By John Corrado

★★★ (out of 4)

Director Blitz Bazawule’s The Color Purple is a big screen adaptation of the Broadway musical that serves as a glitzy reimagining of Alice Walker’s 1982 novel and Steven Spielberg’s 1985 film of the same.

Produced by Spielberg and Oprah Winfrey (who was Oscar-nominated for her breakout role as Sofia in the 1985 version), Bazawule’s film is a solid and stylish new take on the material. It’s carried by a stacked ensemble cast led by former American Idol winner Fantasia Barrino, reprising her role from the Broadway stage as Celie.

The story follows several decades in the life of Celie, an African-American woman living in the South in the first half of the 20th century. We first meet her as a young woman (played by Phylicia Pearl Mpassi) living with an abusive father (Deon Cole), whose closest companion is her sister Nettie (Halle Bailey in flashbacks, Ciara as an adult).

The sisters become separated when Celie is forced to marry Mister (Colman Domingo), a cruel farmer who needs help raising his children. But Celie finds her world opening up through the women that come into her life, including Sofia (Danielle Brooks), the baby mama to Mister’s son Harpo (Corey Hawkins), and Shug Avery (Taraji P. Henson), the woman from Mister’s past who left town to become a lounge singer years earlier.

This is a full on musical, with energetic song and dance numbers mixed in with the dramatic scenes (Quincy Jones, who composed the music for Spielberg’s film, also serves as a producer here). The film offers some impressive production design, vibrantly captured by cinematographer Dan Lausten, whose camera is almost always in motion. The musical sequences shift between being grounded in reality and blending fantasy elements (such as a number performed atop a giant spinning record, one of several eye-catching set design elements).

Bazawule’s direction is sometimes dazzling if occasionally stagey. The story spans decades, with many jumps ahead in time. At 141 minutes, the film is about fifteen minutes shorter than the Spielberg version (which clocked in at 155 minutes). The musical approach glosses over a few narrative beats, and some more nuanced character development does feel lost (however, the story’s lesbian undertones are at least explored more fully than they could be in the 1985 film, an update that works).

But the darker aspects of the story are still intact, and Bazawule’s Color Purple delivers on emotional impact, largely thanks to its excellent performances. Barrino can obviously sing, but also compellingly handles the dramatic moments in her first film role as Celie (Whoopi Goldberg’s breakout role in the 1985 version). Brooks has big shoes to fill taking on the Oprah role of Sofia, but she steals scenes with a performance that is both funny and shows the character’s steely resilience.

Henson is magnetic as Shug Avery (who was played by stage actress Margaret Avery in the earlier film), making us understand why various characters fall under her spell. In perhaps the trickiest role, Domingo (taking over for Danny Glover) is fascinating for the way that he brings humanity to the often monstrous character he portrays, even garnering some semblance of sympathy in later scenes through his body language.

The supporting cast is rounded out by veteran actor Louis Gosset Jr. as Mister’s father, and musicians H.E.R. and Jon Batiste in brief roles that help fill out this world. Overall, Bazawule has crafted a solid remake that is worth seeing for the strong acting and musical performances.

The Color Purple opened exclusively in theatres on December 25th.