi Goldberg) abused by her father and has to cope with the death of her mother. When Celie is finally sold to the farmer Albert (Danny Glover) and bullied even more, she has to fight for her future.
Back then, Spielberg was criticized for The Color Purple, since no African American person in the director’s chair was committed. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly in 2011, the filmmaker also shared that he might not have been the right choice for more intimate sex scenes from the novel:
There were certain things in the [lesbischen Beziehung] between Shug Avery and Celie, which was described in more detail in Alice’s book, but which I didn’t use for the age rating [PG-13] found suitable. Also, I was shy. In that sense, maybe I was the wrong director to leave out some of the more sexually honest encounters between Shug and Celie because I toned them down. I basically took something that was extremely erotic and very conscious, and reduced it to a simple kiss. I got a lot of criticism for that.
Spielberg still wanted to film the novel at the time because he had read it and was extremely moved by the story. Today, The Color Purple is considered one of the director’s most emotional films ever.
When is Spielberg’s The Color Purple on TV?
The color purple is on at Arte from Thursday to Friday at 12:35 a.m. Here, the 152-minute version of the drama will be broadcast without commercial breaks.
*. . .