Fantasia Barrino in live musical remake – The Hollywood Reporter

For a story filled with shock and grief — violence, suffering, racism, child kidnapping and spousal abuse — the second film is an adaptation of Alice Walker’s 1982 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, VioletIt’s a surprisingly fun experience. The prevailing takeaway is its resounding themes of spirituality, self-discovery, redemption, and resilience. Based on the 2005 Broadway musical that was revived to great acclaim 10 years later, the production represents a confident step onto a much larger canvas for Ghanaian multimedia artist Blitz Bazauli. It gently nods to the imprint of Steven Spielberg’s 1985 film while forcefully forging its own identity.

The connection to the previous version was created in part by the return of Spielberg, Oprah Winfrey, and Quincy Jones as producers (along with theater producer Scott Sanders). This is also evident in the color palette of those sparkling skies in Amblin, in two songs from the film that are incorporated into the Broadway musical and in an early unbilled appearance.

The musical features songs by Brenda Russell, Allie Willis and Stephen Bray and a book by Marsha Norman, which credits Walker’s novel and Mino Megis’ screenplay for Spielberg’s film as source material. Playwright Marcus Gardley has penned the latest adaptation, which stays true to previous iterations of the story and its indelible portrait of the lives of black women in the rural South in the early twentieth century. Arguably, what this new film gains in sophistication is its larger vision of its main male characters and the vigor with which it shapes the milieu around the importance of popular culture, music, and faith.

Fantasia Barrino stepped into the lead role of Celie in the second year of the show’s original Broadway run. She proved herself not only as a powerful singer but also as an instinctive actress, tapping with tenderness and vulnerability what felt like a strong personal connection to the story.

Her performance was raw and real, placing Celie more firmly at the emotional center of a musical in which the protagonist spends so much time as a passive character on the sidelines. That’s one of the dangers inherent in having scene-stealing supporting characters like the indomitable Sofia and brilliant musical diva Shug Avery.

In a riveting dramatic debut, Parrino charts Celie’s poignant journey from hardship and oppression to independence, proud self-worth, and overflowing love. Even if Pazawl takes the time to once again focus on Celie in her own narrative, few will complain when she shares the attention with the wonderful Danielle Brooks, a juggernaut reprising the role of Sophia she played on Broadway in the 2015 revival; And with the equally divine Taraji P. Henson, who displays megawatt charisma, upbeat musicality and brassy charm as Shug.

The intelligent acting is the film’s greatest strength. The entire collection sparkles.

As Mr. Banjo Player, the husband-louse who gets Celie for the price of a cow and two eggs and then treats her like a backbone to be beaten at will, Colman Domingo is suitably deserving of contempt. But he is also a damaged man who has inherited the worst traits of his domineering, narrow-minded father (Louis Gossett Jr.). He is unable to be with Shug, the woman he truly loves, who comes in and out of his life at will and is destined to remain out of his reach. Domingo locates an unarticulated longing beneath the master’s brokenness that makes his final atonement credible and poignant.

Mr. Harbaugh’s son also became more nuanced in his characterization of Corey Hawkins – not to mention building on the actor’s character. In the highlands Action with further evidence of his singing and dancing skills. Driven by his heart rather than by the social conditioning of his upbringing, Harpo seems determined to break the cycle of men governed by their rigidity. He stumbles badly, and immediately regrets it, by succumbing to outdated notions of how to keep his feisty wife Sophia in line. But even this misjudgment led Brooks to refuse to give up on one of the standout songs, “Hell No!” – Their marriage is the happy contrast to his father’s loveless union with Seeley.

Bazawule and Nick Baxter wrote a new song for Harpo, “Workin'”, performed while building a juke joint near the swamp which sets him on his own entrepreneurial path. The marked difference between the master and his eldest son is humorously summed up when Harpo and the men in his construction crew are neglected while Sophia and the women take charge.

This semi-fast song, like many of the musical interludes, is pumped up by Fatima Robinson’s energetic choreography into a strong production number. If there’s an annoying flaw in Bazawule’s approach to the material, it’s the early sense that not every song has to be this big.

There is an undeniable spectacle in the swirl of churchgoers heading to Sunday Mass, or a rhythmic band swinging hoes, or a group of women washing clothes on the curtain of a waterfall – the last images summoned from Seeley’s imagination – or the general jubilation of ‘Shug Avery Comin’ to… City.” But the film might have benefited from putting in an intimate song or two earlier, especially in terms of emotional access to a heroine who, by narrative design, takes a long time to find her voice.

The stylistic flourishes that Celie displays as she imagines herself and Shug on the gramophone turntable also seem out of sync with the rest of the film. It’s as if Bazawule can’t decide between incorporating the songs too much or deviating from them chicagoFantasy genre twists, an unnecessary distraction also occurs midway through Henson’s rendition, “Push Da Button.”

The director’s touch is more cohesive in the dramatic scenes, where the narration and performance are strong enough to overcome pitfalls.

Felicia Pearl Mbasi is poignant as young Celie, who is heartbroken when her beloved younger sister Nettie (Halle Bailey) is torn from her life. It is also a testament to Billy’s beautiful presence—Nettie is breezy, outgoing, and self-confident in ways her persecuted sister can admire but has not yet emulated—that the longing represented by Nettie’s absence in Celie’s life is palpably felt throughout.

This absence is somewhat ameliorated by the explosive entry of Sophia, whose tough-as-nails attitude is embodied by Brooks with natural courage and leadership. Her sense of humor and energy make it all the more crushing to see the character brutalized for her outspokenness towards the mayor’s condescending wife (Elizabeth Marvel). However, even if Sophia is underplayed for much of the story, Brooks’s sparkling performance is one of the film’s main sources of lightness, constantly piercing like sunlight through clouds. (Sadly, Sofia and Harpo’s hilarious duet, “Any Little Thing,” has been omitted from this version.)

Another person who opens Celie’s charming eyes to a different model of dominant femininity is Shug, who captures her fantasy even before they meet, from a framed photo that the master keeps next to his bed.

Henson makes Shug a beacon of warmth and sensual vitality, even when she shows up at the master’s house needing to dry off after a bow. She never mocks Celie, nor does she treat her as an inferior, instead taking the submissive wife of her on-off lover under her wing with the upscale sisterhood, bringing her a happiness she has not known since Nettie’s departure. While the lesbian element of the relationship from Walker’s novel has been toned down further with each novel, it has never been completely erased, as the passionate duet of Parrino and Henson demonstrated in “What About Love?” It is an emotional turning point where hope begins to shed light on Celie’s life.

The contours of her liberation are dramatically written, first in a dramatic re-enactment of the classic extended family meal scene in which she finally stands up to the master. By then, everyone in the audience will share Celie’s indignation, her newfound power and her God-given right to vengeance, played by Parrino with tremendous fire and echoed by Brooks with salty humor as Sofia more or less returns from the dead.

Shug also celebrates Celie’s redemption once she’s out from under the Master’s shoes in Memphis, offering a loving tribute by singing “Miss Celie’s Blues (Sister),” one of Jones’ tunes carried over from Spielberg’s film. The other is “Maybe God’s Trying to Tell You Something,” a hymn that marks the end of Shug’s exile as an outcast “loose woman” and her renewed acceptance by her preacher father (David Alan Grier). Costume designer Francine Jamison-Tanchuk’s costumes for Shug are stunning, particularly the stunning red outfit she wears for her first appearance as the hot star of Harpo’s, where she makes her grand boat entrance.

Anyone with an appreciation for style will enjoy wearing the 1940s high-waisted trousers that were used as a symbol of triumphant self-actualization, and Jamison-Tanchuck’s exquisite work is particularly vibrant once Celie’s tailoring business takes off. “Miss Celie’s Pants” is one of those exuberant production numbers where the big energy feels fully earned.

From there, Parrino navigates the transition to independence and proud self-worth with a sense of euphoria on the 11 o’clock musical number, “I’m Here.” She performs the song’s grand buildup directly to the camera, allowing Celie to take decisive ownership of her story and move into a final act that becomes a complete declaration of gratitude and praise.

While Pazzoli and fellow executive music producers Baxter and Bray pay homage to the musical’s stylistic mix of gospel, pop, R&B, blues, jazz and Broadway shows, there’s also a welcome contemporary flavor to some of the numbers here, particularly “Keep It Movin’,” led by a young Nettie from Billy has a great voice.

In addition to Grier, Gossett, and Marvel, the sumptuous casting of even minor roles includes Ciara making a brief appearance as adult Nettie; Gabriella Wilson, aka “HER,” as Harpo Squeak’s girlfriend; Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor (moves intensely in Ava DuVernay’s film Origin) as Celie’s mother in flashbacks; And Jon Batiste, looking great in smart suits as Shug’s dapper husband, Grady.

Bazaoli’s background is as a multi-hyphenate artist – he previously co-directed Beyoncé’s visual album Black is kingdebuted in 2019 with the well-reviewed African-futuristic tale Bury Kojo He stars as hip-hop recording artist Blitz the Ambassador – ensuring that the film not only looks great, but feels luxurious, too. The use of light and color in Dan Lustsen’s cinematography is captivating, and Paul Denham Austerberry’s period production design adds an attractive hint of theatrical magic to the original settings. Site features are beautiful, such as Georgia Beach, which features huge sculptural tangles of driftwood or trees covered in Spanish moss.

It’s pretty much impossible to resist the explosive reliving in the film’s hugely satisfying closing scenes, which should accomplish the dual goal of reimagining Violet For a new audience while giving the story a shiny new spin for the generation that grew up on Spielberg’s version.