| Purple Rain | |
|---|---|
.png) Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Albert Magnoli |
| Written by | Albert Magnoli William Blinn |
| Produced by | Robert Cavallo Joseph Ruffalo Steven Fargnoli |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Donald E. Thorin |
| Edited by | Albert Magnoli Ken Robinson |
| Music by |
|
Production company | Purple Films |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
Release date |
|
Running time | 111 minutes[2] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $7.2 million[3] |
| Box office | $70.3 million[4] |
Purple Rain is a 1984 Americanromanticrock musicaldrama film directed byAlbert Magnoli from a screenplay co-written by Magnoli andWilliam Blinn. It starsPrince (in his feature film debut),Apollonia Kotero,Morris Day,Olga Karlatos, andClarence Williams III. In the film, the Kid (Prince), a rising musician, grapples with his turbulent personal life as he competes with rival local musician Morris (Day).
Development onPurple Rain began in 1982, stemming from Prince's desire to star in a film: his manager, Robert Cavallo, commissioned Blinn to adapt plot points written by Prince into a screenplay. Magnoli was hired as director and changed several elements of Blinn's initial screenplay. Casting forPurple Rain was extensive, with studio executives attempting to replace Prince as the film's lead.Principal photography began in October 1983 and lasted until that December, with filming primarily taking place acrossMinneapolis. Production faced delays or schedule alterations due to a feud between Day and Prince.
Purple Rain was theatrically released in the United States on July 27, 1984, byWarner Bros. Pictures. It grossed $70.3 million worldwide and received mixed reviews from critics, with praise for Prince's score and itssoundtrack but criticism for its depiction of its female characters. The film won forBest Original Score at the57th Academy Awards and its songs "When Doves Cry", "Let's Go Crazy", and "Purple Rain" went platinum in the United States.Purple Rain, in 2019, was preserved in the U.S.National Film Registry by theLibrary of Congress for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[5][6]
The Kid is the talented but troubledfrontman of hisMinneapolis-based bandThe Revolution. To escape his abusive home life, The Kid spends his days rehearsing and nights performing at theFirst Avenue nightclub.
The Revolution, the flashyMorris Day and his groupthe Time, andDez Dickerson and his group the Modernaires hold the nightclub's threehouse band slots. Morris, aware that the Revolution's guitarist Wendy and keyboardist Lisa are frustrated that The Kid is unwilling to play their compositions, lobbies Billy Sparks, the club's owner, to replace The Revolution with agirl group which Morris is already forming. Morris targets The Kid's girlfriend Apollonia, an aspiring singer and new arrival to Minneapolis, to lead his group, and tries to persuade her that The Kid is too self-centered to help her. She eventually joins Morris's group, which Morris namesApollonia 6. When Apollonia reveals her newfound partnership to The Kid, he becomes furious and slaps her.
At the club, The Kid responds to the band's internal strife, the pressure to draw more crowds, and his strained private life with the uncomfortably personal "Darling Nikki". His performance publicly humiliates Apollonia, who runs off in tears, and angers both Morris and Billy, worsening his situation. Billy confronts The Kid, castigating him for bringing his emotional baggage onto the stage, before warning him that he is wasting his musical talent as his father did. Apollonia 6 successfully debuts, and Billy warns The Kid that his First Avenue slot is at risk.
The Kid seizes Apollonia from a drunken Morris, leading them to argue and fight; Apollonia then abandons him. Returning home, The Kid finds the house in tatters, with his mother nowhere to be found. His abusive father, who had been lurking in the basement with a loaded handgun, attempts suicide with a gunshot to his head. Frenzied after a night of torment, The Kid tears apart the basement to release his frustration, only to find a large box of his father's musical compositions. The next morning, The Kid picks up acassette 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 the Time stops by to taunt The Kid. 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 song ends, The Kid rushes from the stage and out the back door of the club, intending to ride away on his motorcycle; before he can, however, The Kid realizes that "Purple Rain" has thrilled the crowd.
The Kid returns to the club, with his fellow musicians greeting him with approval and a teary-eyed Apollonia embracing him. The Kid returns to the stage for two encores with the Revolution ("I Would Die 4 U" and "Baby I'm a Star") to the wild approval of the crowd and Morris. Overlaid scenes show The Kid visiting his parents in the hospital and sorting his father's compositions in the basement, accompanied by Apollonia. A montage of all the songs plays as the credits roll.
After the success of his album1999,Prince confronted his then-manager Robert Cavallo and told him he would not renew his contract with him unless he got to star in a studio film. Every studio they had met with rejected the premise of a musician-led film, leading Cavallo to produce the film himself.[7]David Geffen andRichard Pryor were among those who passed on the film.[8] Prince spent months writing down the basic plot points of the film.[7] Impressed with his work onFame, Cavallo commissionedWilliam Blinn to write the script.[9] Blinn's original script, titledDreams, was much darker.[7]
Reckless directorJames Foley was offered to direct the film, but was not interested and instead passed it on to his editorAlbert Magnoli, who disliked Blinn's script for lacking "truth", and was then hired to direct and edit after delivering a pitch on the spot to Cavallo.[7][10][11] Allegedly during the first meeting withWarner Bros., the studio executives asked Cavallo ifJohn Travolta could replace Prince as the film's lead.[12]
Prince intended to castVanity, leader of the girl groupVanity 6, but she left the group before filming began. Her role was initially offered toJennifer Beals (who turned it down because she wanted to concentrate on college) before going to Apollonia Kotero, who was then virtually unknown. Prince had seen her appearance on the February 1983 episode ofTales of the Gold Monkey.[13] Excluding Prince and his onscreen parents, almost every character in the movie is named after the actor who plays them. Despite what was depicted in the film, both of Prince's real parents were Black. Reportedly, Prince's mother was upset that a white woman was cast to play his mother. Kotero was the last to audition and caught the eye of Magnoli. Kotero had no background in singing and was doubled byLisa Coleman in her vocals on "Take Me With U".[14]
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 physically fighting 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" and "Let's Go Crazy" montage. Prince required the other musicians in the film to take acting classes prior to filming.Morris Day was supposedly kicked out of the classes for "clowning around".[15]
Principal photography began on October 31, 1983, inMinneapolis, Minnesota, and spanned 42 days.[16] The film features many local landmarks, including the Crystal Court of theIDS Center (also shown in segments of the opening credits toThe Mary Tyler Moore Show) and theFirst Avenue nightclub, which was paid $100,000 for usage during filming and was closed for 25 days.[17] According toAlan Leeds, several days of shooting were altered due to Day refusing to show up to set due to a rivalry with Prince.[15]
The Huntington Hotel, where Apollonia stayed, is located on Main Street in downtownLos Angeles. In the film, it is supposed to be across the street from First Avenue. In the film, Prince rides a customizedHondamaticHonda CM400A motorcycle.[18] The road north fromHenderson Station, Minnesota, along the Minnesota River was the setting for the motorcycle ride scenes.[19] Some of the First Avenue scenes were shot atThe Wiltern.
During production, Magnoli asked Prince to write one more song that touched on the themes of the film. The following day, Prince already had the song, "When Doves Cry", fully produced.[20]
AlthoughWarner Bros. considered the film "outrageous" at the time, it was accepted for distribution after an internal debate. Music industry publicistHoward Bloom had advocated for the film to be released and said that "killingPurple Rain would be a sin against art!".[21]
The film is tied into thealbum of the same name, which spawned two chart-topping singles, "When Doves Cry" and the opening number "Let's Go Crazy", as well as "Purple Rain", which reached number two. The film won anAcademy Award for Best Original Song Score. The soundtrack sold over 15 million copies in America alone, and 25 million worldwide.[22] The film also coincided withspin-off albums byThe Time (Ice Cream Castle) and Apollonia 6 (their self-titled album).
Purple Rain became Prince's first album to reach number one on theBillboard 200. The album spent 24 consecutive weeks atop on theBillboard 200 and was present on the chart for a total of 167 weeks. "When Doves Cry" and "Let's Go Crazy" reached number one on theBillboard Hot 100, while "Purple Rain" peaked at number two and "I Would Die 4 U" peaked at number eight. In May 1996, the album was certified13× Platinum by theRecording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It is Prince's commercial peak, with total sales standing at 25 million copies worldwide, making it one of thebest-selling albums of all time. Prince and the Revolution wonGrammy Awards forBest Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal andBest Score Soundtrack for Visual Media, while Prince also won theAcademy Award for Best Original Song Score for the filmPurple Rain.
Music critics noted the innovative and experimental aspects of the soundtrack's music, most famously on the spare, bass-less "When Doves Cry". Other aspects of the music, especially its synthesis of electronic elements with organic instrumentation and full-band performances along with its consolidation of rock and R&B, were identified by critics as distinguishing, even experimental factors.Purple Rain is regularly ranked among the greatest albums of all time.Rolling Stone ranked the album number eight on its list of the500 Greatest Albums of All Time. It was inducted into theGrammy Hall of Fame and added to theLibrary of Congress'National Recording Registry list of sound recordings that are "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Purple Rain was released on July 27, 1984, byWarner Bros. Pictures.
Warner Home Video releasedPurple Rain onVHS,Betamax andLaserDisc in 1984 while the film was still in theaters. At the time, it was one of the first major releases to be sold at the lower listed price of $29.95 in the United States.[23] It shipped 435,000 units.[23] It was released onDVD in 1999.[24] The film was released onBlu-ray andHD DVD on July 24, 2007.[25] On October 4, 2016, a remastered Blu-ray with higher-qualityAVC encoded video in the film's original 1.85:1 aspect ratio (compared to the 2007 Blu-ray'sVC-1 encode and 16:9 aspect ratio) was released as part of the Prince Movie Collection in a purplekeep case (as opposed to the normal blue).[26] To celebrate the 40th anniversary of its theatrical release,Purple Rain was released on4K Blu-ray on June 25, 2024.[27]
The film was commercially successful, grossing $68,392,977 in the United States.[4] It grossed $70.3 million worldwide against its $7.2 million budget.[3]
OnRotten Tomatoes, the film has a 73% rating based on 59 reviews and an average rating of 6.50/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "Purple Rain makes for undeniably uneven cinema, but it's held together by its star's singular charisma – not to mention a slew of classic songs."[28] OnMetacritic, it has a score of 55 out of 100 based on 14 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[29] Prince famously said after the movie opened that he had a nightmare thatRoger Ebert andGene Siskel hated the movie and tore it apart on their TV show; in fact, both critics lovedPurple Rain and put it on their Top 10 lists of the best films in 1984.[30][31] Roger Ebert would go on to call it "one of the greatest rock movies of all time".[32]
In recent years, some have criticised the film asmisogynistic, especially the scene in which Jerome throws a woman into a dumpster at Morris' behest. David Alm inForbes wrote that the female characters are treated "quite literally like garbage."[33] Tom Leatham ofFar Out wrote that the film "(explores) eroticism and sexuality with a complete disregard for the respect of women (and) shocking misogyny" with "little redemption", going so far as to call for the film to be removed from the United States National Film Registry.[34]
Others have perceived the film's treatment of women as a criticism of misogyny, rather than an endorsement of it. "Prince saw fit to hide in plain sight behind celluloid and glamour", wrote Ben Philpott ofDrowned in Sound. "The conflict between commercialism, integrity, sex, misogyny and morality is clear and nobody has done it better since."[35] Elwin Cotman ofBright Wall/Dark Room also wrote that the film paved the way for later films bySpike Lee, as a then-revolutionary depiction of flawed, complicated Black men:
Purple Rain is a story about misogynists, and about misogyny itself; hatred of women undergirds the film’s motif wherein Black men treat white women like trash, sometimes literally. There is deep-seated racial resentment to all the beatings, pranks, gaslighting, and insults. And unlike most Hollywood films, where actors ranging fromLeonardo DiCaprio toWoody Allen portray misogyny as heroic,Purple Rain dares to make it a sign of weakness and disintegration, rooted in trauma... Magnoli presents The Kid’s treatment of women as a denial of his feminine side. Such in-depth psychology for a Black male character was uncommon at the time.[36]
The film is recognized byAmerican Film Institute in these lists:
In 1986, Prince followed upPurple Rain withUnder the Cherry Moon, ablack and whitescrewball comedy shot on location in the south of France in anOld Hollywood style. Prince starred as the lead character and also directed the film himself, while Benton returned as his sidekick. While theParade soundtrack album was a hit, initial critical reception of the film was largely negative with many thrown off by the completely different tone fromPurple Rain. Later years saw critical re-evaluation ofUnder the Cherry Moon in a more positive light, and the development of acult following.
In 1987, Prince directedSign o' the Times, aconcert film based on theSign o' the Times Tour. He returned to narrative filmmaking with 1990'sGraffiti Bridge, a direct sequel toPurple Rain which follows up on the rivalry between Morris Day and The Kid. It was largely negatively received, but again thesoundtrack album was a success.
Eminem's loosely autobiographical 2002 feature film8 Mile is often compared toPurple Rain and has been even called "identical" in plot: "Young musician character in a grungy upper Midwest city first fails and then succeeds in musical battle against a hated rival musician."[47]
In 2015, aTuareg-language-remake ofPurple Rain starring the Nigerien guitaristMdou Moctar entitledAkounak Tedalat Taha Tazoughai ("Rain the Color of Blue with a Little Red In It") was released. That same year, Prince purchased the house on Snelling Avenue in theLongfellow community that was used for exterior scenes of The Kid's family home in the original.[48] It remains the property of his estate and is now a popular tourist destination.
After Prince's death on April 21, 2016,Purple Rain was screened in cinemas throughout the world, including widely inAustralia,New Zealand,Canada and on hundreds of screens across the United States.[49][50][51][52][53] Several TV stations also aired it, includingMTV andVH1.[54][55][56]
In January 2024, it was announced that producer Orin Wolf would be adapting the film into aBroadway stage musical, with its book written byBrandon Jacobs-Jenkins, and directed byLileana Blain-Cruz.[57][58] On February 6, it was announced that the production would make its world premiere in Spring 2025, playing at Hennepin Theatre Trust'sState Theatre in Prince's hometown ofMinneapolis,Minnesota.[59][60][61] In October 2024, it was announced that the musical will premiere on October 16, 2025.[62] In August 2025, it was announced that Kris Kollins and Rachel Webb were part of the lead cast as The Kid and Apollonia respectfully.[63] 9 days later, the rest of the cast were announced.[64]
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