Score: 5 / 5
It's perfect. I rarely say that about movies, but this one is just perfect, from start to finish. Seeing this with my parents on Christmas Day was a perfect way to relax in the middle of the holiday, despite lots -- and I mean lots -- of shed tears. If you haven't seen it yet, drop what you're doing, grab your nearest and dearest, and get to a cinema posthaste!
The 1982 source material is also perfect, to be fair, which is why it has been canonized as a classic already, in addition to Spielberg's awesome adaptation in 1985. When I first heard the soundtrack of the 2005 Broadway musical, I knew it would be great on stage, though never got to see it. Thankfully, director Blitz Bazawule is at the top of his game after The Burial of Kojo and of course Black is King, and his musical sensibilities and unique visual artistry coalesce here into a transcendent work of consummate art. The music informs setting, the characters inform costume, the design informs choreography, theme informs performance, and all elements speak to each other endlessly in what appears to be a harmonious collaboration of artists working toward a single glorious goal. Bazawule knowingly stages each scene like a stage show, films it like a music video, and combines it into a singular vision of rapturous beauty. Movies like this don't happen often. More impressive because this is an epic, a meticulously detailed but vast canvas of life from heaven to hell and back.
Uniformly brilliant performances grace the film, from the hatefully vile male characters like Colman Domingo's Mister and Corey Hawkins's Harpo to the radiant and longsuffering female characters like Danielle Brooks's Sofia and Taraji P. Henson's Shug Avery. Both these women pull no punches (literally), banging down the door and staking claims for best supporting actresses in any film this year. Brooks is the only Broadway alumna (from the acclaimed 2015 revival) to reprise her role apart from headliner Fantasia Barrino (who replaced the original, LaChanze), whose performance as Celie will earn similar accolades. She imbues Celie with everything that makes her such a compelling character, from her childlike innocence to her looks of pure horror as the worst things keep happening to her and she still takes it in stride. Everyone deserves awards here, though, even those who aren't top-billed, like Phylicia Pearl Mpasi and Halle Bailey as young Celie and Nettie, respectively; their heartfelt and harrowing first act of the film provides more than enough emotional and spiritual gravitas for an entire film on their own.
In a story that spans so much time -- an entire lifetime -- screenwriting and editing are crucial, and here they work seemingly effortlessly in tandem to keep the proceedings lively, engaging, and energized. I wasn't always convinced, when another musical number would begin, that it would mesh with the heavy drama that came in scenes before, and yet each time it astonished me by increasing the thematic weight, doubling down on either the comedy or the tragedy, and buttressing the characters and tone I already thought I knew. This is the kind of film that will only add to its boons upon further screenings. Look what God has done, indeed!
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