The Color Purple (1985)
This is classic Spielberg, for better and worse. His film-making is very effective for what it does, but there is rarely any doubt or ambiguity in what we are supposed to feel in any scene or towards the characters. The story of Celie is full of emotional points and beautifully acted by Whoopi Goldberg. The abusive scenes are tough to watch but necessary setup for the rest of the story. There are few weird tonal shifts though that I did find a bit out of place. Abusive and lovely touching moments work well together, but there are a few comedic scenes that felt a bit out of place. Especially a bar fight scene and Harpo falling through the roof. All things considered, a fine movie, but I think I appreciate Goldberg’s attribution more than Spielberg’s here.
Rating: 3.5