Oprah Winfrey mentioned “The Color Purple” helped her deal with the trauma of being raped as a younger lady, as she launched a brand new movie primarily based on Alice Walker’s acclaimed novel Thursday.
The film — a musical — is the second big-screen adaptation, after Steven Spielberg’s 1985 drama, and once more portrays the hardships and sexual abuse confronted by Black ladies within the U.S. South through the early twentieth century.
“From the very first time I read ‘The Color Purple’ it was a blessing in my life — because until that time I didn’t know that there was language for what had happened to me,” Winfrey mentioned after a screening in Los Angeles.
“I had been raped and had a child at 14, who later died, and I did not have any language to explain what that was. That book was the first time that there was a story about me.”
“The Color Purple” tells the coming-of-age story of Celie, a Black lady dwelling in rural Georgia who’s raped by her father and compelled to provide away two kids.
As it unfolds, Celie is pressured into an abusive marriage, however involves bond with and discover power from different ladies coping with their very own varied traumas and prejudice.
Winfrey recalled how, within the Eighties, upon studying that Spielberg was adapting the movie, she had “literally prayed on my knees every night for the opportunity to be in that movie.”
Spotted on her TV discuss present by musician Quincy Jones, who was producing the movie, Winfrey was forged as Sofia, a robust and feisty lady who encounters racism and tragedy.
Winfrey was Oscar-nominated, and informed Thursday’s viewers that the film “changed my life,” and to now be producing a remake meant life had “come so full circle.”
After Spielberg’s movie, “The Color Purple” was tailored right into a stage musical which opened on Broadway in 2005.
The new film is impressed by that musical, and strikes a lighter, usually joyous and uplifting tone.
Spielberg, Winfrey and Jones all function producers, whereas “The Color Purple” Broadway actors Fantasia Barrino and Danielle Brooks return as Celie and Sofia.
Winfrey mentioned the character of Sofia grew to become so “iconic for me” that she had insisted on being on set through the capturing of 1 significantly memorable scene.
In the scene, Celie — jealous of Sofia’s independence — has suggested her good friend’s husband to beat her, prompting Sofia to confront her.
“It felt like passing the baton,” she informed the viewers on the headquarters of the Oscar-awarding Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
The film is directed by Blitz Bazawule, a Ghanaian filmmaker finest recognized for overseeing Beyonce’s 2020 musical movie “Black Is King.”
The forged additionally contains Colman Domingo, Taraji P. Henson and Louis Gossett Jr. Music stars H.E.R., Jon Batiste and Halle Bailey — seen on this yr’s “The Little Mermaid” — additionally characteristic.
“The Color Purple” will likely be launched by Warner Bros in theaters on Christmas Day.
© 2023 AFP