Filmmaker Steven Spielberg credits the 1985 film Whoopy Goldberg as a turning point in his career, which allowed him to transition into more serious films.
just opened the most personal film of his life, but 40 years ago The Fabelmans, Steven Spielberg, was already one of the most trusted directors in Hollywood with a career behind him that included some of the most famous and well-known titles in the history of cinema, such as Shark (1975), Fight in the third period (1977), In Search of the Lost Ark (1981) or ET Extraterrestrial (1982). In a career of more than sixty years, the veteran cinematographer has marked several milestones, but one point in his work behind the cameras is undoubtedly marked by the Color Purple; in a controversial film of its day, which he named as the first “serious drama”. with which he distanced himself a little from the previous blockbusters.
Premiered in 1985with scripts by Menno Meyjes and Whoopi Goldberg, Margarita Avery, Danny Glover and Oprah Winfrey, it paved the way for some of his later films such as Empire of the Sun or Schindler’s List, and, although not the first one that usually comes to mind when we talk about Spielberg’s filmography, It is undoubtedly one of his most famous works and plays an important role in his career.
Based on Alice Walker’s 1983 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name, The Color Purple is an adaptation of the story of Celie (Goldberg), a black woman in the American South at the turn of the 20th century who has been a victim. having been sexually abused by her father and having two children from kidnapping, she is forced to marry a farmer (Glover) who treats her like a slave.
Considered one of Spielberg’s best, the movie The Color Purple is also surrounded by some of the most anecdotal facts, such as the fact that when Steven Spielberg agreed to cut his salary somewhat to allow the thing to happen. At that time, Spielberg already managed 15 million dollars for his work, but; Since his salary alone had monopolized the entire budget of the film, the filmmaker decided to charge the set minimum: 40,000 dollars. After its good reception, the film ended up being completely profitable, having received more than 15 million dollars, with a global collection of 142 million dollars.
The Color Purple was also met with great praise from the public and critics, but, like Los Fabelmans, it left a complete void at the Oscars. The fact that, although it is not the first film nor the last one that does not win awards, despite having received multiple nominations, it has ended up going down in history because it has signified a breakthrough. Some are not just; he has held the record since 1985 and no other machine has been “caught” by him in 40 years.
It is not easy, or to say; in purple color He was nominated for neither a greater nor a lesser prize. An inevitable reminder, by the way, to which curiosity was added that, despite the many categories in which he competed, Spielberg was not nominated for Best Director.
During the four decades in which he held the film record, the truth is that others came close to him: The Great American Swindle (2013), Valor de ley (2010) and Gangs of New York (2002). Lati 10 named.
Despite Spielberg’s good work in portraying the story of slavery, racism, sexual abuse and harassment of women on film in the 80s, The film was criticized for its portrayal of black people, when the NAACP organization (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) directed the “image of black people as abusers” to accuse the stereotype. In the same way, tape some blisters in the LGBTIQ+ collective for . they raised so that the relationship between the two women was almost resolved with love which appears in the book and which is reduced to a kiss in the film. Something that Spielberg also stated that he regretted, but that he justified it by achieving an age rating that would allow him to reach more audiences.
