Purple Rain  

Year of Release: 1984
Genre: Musical
Rating: R for coarse language, adult themes, nudity and sex scenes
Director: Albert Magnoli
Starring: Prince, Apollonia Kotero, Morris Day, Olga Karlatos, Clarence Williams III, Jerome Benton, Billy Sparks.

Date Of Review: April 2008

“Purple Rain” became a worldwide launching pad for pop musician Prince who makes his feature film debut in this stylish production that is little more than a collection of live performances and music videos set to the backdrop of a romance between Prince and his real-life girlfriend at the time Apollonia. In fact the film is almost autobiographical as it portrays fragments of his-own personal rise in the pop world with some fabricated story elements. The film kicks off with a lively rendition of “Let’s Go Crazy” by Prince, introducing viewers to the First Avenue club, Prince’s dance venue for most of the film’s music sequences. For artists in the film, the First Avenue club is a stepping stone to better gigs and more notice. This opening montage is intercut with the film’s two other leading characters, musician Morris Day and Prince’s love interest Apollonia who is shown in snippets making her way to the venue. “Purple Rain” revolves totally around these three central characters and the music world that they inhabit. Prince plays “The Kid”, a struggling musician who comes from a violent and unhappy family home. Apollonia Kotero, plays you guessed it, Apollonia, while Morris Day, Prince’s real-life cousin plays you guessed it again, Morris, a rival musician at the club. The plot of “Purple Rain” is fairly basic, Prince and his band, The Revolution, sing a few songs, Prince falls in love with Apollonia and tempers flare when Morris coerces Apollonia to leave Prince and join his group.

“Purple Rain” may have been one of the hottest tickets back in the 1980s but there are a few shortcomings when it comes to the dramatics. As you would expect with the leads being musicians, it was inevitable that the acting would be rather amateurish. After all the film is a musical so it attempts to authenticate itself by using real musicians in almost every frame of the film. Prince, who has always reminded me as a cross between Michael Jackson and Jimmy Hendrix may have struggled with the acting side of things but when he walks out on stage he’s in his element. It’s a good thing he’s given minimal dialogue as his main attention-getter is his unique look and of course his musical talent. Prince spends most of the film clad in outlandish purple outfits and rides a motorcycle, ala Marlon Brando in “The Wild One”. The bike riding aspect is used as a visual device to spell out an image of masculinity, defiance, individuality, rebelliousness and old-fashioned mystery just like the JD films of yesteryear. Apollonia is stunning and despite her limited acting abilities was well-cast in her role. She apparently replaced rival pop star turned-actress Vanity last minute after Vanity had a falling out with Prince. The sequence in which Prince coerces Apollonia to jump into the lake to purify herself is certainly an eye-brow raiser and later, Apollonia almost steals the show again with a raunchy stage performance of “Sex Shooter”. In fact, there are only two professional actors used in the entire cast and they are Prince’s parents, played by Clarence Williams III (of “Mod Squad” fame) and Greek actress Olga Kartalos.

“Purple Rain’s” soundtrack became its main draw-card featuring at least 15 tracks of which 11 were performed by Prince himself. The Prince Songs include "Let's Go Crazy", "Take Me With U", "The Beautiful Ones", "God (Love Theme From Purple Rain)", "When Doves Cry", "Father's Song", "Computer Blue", "Darling Nikki", "I Would Die 4 U", "Baby I'm A Star" and the title song “Purple Rain” which is featured prominently in the film’s on-stage finale. The song “When Does Cry” is nicely showcased in the film as a music video style montage which further explores Prince’s emotional relationship with his family and his girlfriend. Maurice Day and his band “The Time” sing two high-energy tracks, “Jungle Love” and “The Bird” while Dez Dickerson sings "Modernaire" and Apollonia sings “Sex Shooter”.  The movie, the soundtrack and a concert tour all took place around the same time, circa 1984, and worked nicely together contributing to Prince’s overall rise in the music industry.  Heck, Prince even snagged an Oscar at the time for "Best Music, Original Song Score" at the Academy Awards.

“Purple Rain” is a stylish, well photographed film with energetic music performances. Today it serves as a time capsule of a time and place when Prince’s freshness spelt hip and cool for the 1980s generation. If you are a Prince fan you get your money’s worth, he sings a truckload of songs and he’s in almost every frame of the film. However, “Purple Rain” is only half a good movie. The music half is good. The dramatic half is weak. So therefore it’s a split decision. There are just as many negatives as there are positives. Nevertheless, this didn’t stall Prince’s film career. In 1986 Prince directed and starred in “Under The Cherry Moon”, a black and white musical drama set in the Mediterranean.  In 1990 Prince directed and starred in a sequel of sorts to “Purple Rain” called “Graffiti Bridge” which saw him reprise the roll of The Kid, with his cousin Morris Day also returning. As with most sequels there isn’t much improvement on the original and “Graffiti Bridge” turned out to be a stagey collection of music videos rather than a movie. “Purple Rain” may have dated a little by today’s standards but it’s nevertheless a fairly entertaining nostalgia trip to a time when Prince was a new-face in the music scene and the fast-cutting music video style was a novelty and just starting to make an impact on the world of music and film.  “Purple Rain” is ultimately a musician’s performance piece, you see Prince on-stage and in his prime and if you are a fan of his music, then what more would you want? "Purple Rain" delivers the musicality that you would expect. 

© Copyright Pick Of The Flicks. All rights reserved.  

Other Prince DVD Movies - Now Available:

Under The Cherry Moon (1986) [DVD]
The one and only Prince directs himself in this stylish black-and-white romantic drama laced with song, as a gigolo living on the French Riviera develops a fatal attraction to a gangster's daughter. Co-stars Kristin Scott Thomas, Jerome Benton. 100 min. Widescreen (Enhanced); Soundtrack: English Dolby Digital Surround stereo; Subtitles: English, Spanish, French; music videos; theatrical trailer.

Graffiti Bridge (1990) [DVD]
"Music is the power. Love is the message. Truth is the answer." That's the motto of Prince in this sequel to the smash hit "Purple Rain." His Royal Purpleness is a Minneapolis nightclub owner who squares off against business partner/rival Morris Day for the hand of beautiful Ingrid Chavez. Mavis Staples, George Clinton and Tevin Campbell join Prince on the soundtrack. 91 min. Widescreen (Enhanced); Soundtrack: English Dolby Digital Surround stereo; Subtitles: English, Spanish, French; music videos; theatrical trailer.

Pick Of The Flicks - Recommended Links:
Musicals & Dance Classics at Hollywood Teen Movies
Teen Movies Of The 80s at Hollywood Teen Movies
Tony's Cult Movies, Blockbusters & Classics

Pick Of The Flicks Blog Spot / Messageboard:
Click here to have your say or see what others are saying

Use the search bars below to search our site, find your favorite movie or find your favorite poster:

	Enter your search terms Submit search form
	Web www.pickoftheflicks.com