PURPLE RAIN
US, 1984, 106 minutes, Colour.
Prince.
Directed by Albert Bagnoli.
Purple Rain was one of the box office successes of 1984. It was produced and directed by the managers of rock superstar Prince. It was intended as a film display of his singing talents and as a background for promoting his records. The album of the film preceded it.
What was not anticipated was the enormous success of the film as well as Prince's records. Prince's idiosyncratic style is clear from the film. The film touches on his own background, his personality, black origins, European origins, his sexual presence, working as an individual and with groups. There is quite a range of his music especially the principal theme 'When Doves Cry'.
The story is the basic one of success and stardom. There are also the themes of personal depression, family background, the struggle to the top. However, this conventional material is presented colourfully (at times even garishly) in the video clip style. This works especially with the rendition of the songs. The drama is fairly melodramatic ? though of a piece with the action of the rest of the film.
Whether the film dates is a matter of debate. However, it is a prime example of American entertainment trends and the influence of video clips in the mid?'80s.
1. An enjoyable musical? The talents and style of Prince? The basic plot used ~ conventional material mid?180s style?
2. The importance of the songs, performance, style, flair? The staging of the songs, the quality of the sound? Their insertion into the film? The songs for Prince, for Appolonia, for the supporting groups?
3. The technical style of the film - the influence of television and video clip? Importance of colour and lighting, staging, editing and pace? The locations adapted surrealistically for this video clip style? Did the film have any sense of realism? How important for Prince's style was the surrealistic flair?
4. The portrait of Prince? The relationship of the film to his own background? The rock scene of Minnesota? The Kid and his band? Called The Revolution? The clash with The Time? Appolonia and her hopes for stardom, the Kid and Appolonia and their attraction? The leader of The Time and his clash? The transition to the Kid's home, his Italian mother, his black father and his sense of failure? Appolonia giving the Kid a gift? His violent reaction to her? The Kid withdrawing? Lisa and Wendy and their wanting to promote their own songs? The clash between the Kid and Appolonia with Morris Day? The debut and the Kid's reaction? The home sequence, the father shooting himself? The Kid's reaction? Finding his father's songs? His reconciliation with his dead father?
5. Appolonia and her style, glamour, hopes, relationship with the Kid, with Day, rivalry, clashes, home sequences, success? Reconciliation?
6. The Time and their rivalry with The Revolution? The battles of the groups? Personalities? Styles?
7. The home sequences - the sketch of the Kid's mother, of the Kid's father and his violence, failed genius, his compositions?
8. Conventional material from point of view of plot livened by the rock scene of the '80s? The image responded to by young audiences of the '80s? Personalities, entertainment, background of the personalities?
