In the film, Celie actually laughed only three times. The first time was in the purple flower sea at the beginning. Celie and her sister Natty clapped and played games. This was probably the happiest time in her life. Later, she was viciously accused by her father that "you have the ugliest smile in the world". At that time, her smile didn't have time to fade from her face and floated in the air embarrassingly.
After that, in the first half of her long and short life, she almost never smiled again, and the occasional smile was hunched over her mouth and curled up in the corner forever, like an extremely humble ant.
Most women have two families in their lives, one is the family of origin and the other is the family after marriage, and Xilie has lost the love of both families.
Celie was raped by her father and gave birth to two children, a boy and a girl. Both were sold. Her mother died of depression. Her father soon married a young girl. At the wedding, a widower fell in love with Natty. Come to propose, Nadi is the prey she has coveted for a long time, how could her father give it so easily? He refused to propose to Natty, and suggested that Sealy was a good candidate. "She is ugly, but she is very industrious and useful." Sealy left her original home.
For any old woman born in a cruel family, getting married and changing to a new environment is almost the only life-saving straw, but Celie also lost this straw forever.
It seems inaccurate to use marriage to describe the relationship of Celie entering the new family. It should be said that she was given to Albert like a tool. In the new home, Celie has two main functions, to do housework and for Albert to vent. Because of her ugly appearance, she seems to have lost the love of the opposite sex forever; because of the loss of fertility, she also lost her function as a woman; and the only sister who loved each other was expelled, and she lost the love from her relatives.
Last bit of warmth. Given the circumstances at the time, she could barely make a living in society, and her family was everything to her.
She lost almost everything.
Looking forward to the letter from her sister Natty is the only support for Celie to live. Albert deprived her of the right to receive letters. The letterbox is close at hand, but it is a forbidden area that she can never touch. Celie never got a letter from Natty - did Natty ever write a letter? Is Natty still alive? What happened to Natty? ... This is the unsolved mystery of Celie, and a huge suspense in the setting of the film.
As soon as the camera turns, it is already 7 years later (1916), the adult Natty is short and thin, her eyes are dull, her body is stooped, she works quietly, and tries her best to reduce her sense of existence - making people realize her existence, Means danger, she lives like a shadow.
There is also an important female character in the film, Sophia, played by the American famous mouth Oprah, who is smart, capable, strong, and heroic. , Uncle fights with fists to protect himself. But when her husband Harper, instigated by everyone, including Celie, used his fist to teach his wife, Sophia was sad, and she went to Celie angrily, complaining, "I didn't expect that I would fight with my fist in my own home. ", After several fights, Sophia left with the child.
Sophia's appearance has two meanings. On the one hand, it shows that Sealy's next generation of black women is no longer obedient and has a sense of resistance; on the other hand, it shows that the living environment of black people at that time, especially black women, was still quite cruel. Black women must first confront the brutal oppression of women by black men, their own ethnic group, and the racial oppression of blacks by whites. The arrogant and hypocritical face of the white mayor's wife is disgusting. She has hypocritical politeness and care for black people, and likes to play the role of "The Virgin". In her consciousness, asking Sophia to be her maid is a gift to Sophia, and Sophia should be grateful before it's too late. Sophia saw through her face and categorically refused. However, the scary thing is that when Sophia punched the mayor, everyone came under siege, including whites, blacks, men, and women. In people's ideology, people's ideology is to recognize and support how blacks can resist whites and even do something to whites. Woolen cloth? Although the black community was physically liberated, the ideological servility was still deeply rooted. No matter how brave Sophia is, how can she fight against the men in the black community, how can she fight against the powerful social system?
Sophia's wrath on the mayor will take 14 (can't remember) years in prison to pay off.
Wang Xiaobo said that life is a slow process of being hammered. Sophia, who used to be sturdy and strong with thick eyebrows and big eyes, fell down. When she came out again, she was already a undead with white hair, one blind, and a hunched back. She sat silently beside the mayor's wife and became her obedient undead. maid. "Sophia"'s struggle failed.
The appearance of Shager played a role in leading and inspiring Celie's self-awareness. Both are black women, and Shager is obviously much luckier. Because of his outstanding beauty, bold personality and outstanding acting talent, Shager has the pursuit and love of countless men, and he lives more freely and enthusiastically.
She is frank and enthusiastic, telling Celie to smile beautifully, and letting Celie put down her hands and stop covering her smile; kissing and touching Celie's body and face, awakening Celie's awareness of love - many people commented This is one of the most beautiful pictures of lesbian. Well, just from the domestic release, it doesn't seem to be considered homosexuality. I believe that this is Shager's encouragement and praise for Xilie, which makes her from a numb tool state. A little bit of recovery, conveying to her the dignity, beauty, and need to be loved as a person, as a woman.
Shager's greatest help to Celie should be that she helped Celie find Natty's letter hidden by Albert, which is the seed of Celie's hope. To say that Albert looked savage and rude, but he put a lot of effort into hiding the letter, and even put a mousetrap in the mezzanine of the floor under the cabinet. Celie burst into tears when she finally received a letter from her only relative, Natty.
This also led to Celie's first revolt against Albert - when she read the letter, Albert asked her to do the housework, she got up to do it - and slammed the door hard, leaving Albert with a noticeable tinge of be surprised.
The second time Celie resisted was the shaving incident. At this time, she had a strong hatred in her heart. She repeatedly sharpened the knife and the tense background music pushed the atmosphere to a climax, and was finally stopped by Shager.
Celie's deepest and most thorough resistance was announcing at the family dinner meeting that she was leaving with Shager, and threatening Albert with a knife - either I go or you die. This piece is very heartwarming to watch. Many people will remember that the last time she tried to leave with Shuger, the plan failed, and she collapsed to the ground with exhaustion. Albert turned to look at her, as indifferent as seeing an ant, and this family really didn't stay. necessary. Celie finally took up arms bravely, defended herself, and achieved herself.
Sealy opened a trousers store after Shuger left and became the owner herself, which showed that black women at that time could already make a living in society and were no longer completely trapped in the family. She had a sense of independence and she began to become Confident and smiling.
In the film, three black female characters are equivalent to three representatives, and their fates are also intertwined with the social development at that time. The social state leads to the fate of the characters, and the awakening of the characters' consciousness promotes the development and reform of the society. I didn't know much about the American society at that time, and children who are familiar with history can interpret it. For me, the film is a mirror for understanding the history of the time.
There is also an impressive scene in the film: Natty, because she couldn't bear the harassment of her father, came to see Celie, but "just out of the wolf's den and fell into the tiger's mouth", becoming a fat sheep in Albert's eyes. One time, while Natty was going to school, Albert took action. He was wearing a suit, tie and hat and riding a tall horse, looking very gentlemanly. He even put rose petals in the hat as a gift. However, all these seemingly romantic pretense brought Natty only panic. When Natty refused to escape, Albert tore off the mask and directly raped, but fortunately Natty escaped.
The film gave a lot of footage in the process of Albert chasing Nadi on horseback. Nadi ran helplessly in front, and Albert walked around on horseback, so calm and so victorious. In the society at that time, it was common for black women to be raped, the perpetrators would not be punished, and no one, anything, or any law would protect Natty. It was very difficult for black women to survive in such an environment.
On the other hand, the fate of the three generations of black men in the film, Albert, Albert's father, and Albert's son Harper, also reflects the black male consciousness in the social environment at that time. Albert learned to treat his wife like a child under his father's words and deeds, you have to teach her who is the boss with your fists, so you beat Celie with fists and feet, which reflects the savage simplicity of black male thinking in the social environment at that time, or Say primitive. When he arrived at Harper, the people around him in the early stage, including Sealy, also taught him to speak with his fists when dealing with his wife. In the later stage, under Sophia's resistance, Harper returned to Sophia and was willing to make concessions and obey. Some manifestations of progress, or in other words, the manifestation of social civilization.
This makes the characters in the film more three-dimensional and more complex: Albert, including Celie's father (stepfather), looks brutal and savage, not because they were born, but because their generation grew up surrounded by people including their parents and grandparents , that's how they were taught, and they taught this savage way of doing things to the next generation. Compared with the lack of material resources, the spiritual resources of black people are even more primitive and barbaric. Whose sin is this?
This also makes the film in 1985, although it received multiple nominations, it did not really win. The way people look at issues is absolutely inseparable from their own positions and identities. The Global Awards were established by Western whites. How can they truly recognize and accept other races/ethnicities?
Some people say that "purple" does not just refer to the innocence and romance of the sea of flowers at the beginning, but has multiple meanings. Purple is a color that blacks like very much, and white people dislike it and think that purple is a low-end color; the title of the film also means skin color. Black slavery used to be so dark and cruel. Slavery is so simple, and there is an improvement in the overall consciousness of society. If you want to truly go from black to white, there is a long purple passage in the middle.
All in all, this film is perfect from the narrative background, characters, rhythm, shooting angle, light and shadow and other details. The details are sincere, the plot is full, the structure is grand, and the fate of the little people is combined with social changes. It is definitely a masterpiece. However, in 1985, when the film was released, the Western society at that time still retained some awareness of racial boundaries (can racial discrimination really be completely eliminated? A question mark). Although this film received 10 nominations at the 58th Academy Awards, it was not. It did not really win the award, which to a certain extent reflects the acceptance of black issues in Western society.
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