VIOLET DELIGHT

THE COLOR PURPLE Alice Walker’s classic novel gets a joyous cinematic remix.

You’ve got to hand it to Blitz Bazawule. Since releasing his micro-budget debut feature The Burial of Kojo in 2018, the Ghanaian director has worked with Beyoncé, and now he’s the first person to remake a Steven Spielberg film with The Color Purple. No pressure.

‘They were deeply generous in letting me make my movie,’ Bazawule tells Teasers. He’s not only referring to Spielberg, but also Oprah Winfrey, Alice Walker and Quincy Jones – The Color Purple’s all-star producers. ‘They let me make risky choices. This is my vision on screen.’

Rather than a remake of Spielberg’s 1985 drama, about an abused African-American woman’s journey to liberation in early 20th-century Georgia, it would be more accurate to call The Color Purple an adaptation of the 2004 Tony Award-winning musical. As well as porting over the production’s songs, several cast members reprise their roles, including Danielle Brooks as the free-spirited Sofia and screen newbie Fantasia Barrino as Celie.

Bazawule’s big innovation for the film was the idea to visualise Celie’s imagination – her escape from the horrors of daily life – on screen. ‘Expanding on the imaginative element was definitely my stamp,’ Bazawule explains. The work then became identifying key moments when these ‘incursions into fantasy’ would occur. Like when flamboyant singer

‘Expanding on the imaginative element was definitely my stamp’

BLITZ BAZAWULE

Shug Avery (Taraji P. Henson) enters Celie’s life. ‘Shug’s gramophone might as well be one of the most amazing contraptions that [Celie]’s ever seen. And that becomes a natural conduit. That matched with her growing feelings for Shug.’

These uplifting musical sequences allowed Bazawule to redress a problem he sees with movies about the Black experience generally. ‘I think there’s been a rendering that is one-dimensional, and it’s constantly routed through pain,’ Bazawule notes.

‘I find that joy is central to navigating pain, and I was conscious that relief shouldn’t only come at the end.’

Despite being written four decades ago, Bazawule believes Walker’s novel is still as relevant as the day it was written. ‘You hope that, one day, this becomes a relic of our past, but sadly that’s not the case.’ One of Bazawule’s proudest moments on set was the day Walker visited. She observed Bazawule nervously direct a scene between Colman Domingo’s Mister and Corey Hawkins’ Harpo. After calling cut, Walker hugged Bazawule, and the director burst into tears.

‘It felt like a bringing together of a large family – future family, past family,’ Bazawule says. ‘All of this is a testament to Alice’s work, that it endures. Some of these tiny roles, I got legends to come out for. They’re not showing up for just anything. They’re showing up for things that are important, and they believe that The Color Purple is a seminal work.’

THE COLOR PURPLE RELEASES IN CINEMAS ON 26 JANUARY 2024.