Directed by Blitz Bazawule from a script by Marcus Gardley, Alice Walker’s novel comes to life on the big screen once again with this stage-to-screen adaptation of the classic coming-of-age story. Fantasia Barrino leads the cast in her feature film debut as Celie, who, despite a life of hardships (from personal to societal), finds strength and solace in sisterhood. Featuring an A-list ensemble including Danielle Brooks, Halle Bailey, Colman Domingo, Taraji P. Henson, Corey Hawkins, H.E.R., and more, the Oscar-nominated “The Color Purple” makes its streaming debut on Max on Friday, Feb. 16. You can watch with a 7-Day Free Trial of Max.
How to Watch 'The Color Purple' When: Friday, February 16, 2024 Where: Max Stream: Watch with a 7-Day Free Trial of Max. 7-Day Free Trial$9.99+ / month Max via amazon.com About 'The Color Purple'
“The Color Purple” takes on a new hue as Brenda Russell, Allee Willis,...
How to Watch 'The Color Purple' When: Friday, February 16, 2024 Where: Max Stream: Watch with a 7-Day Free Trial of Max. 7-Day Free Trial$9.99+ / month Max via amazon.com About 'The Color Purple'
“The Color Purple” takes on a new hue as Brenda Russell, Allee Willis,...
- 2/16/2024
- by Ashley Steves
- The Streamable
She’s beautiful and she’s here! As the calendar turns to December, a big month for Warner Bros. Discovery begins ahead of its big Christmas Day release: Blitz Bazawule’s reimagining of “The Color Purple,” based on the award-winning stage musical of the same name and starring Fantasia Barrino, Taraji P. Henson, Danielle Brooks, Colman Domingo, Corey Hawkins, H.E.R., Halle Bailey, Ciara, and more.
Ahead of the theatrical release, Max will usher in the month with not only the original 1985 film but also the upcoming documentary special “Oprah and The Color Purple Journey,” which will premiere on Max on Dec. 28 and take viewers through the making of the new movie musical adaptation and Winfrey’s history with the property.
The streamer will also add dozens of other titles from its multiple properties including OWN, HGTV, and CNN Max; film collections like James Bond and “The Pink Panther”; new comedy...
Ahead of the theatrical release, Max will usher in the month with not only the original 1985 film but also the upcoming documentary special “Oprah and The Color Purple Journey,” which will premiere on Max on Dec. 28 and take viewers through the making of the new movie musical adaptation and Winfrey’s history with the property.
The streamer will also add dozens of other titles from its multiple properties including OWN, HGTV, and CNN Max; film collections like James Bond and “The Pink Panther”; new comedy...
- 11/30/2023
- by Ashley Steves
- The Streamable
The Color Purple has been made and remade a number of times across many mediums since the release of the 1982 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name. It was adapted for the big screen with Steven Spielberg’s 1985 film starring Oprah Winfrey, Akosua Busia, and Whoopi Goldberg. In 2005, an original production of the story hit Broadway. Later this year, those two interpretations will collide with Halle Bailey and Fantasia Barrino at the helm.
The 2023 edition of The Color Purple will arrive in theaters on Dec. 25 in a musical film adaptation...
The 2023 edition of The Color Purple will arrive in theaters on Dec. 25 in a musical film adaptation...
- 5/22/2023
- by Larisha Paul
- Rollingstone.com
Thanks to the Duffer Brothers, I can no longer watch any Sean Astin movie without mourning the tragic death of Bob Newby from "Stranger Things," and "The Goonies" is no exception. In the classic childhood adventure, Mikey Walsh (Astin) leads a group of friends –- collectively known as the Goonies –- in their search for a hidden treasure to save their neighborhood from being demolished to make way for a golf resort. "Superman" director Richard Donner directed the film that was penned by Chris Columbus, who later directed the first two "Home Alone" movies.
But it was Steven Spielberg, the film's executive producer, who came up with the story. The revered filmmaker got the idea for the movie while filming another movie, which is not uncommon. John Hughes got the idea for "Home Alone" while working with Macaulay Culkin on the set of "Uncle Buck," and Will Smith pitched the...
But it was Steven Spielberg, the film's executive producer, who came up with the story. The revered filmmaker got the idea for the movie while filming another movie, which is not uncommon. John Hughes got the idea for "Home Alone" while working with Macaulay Culkin on the set of "Uncle Buck," and Will Smith pitched the...
- 10/9/2022
- by J. Gabriel Ware
- Slash Film
“Goddamn it Chief, you’re about as big as a damn mountain! “
Get ready to laugh, cry, scream, sigh, and sing along with some of the greatest movies ever made, because throughout 2020, Fathom Events and Turner Classic Movies are teaming up for the fourth year in a row to present the hugely popular TCM Big Screen Classics Series in movie theaters nationwide.
In addition to pristine digital projection and movie-quality sound, each presentation will also feature all-new pre- and post-film commentary from popular TCM hosts, showcasing what makes each of these unique cinematic achievements such an important – and lasting – part of movie history. We hope you can share this exciting news with fellow movie lovers!
Now in its fourth year, the TCM Big Screen Classicsseries continues to grow in popularity. In 2019, many events in the series experienced sold-out audiences and ranked near or at the top of box-office results – showcasing...
Get ready to laugh, cry, scream, sigh, and sing along with some of the greatest movies ever made, because throughout 2020, Fathom Events and Turner Classic Movies are teaming up for the fourth year in a row to present the hugely popular TCM Big Screen Classics Series in movie theaters nationwide.
In addition to pristine digital projection and movie-quality sound, each presentation will also feature all-new pre- and post-film commentary from popular TCM hosts, showcasing what makes each of these unique cinematic achievements such an important – and lasting – part of movie history. We hope you can share this exciting news with fellow movie lovers!
Now in its fourth year, the TCM Big Screen Classicsseries continues to grow in popularity. In 2019, many events in the series experienced sold-out audiences and ranked near or at the top of box-office results – showcasing...
- 12/4/2019
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
The new American play Eclipsed by Danai Gurira, starring Academy Award winner Lupita Nyong'o, officially opened last night, March 6th, 2016 on Broadway at the Golden Theatre 252 W. 45th Street. The play also stars Pascale Armand, Akosua Busia, Zainab Jah andSaycon Sengbloh and is directed by Liesl Tommy. BroadwayWorld was there for the special night and you can check out photos from the after partybelow...
- 3/7/2016
- by Walter McBride
- BroadwayWorld.com
The new American play Eclipsed by Danai Gurira just began Broadway previews last night, starring Academy Award winner Lupita Nyong'o, Pascale Armand, Akosua Busia, Zainab Jah and Saycon Sengbloh. Eclipsed, directed by Liesl Tommy, will open on March 6, 2016 on Broadway at the Golden Theatre 252 W. 45th Street.Eclipsed marks a historic moment on Broadway the first time the cast, director, and playwright are composed entirely of female artists, fitting for a production that so stunningly chronicles the experiences of a group of very resilient women. To celebrate, the show hosted some of the industry's other trailblazing and history-making women for the first preview. BroadwayWorld was there for the special night and you can check out photos below...
- 2/24/2016
- by Jennifer Broski
- BroadwayWorld.com
It was announced today that the complete original cast from The Public Theater's acclaimed, sold-out production of the new American play Eclipsed by Danai Gurira will reprise their roles on Broadway this Spring, BroadwayWorld has confirmed. Academy Award winner Lupita Nyong'o will be once again joined by Pascale Armand, Akosua Busia, Zainab Jah and Saycon Sengbloh. Eclipsed, directed by Liesl Tommy, will begin previews on Tuesday, February 23, 2016, with opening night set for March 6, 2016 on Broadway at the Golden Theatre 252 W. 45th Street. For tickets and information, please visit www.EclipsedBroadway.com.
- 11/30/2015
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
The Public Theater presents "Eclipsed," written by Danai Gurira. Directed by Obie Award winner Liesl Tommy and featuring Lupita Nyong'o in her New York stage debut, the powerful story of survival and resilience opens at The Public Theater tonight, October 14, and runs through Sunday, November 29. *** The Theater is a magical place. It’s even more magical when Lupita Nyong’o is in it. Last night, I saw a production of "Eclipsed" at The Public Theater in New York City. Not only was the play written by Danai Gurira ("The Walking Dead"). This ensemble cast included: Zainab Jah (the Black woman who played Hamlet at the Wilma Theater), Akosua Busia (Nettie from...
- 10/15/2015
- by Tanya Steele
- ShadowAndAct
The Theater is a magical place. It’s even more magical when Lupita Nyong’o is in it. Last night, I saw a production of "Eclipsed" at The Public Theater in New York City. Not only was the play written by Danai Gurira ("The Walking Dead"). This ensemble cast included: Zainab Jah (the Black woman who played Hamlet at the Wilma Theater), Akosua Busia (Nettie from "The Color Purple," writing credit on the screenplay "Beloved"), Pascale Armand (she is a force of nature, http://www.pascalearmand.com) and Saycon Sengbloh (played Rita Marley in "Marley," was also in "Hair," "Motown" and "Fela"). In other words, this play...
- 10/5/2015
- by Tanya Steele
- ShadowAndAct
Danai Gurira's "Eclipsed" starring Lupita Nyong'o (her New York stage debut) is now in performances at the Public Theater in New York City, directed by Obie Award winner Liesl Tommy. "Eclipsed" is set in 2003 near the end of the civil war in Liberia, and follows a group of women who are captives of rebels fighting the government. In a statement, the Public Theater’s artistic director, Oskar Eustis, called the work a “feminist reading” of a conflict that is “both heart-breaking and profoundly life-affirming.” Joining Nyong'o in the cast are Pascale Armand, Akosua Busia, Zainab Jah, and Saycon Sengbloh. After 2 extensions (thanks to healthy...
- 10/3/2015
- by Tambay A. Obenson
- ShadowAndAct
Joining "Orange Is the New Black" star Danielle Brooks (as Sofia), British actress Cynthia Erivo (as Celie) and Jennifer Hudson (as Shug) in the upcoming fall revival of "The Color Purple" (all making their Broadway debuts), are Isaiah Johnson who has been cast as "Mister," Joaquina Kalukango as Nettie, and Kyle Scatliffe as Harpo. In the 1985 film, those 3 roles were played by Danny Glover, Akosua Busia, and Willard E. Pugh respectively. Additional cast members will be announced in the coming months. The Oprah Winfrey-produced project is currently set for a December 3 open, at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre. John Doyle is directing. The...
- 7/27/2015
- by Tambay A. Obenson
- ShadowAndAct
The Final Terror
Release Date: 7/1/14 on Blu-ray/DVD combo pack
Written By: Jon George, Neill D. Hicks, and Ronald Shusett
Directed By: Andrew Davis
Starring: Adrian Zmed, Ernest Harden Jr., Lewis Smith, Rachel Ward, Daryl Hannah, Akosua Busia, Joe Pantoliano, Mark Metcalf
Review by Daniel Xiii.
Does The Final Terror Have the Goods Out in the Woods?
Hey creeps, I just sat down with Scream Factory’s Blu-ray of The Final Terror, and I feel like it’s my civic duty to get something out in the open right from the start. Much like the lies propagated by The Neverending Story (which did indeed end after a paltry 90 minutes!) before it, The Final Terror is not what the title proclaims. I mean, there have been like hundreds of horror films made after this movie came out (in 1983)—some even have “terror” in the title!
Well, I guess the best thing...
Release Date: 7/1/14 on Blu-ray/DVD combo pack
Written By: Jon George, Neill D. Hicks, and Ronald Shusett
Directed By: Andrew Davis
Starring: Adrian Zmed, Ernest Harden Jr., Lewis Smith, Rachel Ward, Daryl Hannah, Akosua Busia, Joe Pantoliano, Mark Metcalf
Review by Daniel Xiii.
Does The Final Terror Have the Goods Out in the Woods?
Hey creeps, I just sat down with Scream Factory’s Blu-ray of The Final Terror, and I feel like it’s my civic duty to get something out in the open right from the start. Much like the lies propagated by The Neverending Story (which did indeed end after a paltry 90 minutes!) before it, The Final Terror is not what the title proclaims. I mean, there have been like hundreds of horror films made after this movie came out (in 1983)—some even have “terror” in the title!
Well, I guess the best thing...
- 6/27/2014
- by Holly Interlandi
- FamousMonsters of Filmland
Steven Spielberg directed a film version of Alice Walker.s novel that at the time was somewhat controversial. More for the color of its director, but it seems like much of a tame controversy as time has passed. What you do find is a fantastic film. In the 1930s South, Celie (Whoopi Goldberg) has had a hard life. She was raped by her father (Leonard Jackson) and had two children by him by her fourteenth birthday. She.s forced into an unhappy marriage with widower Albert Johnson (Danny Glover) who treats her more as the help than as a wife. Not to mention the constant beatings that has broken Celie. Celie.s sister Nettie (Akosua Busia) comes to live with her and...
- 2/15/2011
- by Jeff Swindoll
- Monsters and Critics
Bewitched, honored and bewildered may describe the range of audience reactions to Buena Vista's "Beloved", starring Oprah Winfrey as a former slave tortured by a horrific past.
Graced with a daring, revelatory lead performance by Winfrey as a woman who carries scars that no human being should be forced to bear and charged by Jonathan Demme's visceral direction, "Beloved" is likely to emerge as one of the most revered and honored films of the year.
Winfrey and Demme seem shoo-ins for Academy Award nominations, and the expert technical team seems destined to win accolades as well.
While the film's initial draw will likely be Winfrey's legions of mostly female fans, the film's 172-minute length, elliptical structure and unsparing depictions of human cruelty will likely challenge the endurance of casual viewers. Undeniably, it's not a film for those seeking escapist fare or sensationalistic thrills, although the film's graphic portrayals of human need and the intrinsic horrors and soul-deep dimensions of the story line will undoubtedly stir discussion. Overall, "Beloved" represents the best in storytelling. It's a haunting mix -- pain, humiliation and happiness -- and its excellence surely will be buoyed by fevered word-of-mouth, here and abroad.
Adapted from Toni Morrison's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, "Beloved" centers on middle-aged Sethe (Winfrey), a runaway slave who in 1865 escapes the heinous cruelties of her Southern life to escape to Ohio, near Cincinnati. It's now 1873, and Sethe ekes out a small living in a tiny framed house with her teenage daughter Denver (Kimberly Elise).
She is a strong woman, proud, self-reliant but scarred, physically and psychologically. The slavers' whip and raping yahoos have taken a heavy toll. Her proud deportment masks a woman who, though she endures, doesn't expect much.
Wondrously, the arrival of long-lost neighbor Paul D. (Danny Glover) from back at "Sweet Home" stirs pangs of love and family in Sethe that have been drained from her. (She fears her husband deserted her in their escape.)
Yet Paul D.'s arrival, unfortunately but hardly surprising, also brings back the nightmarish memories of her former life. Still, for a woman not used to happiness, even the uneven contentment that She finds with Paul D. is a blessing. Nurtured by his presence, Sethe taps even further strengths, taking in to her tiny household a disturbed teenage girl who has arrived at her doorstep.
The girl, who calls herself Beloved (Thandie Newton), is strange and bewitching, wild-eyed and pouncing. She's damaged goods but shines with a magical, childlike integrity, and Sethe can't resist. Who is this girl?
Narratively, "Beloved"'s nature is contextual rather than linear. Although a triumvirate of screenwriters (Akosua Busia, Richard LaGravenese, Adam Brooks) has fitted Morrison's sprawling, multigeneric novel to cinematically fathomable dimension, director Demme has vitalized it and brought it to emotional life with a throbbing mix of sounds and imagery. It's tactile -- we feel "Beloved" more than we follow it.
Demme has fused image, color, sound, movement and cadence. It's a cinematic caldron that often scorches our sensibilities: Laden with insect sounds, animal images and searing close-ups, "Beloved" makes you feel the brutality and, perhaps as far as a movie can, feel and appreciate the uncertainties and degrading obstacles newly freed slaves faced after the Civil War. Despite some showy supernaturalistic flourishes that don't quite fit, it conveys most powerfully the horrendous psychological and social cruelties that slavery has left on those who had, to some degree, survived it.
"Beloved"'s other great powers spring from the courage of its cast members to tear fearlessly into their character's darkest torments, gnawing far beneath the surface to the very bone -- which can be unflattering. On guts alone, this cast is winning.
Winfrey's performance is terrifically raw. Stripping herself of all actress-like techniques and affectations, Winfrey shamelessly exposes her character's deeply troubled soul. It's the sort of portrayal that transcends training -- human rather than studied.
As the humble, good-natured Paul D., Glover plucks out the fright and uncertainty that his character masks with garrulous good humor. It's well-measured and wonderfully appealing.
With her beatific manner and determined resolve, Elise exposes the fears and dreams of Sethe's surviving daughter, a young woman whose painful upbringing makes her fear her new world but who also senses that she will someday make a step to a better life.
Newton's feral, bedeviled portrayal of Beloved is inspired. With her eyes pierced to another reality, she startles us into appreciating her horror and trauma.
Under Demme's inspired hand, the technical contributions are powerful, evoking emotions and empathy not usually stirred by conventional storytelling. Tak Fujimoto's washed-out, varied hues clue us to the character's interconnecting realities and turmoils, and Rachel Portman's baleful score with its hollowed reedy swells is a fitting voice for this haunting creation.
BELOVED
Buena Vista Pictures Distribution
Touchstone Pictures presents
a Harpo Films/Clinica Estetico production
A Jonathan Demme picture
Executive producers: Edward Saxon,
Gary Goetzman, Oprah Winfrey
Director: Jonathan Demme
Screenwriters: Akosua Busia, Richard LaGravenese, Adam Brooks
Based on the novel by: Toni Morrison
Producers: Ronald M. Bozman, Jonathan Demme, Kate Forte
Director of photography: Tak Fujimoto
Production designer: Kristi Zea
Editors: Carol Littleton, Andy Keir
Music: Rachel Portman
Costume designer: Colleen Atwood
Associate producer: Steven Shareshian
Casting: Howard Feuer
Color/stereo
Cast:
Sethe: Oprah Winfrey
Paul D.: Danny Glover
Beloved: Thandie Newton
Denver: Kimberly Elise
Baby Suggs: Beah Richards
Younger Sethe: Lisa Gay Hamilton
Stamp Paid: Albert Hall
Ella: Irma P. Hall
Janey Wagon: Carol Jean Lewis
Amy Denver: Kessia Rordelle
Schoolteacher: Jude Ciccolella
Running time -- 172 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
Graced with a daring, revelatory lead performance by Winfrey as a woman who carries scars that no human being should be forced to bear and charged by Jonathan Demme's visceral direction, "Beloved" is likely to emerge as one of the most revered and honored films of the year.
Winfrey and Demme seem shoo-ins for Academy Award nominations, and the expert technical team seems destined to win accolades as well.
While the film's initial draw will likely be Winfrey's legions of mostly female fans, the film's 172-minute length, elliptical structure and unsparing depictions of human cruelty will likely challenge the endurance of casual viewers. Undeniably, it's not a film for those seeking escapist fare or sensationalistic thrills, although the film's graphic portrayals of human need and the intrinsic horrors and soul-deep dimensions of the story line will undoubtedly stir discussion. Overall, "Beloved" represents the best in storytelling. It's a haunting mix -- pain, humiliation and happiness -- and its excellence surely will be buoyed by fevered word-of-mouth, here and abroad.
Adapted from Toni Morrison's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, "Beloved" centers on middle-aged Sethe (Winfrey), a runaway slave who in 1865 escapes the heinous cruelties of her Southern life to escape to Ohio, near Cincinnati. It's now 1873, and Sethe ekes out a small living in a tiny framed house with her teenage daughter Denver (Kimberly Elise).
She is a strong woman, proud, self-reliant but scarred, physically and psychologically. The slavers' whip and raping yahoos have taken a heavy toll. Her proud deportment masks a woman who, though she endures, doesn't expect much.
Wondrously, the arrival of long-lost neighbor Paul D. (Danny Glover) from back at "Sweet Home" stirs pangs of love and family in Sethe that have been drained from her. (She fears her husband deserted her in their escape.)
Yet Paul D.'s arrival, unfortunately but hardly surprising, also brings back the nightmarish memories of her former life. Still, for a woman not used to happiness, even the uneven contentment that She finds with Paul D. is a blessing. Nurtured by his presence, Sethe taps even further strengths, taking in to her tiny household a disturbed teenage girl who has arrived at her doorstep.
The girl, who calls herself Beloved (Thandie Newton), is strange and bewitching, wild-eyed and pouncing. She's damaged goods but shines with a magical, childlike integrity, and Sethe can't resist. Who is this girl?
Narratively, "Beloved"'s nature is contextual rather than linear. Although a triumvirate of screenwriters (Akosua Busia, Richard LaGravenese, Adam Brooks) has fitted Morrison's sprawling, multigeneric novel to cinematically fathomable dimension, director Demme has vitalized it and brought it to emotional life with a throbbing mix of sounds and imagery. It's tactile -- we feel "Beloved" more than we follow it.
Demme has fused image, color, sound, movement and cadence. It's a cinematic caldron that often scorches our sensibilities: Laden with insect sounds, animal images and searing close-ups, "Beloved" makes you feel the brutality and, perhaps as far as a movie can, feel and appreciate the uncertainties and degrading obstacles newly freed slaves faced after the Civil War. Despite some showy supernaturalistic flourishes that don't quite fit, it conveys most powerfully the horrendous psychological and social cruelties that slavery has left on those who had, to some degree, survived it.
"Beloved"'s other great powers spring from the courage of its cast members to tear fearlessly into their character's darkest torments, gnawing far beneath the surface to the very bone -- which can be unflattering. On guts alone, this cast is winning.
Winfrey's performance is terrifically raw. Stripping herself of all actress-like techniques and affectations, Winfrey shamelessly exposes her character's deeply troubled soul. It's the sort of portrayal that transcends training -- human rather than studied.
As the humble, good-natured Paul D., Glover plucks out the fright and uncertainty that his character masks with garrulous good humor. It's well-measured and wonderfully appealing.
With her beatific manner and determined resolve, Elise exposes the fears and dreams of Sethe's surviving daughter, a young woman whose painful upbringing makes her fear her new world but who also senses that she will someday make a step to a better life.
Newton's feral, bedeviled portrayal of Beloved is inspired. With her eyes pierced to another reality, she startles us into appreciating her horror and trauma.
Under Demme's inspired hand, the technical contributions are powerful, evoking emotions and empathy not usually stirred by conventional storytelling. Tak Fujimoto's washed-out, varied hues clue us to the character's interconnecting realities and turmoils, and Rachel Portman's baleful score with its hollowed reedy swells is a fitting voice for this haunting creation.
BELOVED
Buena Vista Pictures Distribution
Touchstone Pictures presents
a Harpo Films/Clinica Estetico production
A Jonathan Demme picture
Executive producers: Edward Saxon,
Gary Goetzman, Oprah Winfrey
Director: Jonathan Demme
Screenwriters: Akosua Busia, Richard LaGravenese, Adam Brooks
Based on the novel by: Toni Morrison
Producers: Ronald M. Bozman, Jonathan Demme, Kate Forte
Director of photography: Tak Fujimoto
Production designer: Kristi Zea
Editors: Carol Littleton, Andy Keir
Music: Rachel Portman
Costume designer: Colleen Atwood
Associate producer: Steven Shareshian
Casting: Howard Feuer
Color/stereo
Cast:
Sethe: Oprah Winfrey
Paul D.: Danny Glover
Beloved: Thandie Newton
Denver: Kimberly Elise
Baby Suggs: Beah Richards
Younger Sethe: Lisa Gay Hamilton
Stamp Paid: Albert Hall
Ella: Irma P. Hall
Janey Wagon: Carol Jean Lewis
Amy Denver: Kessia Rordelle
Schoolteacher: Jude Ciccolella
Running time -- 172 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
- 10/5/1998
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
An ambitious story about a fictional uprising on a slave ship, "Ill Gotten Gains" is, unfortunately, an ill-realized film. Funded by Don Wilson, a successful commodities trader at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, through his indie company, Spats Prods., this venture, using market parlance, could most charitably be described as a write-off.
The film played Saturday night at the 33rd annual Chicago International Film Festival to a half-empty multiplex venue, and this aesthetic washout seems unlikely to float beyond the sophisticated, festival set. Word-of-mouth will surely sink this disappointing enterprise, which debuted in February at the Pan African Film Festival in Ouagadougou, in the West African nation of Burkina Faso (formerly Upper Volta).
Set in 1869, "Ill Gotten Gains" takes place during a period after the U.S. Civil War when slavery was considered immoral and illegal, and slave-trading was a capital offense in many parts of the world. A heady mix of storytelling styles, from surrealism to in-your-face naturalism, the film begins with a smear of imagery from pre-colonial Africa, then slides into the throaty voice of Eartha Kitt as a voodoo, folkloric spirit trapped in the bowels of a slave hold. The viewer is thrust into the horrific squalor of the vessel, as the slaves are shackled, thrown together in the tightest possible alignment for their captors' profit.
Indeed, "Ill Gotten Gains" is most gripping in its depiction of the cramped, inhumane conditions of the slave ship; we see the enslavers regard their captives as if they were animals being driven to market. Unfortunately, the degradation and heinous treatment the slaves receive is ultimately muted by filmmaker Joel Marsden's amateurish rendering: the powerful subject matter is ill-served by muddled storytelling, uneven acting, erratic production values and overall disjointed filmmaking.
Most troubling, "Ill Gotten Gains" is often unintentionally funny. Stiff, anachronistic dialogue plagues the production throughout; the slaves and their evil captors, oddly enough, seem to have the same speech patterns and diction. Even more remarkable, their language is a blend of urbanspeak and Valley-guy blather -- the film abounds with the word "motherfucker." Did African captives in the 19th century use that word? Even if the filmmaker is using "motherfucker" as an accessible transposition, its usage is so flat, uninspired and dunderheaded that the overall dramaturgy is weakened by the distraction.
Layering his fictionalization with a homoerotic subtext, as the enslavers do not limit their rapist atrocities to a single sex, Marsden portrays a wide range of horrors. Again, the inherent power of the story line is cramped by the inadequacies of the filmmaking. Most unnerving and distracting, the sailors/enslavers seem to be outfitted in the same haberdashery favored by Hollywood Boulevard bikers.
The acting cuts a similarly wide swath, from excellent to awful. The performances, particularly among the evil slave transporters, are of a startling low level. On the plus side, credit Djimon Hounsou and De'Aundre Bonds for their portrayal of the brave duo who lead the uprising and Akosua Busia for her dignified turn as a female captive.
ILL GOTTEN GAINS
Spats Prods.
Credits: Director-producer-screenwriter: Joel Marsden; Director of photography: Ben Kurfrin; Editor: Dave Schaufele; Music: Mike Baum, Keith Bilderbeck, Tina Meeks, Shaluza. Cast: Fyah: Djimon Hounsou; Pop: De'Aundre Bonds; Fey: Akosua Busia; Femi: Claudia Robinson; Fa Jamillah: Nicole Skinner; Clabe Harley the Vet: Tony Torn; Barc: Mario Gardner; Cowlie: Tom Taglan: Black-and-white; Running time: 101 minutes; No MPAA rating...
The film played Saturday night at the 33rd annual Chicago International Film Festival to a half-empty multiplex venue, and this aesthetic washout seems unlikely to float beyond the sophisticated, festival set. Word-of-mouth will surely sink this disappointing enterprise, which debuted in February at the Pan African Film Festival in Ouagadougou, in the West African nation of Burkina Faso (formerly Upper Volta).
Set in 1869, "Ill Gotten Gains" takes place during a period after the U.S. Civil War when slavery was considered immoral and illegal, and slave-trading was a capital offense in many parts of the world. A heady mix of storytelling styles, from surrealism to in-your-face naturalism, the film begins with a smear of imagery from pre-colonial Africa, then slides into the throaty voice of Eartha Kitt as a voodoo, folkloric spirit trapped in the bowels of a slave hold. The viewer is thrust into the horrific squalor of the vessel, as the slaves are shackled, thrown together in the tightest possible alignment for their captors' profit.
Indeed, "Ill Gotten Gains" is most gripping in its depiction of the cramped, inhumane conditions of the slave ship; we see the enslavers regard their captives as if they were animals being driven to market. Unfortunately, the degradation and heinous treatment the slaves receive is ultimately muted by filmmaker Joel Marsden's amateurish rendering: the powerful subject matter is ill-served by muddled storytelling, uneven acting, erratic production values and overall disjointed filmmaking.
Most troubling, "Ill Gotten Gains" is often unintentionally funny. Stiff, anachronistic dialogue plagues the production throughout; the slaves and their evil captors, oddly enough, seem to have the same speech patterns and diction. Even more remarkable, their language is a blend of urbanspeak and Valley-guy blather -- the film abounds with the word "motherfucker." Did African captives in the 19th century use that word? Even if the filmmaker is using "motherfucker" as an accessible transposition, its usage is so flat, uninspired and dunderheaded that the overall dramaturgy is weakened by the distraction.
Layering his fictionalization with a homoerotic subtext, as the enslavers do not limit their rapist atrocities to a single sex, Marsden portrays a wide range of horrors. Again, the inherent power of the story line is cramped by the inadequacies of the filmmaking. Most unnerving and distracting, the sailors/enslavers seem to be outfitted in the same haberdashery favored by Hollywood Boulevard bikers.
The acting cuts a similarly wide swath, from excellent to awful. The performances, particularly among the evil slave transporters, are of a startling low level. On the plus side, credit Djimon Hounsou and De'Aundre Bonds for their portrayal of the brave duo who lead the uprising and Akosua Busia for her dignified turn as a female captive.
ILL GOTTEN GAINS
Spats Prods.
Credits: Director-producer-screenwriter: Joel Marsden; Director of photography: Ben Kurfrin; Editor: Dave Schaufele; Music: Mike Baum, Keith Bilderbeck, Tina Meeks, Shaluza. Cast: Fyah: Djimon Hounsou; Pop: De'Aundre Bonds; Fey: Akosua Busia; Femi: Claudia Robinson; Fa Jamillah: Nicole Skinner; Clabe Harley the Vet: Tony Torn; Barc: Mario Gardner; Cowlie: Tom Taglan: Black-and-white; Running time: 101 minutes; No MPAA rating...
- 10/14/1997
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
There are some great scenes and great performances in “The Color Purple,” but it is not a great film.
Steven Spielberg’s turn at “serious” filmmaking is marred in more than one place by overblown production that threatens to drown in its own emotions. But the characters created in Alice’s Walker’s novel are so vivid that even this doesn’t kill them off and there is still much to applaud (and cry about) here. Boxoffice outlook is promising without approaching other Spielberg Superhits. Comparisons to Walker’s novel are inevitable and it seems safe to say that those who haven’t read the book will be more favorably disposed to the film. It is not that the film need slavishly recreate the book — no film does. It is more a question of whether the film preserves and translates what made the book special and the answer here is yes,...
Steven Spielberg’s turn at “serious” filmmaking is marred in more than one place by overblown production that threatens to drown in its own emotions. But the characters created in Alice’s Walker’s novel are so vivid that even this doesn’t kill them off and there is still much to applaud (and cry about) here. Boxoffice outlook is promising without approaching other Spielberg Superhits. Comparisons to Walker’s novel are inevitable and it seems safe to say that those who haven’t read the book will be more favorably disposed to the film. It is not that the film need slavishly recreate the book — no film does. It is more a question of whether the film preserves and translates what made the book special and the answer here is yes,...
- 12/19/1985
- by James Greenberg
- Variety Film + TV
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