The Color Purple | Official Trailer 2

Like the sisters Celie and Nettie in Alice Walker’s original novel, The Color Purple has had quite a journey. Its first film adaptation in 1985 launched the careers of both Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey. In 2005 the story was adapted for Broadway. This Christmas, a new film adaptation of The Color Purple is headed for theatres, with a production team featuring Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg, and Quincy Jones, all of whom were part of the original 1985 film.

The opening gives us the backstory of the central relationship on which this story hinges, Celie’s relationship with her sister Nettie. For the first 16 seconds we hear finger snaps evoking the tried-and-true trailer ticking clock device. This synched snapping is almost diegetic as we see young Nettie (Halle Bailey, recent star of The Little Mermaid) snap her fingers while walking with Celie. Musically, these snaps give us pleasing and familiar four bars of four counts each, ending in a cut to musical silence at 0:17 when Celie explains that the one thing that makes her smile is her sister, whom she has not seen in years.

At 0:26 a riser begins, building to intertitles naming the producing team at 0:28, as a bluesy distorted organ bass begins, using the musical language of call and response inherited from Africa. After the organ’s second time through its riff, we hear and see (from 0:34 to 0:35) a brilliant rhythmic synching of clips such that the sounds of the word “go,” the clink of glass, a spit, a saw blade, and a banjo chord each align to create a syncopated triplet rhythm that leads us perfectly back to the organ’s next downbeat. After more musical call and response at 0:45, we hear triplets from large reverberant drums as well as the sounds of rhythmic clapping as the strong-willed and outspoken character of Sofia (Danielle Brooks) is introduced.

As the singer Shug (Taraji P. Henson) is seen on a boat approaching the juke joint to perform, a potent mass of bass instruments plays three ascending notes. Then, at 1:12, a descending chord progression returns to accompany Shug as she sings the opening line of the song “Push Da Button” from The Color Purple’s Broadway musical, sung here in a powerhouse modern rhythm and blues style reminiscent of Beyoncé. At 1:30 we have another tasteful rapid series of cuts synched to three triplets. At this point we see and hear a man striking a hammer, a group dance step, and a camera flash, three quick notes that segue us into a glimpse of the story’s happy ending: Celie’s reunion with Nettie.

Group clapping rhythms return at 1:44 to accompany the family dinner table scene where Celie tells her husband in no uncertain terms that she will be leaving him.

Triplets on a big drum then lead us into a sequence at 1:53 which introduces the main characters. The names of the corresponding cast in intertitles, accompanied by a chorus singing “Push Da Button!” appear over the descending bass line, string section, and soaring electric guitar. We build to a close with a last vocal line, sung a cappella, layered with distortion to sound almost like an electric guitar. The obligatory spoken turn phrase fills the gap as everything else drops out for the words “Ooh, sweet lovin’ God” at 2:22. The vocals then give way to electric guitars and cinematic drums riffing for one final bar over the title card.

Continuing the recent Disney trend of remaking hit film musicals, _The Color Purple _appears poised to build on the strengths of the previous film and musical versions, with a stellar cast and expert production team.

The Color Purple is in theatres Christmas day.

— Jack Hui Litster