The Color Purple

1985 154 min ★ 7.7 Drama, History

An epic tale spanning forty years in the life of Celie, an African-American woman living in the South who survives incredible abuse and bigotry. After Celie's abusive father marries her off to the equally debasing 'Mister' Albert Johnson, things go from bad to worse, leaving Celie to find companionship anywhere she can. She perseveres, holding on to her dream of one day being reunited with her sister in Africa.

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Cast

Danny Glover

Albert

Whoopi Goldberg

Celie

Margaret Avery

Shug Avery

Oprah Winfrey

Sofia

Willard E. Pugh

Harpo

Akosua Busia

Nettie

Desreta Jackson

Young Celie

Adolph Caesar

Old Mr.

Rae Dawn Chong

Squeak

Dana Ivey

Miss Millie

Details

Director

Steven Spielberg

Screenplay

Menno Meyjes

Tagline

"It's about life. It's about love. It's about us."

Status

Released

Original Language

EN

Budget

$15,000,000

Revenue

$146,300,000

Production

Amblin Entertainment, Warner Bros. Pictures, The Guber-Peters Company, Quincy Jones Productions

Reviews

G

GenerationofSwine

January 12, 2023

★ 10/10

Well, this is one of those movies that hinges on a singular performance. In this case it's Danny Glover who is absolutely amazing in his role, probably the best performance of his career, and one of the best that came out of the 80s. But Goldberg and Oprah really stink. I don't know what was going on there but they were all over the place. However, despite them, Glover does carry the role, a...

C

CinemaSerf

July 2, 2026

★ 7/10

I think that rarely can a better cast have been assembled to tell a story than here. Telling the often quite harrowing lifestory of "Celie" (Whoopi Goldberg), we take a poignant look at a life in the American south where racism certainly prevailed, but where the African-American community saw it's own women frequently brutalised by their own menfolk. She frequently finds herself on the wrong end o...