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Purple Rain (film)

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Purple Rain
File:Prince PurpleRainMovie.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed byAlbert Magnoli
Written byAlbert Magnoli
William Blinn
Produced byRobert Cavallo
Joseph Ruffalo
Steven Fargnoli
Starring
CinematographyDonald E. Thorin
Edited byAlbert Magnoli
Ken Robinson
Music byPrince
John L. Nelson
Michel Colombier
Production
company
Purple Films
Distributed byWarner Bros. Pictures
Release date
  • July 27, 1984 (1984-07-27)
Running time
111 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$7.2 million
Box office$68.4 million[2]

Purple Rain is a 1984 American rock musical drama film directed by Albert Magnoli and written by Magnoli and William Blinn. In it, Prince makes his film debut, which was developed to showcase his particular talents. Hence, the film contains several extended concert sequences. The film grossed more than US$80 million at the box office and became a cult classic.[3] Purple Rain is the only feature film starring Prince that he did not direct.

The film won an Academy Award for Best Original Song Score, currently the last to receive the award. It was nominated for two Razzie Awards: Worst New Star for Apollonia Kotero and Worst Original Song for "Sex Shooter".[4]

A semi-sequel, Graffiti Bridge, was released in 1990.

Plot

"The Kid" is the talented but troubled frontman of his Minneapolis-based band, The Revolution. To escape his difficult home life - his father is verbally and physically abusive, and his mother is emotionally abusive - he spends his days rehearsing and his nights performing at the First Avenue nightclub. First Avenue's three house band slots are held by The Revolution, the flashy Morris Day and his group The Time, and Dez Dickerson and The Modernaires. Morris knows that the Kid's guitarist, Wendy, and keyboardist, Lisa, are growing disgruntled with the Kid's leadership of the band, especially his refusal to play any of the music they have composed. Taking advantage of the situation, Morris lobbies Billy Sparks, the nightclub's owner, to back a more commercial girl group (which Morris is already forming) to replace the Revolution. He targets the Kid's girlfriend Apollonia - an aspiring singer, newly-arrived in Minneapolis - for his girl group, and tries to persuade her that the Kid will never help her establish herself because he can't even establish himself. Apollonia eventually relents and joins Morris' group, which Morris names Apollonia 6. When she reveals her partnership with his rival to the Kid, he becomes furious and slaps her, mirroring his father's actions.

At the club, the Kid responds to the internal band strife and the pressure to draw more crowds with an uncomfortably edgy performance of "Darling Nikki". The Kid's performance publicly humiliates Apollonia, who runs off in tears, and angers both Morris and Billy, which only makes the Kid's problems worse. Billy confronts the Kid, pointing out his father's wasted musical talent and stating that he's following the same path. The debut of Apollonia 6 is a success, and Billy warns the Kid that his First Avenue slot is threatened. The Kid seizes Apollonia from a drunken Morris and the two argue; Apollonia abandons him. When he returns home, he finds the house a mess and his mother gone. When he turns on the basement light, his father - who had been lurking in the basement with a loaded handgun - shoots himself in the head. In a frenzy after a night of torment, the Kid tears apart the basement to release his anger, only to find a large box of his father's musical compositions. The next morning, the Kid picks up a cassette tape of one of Wendy and Lisa's compositions - a rhythm track named "Slow Groove" - and begins to compose.

That night at First Avenue, all is quiet in the Revolution's dressing room until Morris stops by to taunt the Kid about his family life. Once on stage, the Kid announces that he will be playing "a song the girls in the band wrote", dedicated to his father - revealed to be "Purple Rain". As the emotional song ends, the Kid rushes from the stage and out the back door of the club, intending to ride away on his motorcycle. However, before he can mount his motorcycle, he realizes that the crowd is thrilled by his new song. The Kid returns to the club, to be greeted by the approval of his fellow musicians and the embrace of a teary-eyed Apollonia. The Kid returns to the stage for two encores with the Revolution, to the wild approval of the crowd (even Morris); overlaid scenes show the Kid visiting his father and mother in the hospital and sorting his father's compositions in the basement, accompanied by Apollonia. A reprise of all the songs plays as the credits roll.

Cast

Music

Main article: Purple Rain (album)

The film is tied into the album of the same name, which spawned two chart-topping singles: "When Doves Cry" and the opening number "Let's Go Crazy", and "Purple Rain" which reached number 2. The film won an Academy Award for Best Original Song Score. The soundtrack sold over 15 million copies in America alone, and 25 million worldwide.[5] The film also coincided with spin-off albums by The Time (Ice Cream Castle) and Apollonia 6 (their self-titled album).

Production

Development

Prince developed the concept during his Triple Threat Tour. Initially, the script was to be darker and more coherent. Prince intended to cast Vanity, leader of the girl group Vanity 6, but she left the group before filming began. Her role was initially offered to Jennifer Beals (who turned it down because she wanted to concentrate on college) before going to Apollonia Kotero, a virtual unknown at the time. Prince had seen her appearance on the February, 1983 episode of Tales of the Gold Monkey, in which she played a saucy island girl who was sleeping with a German man of the cloth.[6] Excluding Prince and his on-screen parents, almost every character in the movie is named after the actor who plays him or her.

After the character change from Vanity to Apollonia, the script was drastically revised and many dark scenes were cut. Some of these scenes include Prince and Apollonia having sex in a barn (a concept which was the story behind the 1985 song "Raspberry Beret"); Prince going to Apollonia 6's rehearsal and engaging in a physical fight with the members of The Time; and a scene which featured Prince's mother talking to him about her shaky relationship with his father. In addition, many scenes such as the Lake Minnetonka scene, Apollonia first meeting Morris, and the railyard scene were cut down because of time constraints. Many clips from these scenes were featured, however, in the trailer for the movie as well as the "When Doves Cry" montage.

Although Warner Bros. considered the film "outrageous" at the time, it was finally accepted for distribution thanks to music industry PR man Howard Bloom.[7]

Filming

Principal photography took place almost entirely in Minneapolis: the film features many local landmarks, including the Crystal Court of the IDS Center (also shown in segments of the opening credits to The Mary Tyler Moore Show) and the legendary First Avenue nightclub. First Avenue was paid $100,000 for use of the club in filming; it was closed for 25 days.[8] A notable error, either geographic or taxi fare-related, shows Apollonia running up (and bailing on) a $37.75 cab fare going from the Greyhound Station to the nightclub. In reality, they are just across the street from each other.[citation needed]

The Huntington Hotel, where Apollonia stayed, is located at 752 S. Main Street, Los Angeles, CA 90014. This was a late pickup shot and is shown in the movie to be across the street from First Avenue. The motorcycle Prince rides in the film is a customized Hondamatic Honda CB400A.[9]

Reception

Purple Rain received positive reviews. It currently holds a 74% rating on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes[10] and a 45/100 rating on Metacritic.[11] The film was a box office success, grossing $68,392,977 in the United States.[2]

In 2014 the world's first feature film in a Tuareg language, Akounak Teggdalit Taha Tazoughai (Rain the Color of Red with a Little Blue In It), was created as an homage to Purple Rain.[12][13][14][15][16][17]

References

  1. ^ "PURPLE RAIN (15)". British Board of Film Classification. July 5, 1984. Retrieved May 14, 2013.
  2. ^ a b Purple Rain (1984) at Box Office Mojo
  3. ^ "Prince". Rockhall.
  4. ^ Wilson, John (2005). The Official Razzie Movie Guide: Enjoying the Best of Hollywood's Worst. Grand Central Publishing. ISBN 0-446-69334-0.
  5. ^ "Those chart busters". Hindustantimes.com.
  6. ^ Hahn 2004, p. 118.
  7. ^ Jacob Kleinman. "The Park Slope man who saved 'Purple Rain'!". The Brooklyn Paper.
  8. ^ "Purple Rain/First Avenue Agreement". Discussions.mnhs.org.
  9. ^ "Vehicle 137249 Honda CB 400 A 1981". Imcdb.org.
  10. ^ Purple Rain at Rotten Tomatoes
  11. ^ Purple Rain at Metacritic
  12. ^ "Mdou Moctar - Akounak Teggdalit Taha Tazoughai TEASER". Retrieved December 27, 2013.
  13. ^ "Mdou Moctar protagoniza un nuevo filme documental: "Rain the Color of Red with a Little Blue In It"". conceptaradio. Retrieved December 30, 2013.
  14. ^ "Sahel Sounds: 'Algunos artistas africanos nunca han visto un vinilo'". conceptoradio. Retrieved December 30, 2013.
  15. ^ Singer, Matthew (January 14, 2014). "Kickstart My Heart: Portland Blogger To Direct First-Ever Tuareg-Language Film in West Africa". Williamette Week. Retrieved January 20, 2014.
  16. ^ "Mdou Moctar - Akonak (TEASER TRAILER 2)". Retrieved January 12, 2014.
  17. ^ Kirkley, Christopher. "rain the color of blue with a little red in it". sahel sounds. sahel sounds. Retrieved January 20, 2014.
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