Purple Rain
Movies that more or less amount to being a rock starâs vanity project can sometimes be a mixed bag, based in many ways upon the starâs acting ability, the strength of the script and most importantly the quality of the music itself as featured in said movie. Elvis Presley was truly The King of such projects starring in one frothy frolic after another where his character was not only the wisest, the nicest and the toughest guy onscreen, but he could also sing and perform circles around the rest of the casts of his movies (although admittedly he always longed to be a ârealâ actor on the level of Brando but was not allowed to do so). Flash forward to 1984 and the release of this particular film (and its seminal soundtrack album which was one of the biggest sellers of the decade) and with it another look at its central star, Prince. Undisputedly considered one of the greatest performance artists of all time, the man was certainly a promoter of style over substance, releasing shallow songs that were usually about sex and relationships (and sex) complete with suggestive lyrics but then performing them onstage in an absolutely electric fashion that would make crowds everywhere dance and groove to every guitar lick. As a singularly iconic musician of the 80s, he arguably only stands second to Michael Jackson, a guy who was so protective of his own image that he was hard pressed to participate in any kind of cinematic project of his own, possibly over fears of how his cutesy / feminine personality would come across in terms of playing a movie character. Prince of course didnât need to plead his case despite his pretty boy demeanor, always surrounding himself with beautiful women (many of whom he actually did screw) and his always provocative lyrics. As an actor, he manages to give off a boy next door vibe while still dressed in his snazzy clothes (complete with purple motorcycle) even as his characterâs idea of a first date with a girl is to stand with her outside the window of his parentsâ house and peep in on the older couple making out. When his character is challenged (either on his integrity or his sense of decency), he usually responds with either sullen silence or a half hearted burst of obscenity laden anger. The script for this movie is as paper thin as could be imagined, although a number of details were supposedly taken from Princeâs life as he was starting his career in the Minneapolis club scene and all of the drama that was deemed suitable by Prince to be included in the movie. Prince and his band, The Revolution (all playing themselves) are playing a steady gig at The First Avenue Nightclub which would appear to be the hottest venue in town. Unfortunately that also means that other bands play there which means that rivalries can and will develop between these performers with Princeâs band seemingly always in a nightly competition with Morris Day and his band The Time who almost never fail to get the place rockin while Princeâs character (known only as âThe Kidâ) is known to catch flack for being self indulgent which is thought of as being something that hurts business. Into this scene comes Apollonia Kotero (probably one of the worst actresses to ever be granted a featured role in a movie replacing Princeâs other protĂ©gĂ©, Vanity who dropped out right before filming began), first shown ripping off and then running from a cab driver before trying to get into the club and get herself seen. And see her Prince certainly does, giving himself an almost ethereal quality when he is only around her and succeeding in screwing her but doing little else for her (nor offering). Morris is more practical than that, telling her that he wants to put together a girl group with her as the lead and then using his clout with the owner to get her on that stage. When Prince finds out that his girlfriend is doing business with his hated rival, itâs the last thing that he needs since he lives at home with his parents and itâs a traumatic existence indeed as his father (Clarence Williams III) is almost always at some stage of threatening and / or beating his mother and the old man also has no problem with knocking his primped up son on his ass if he dares to interfere. The dialogue during these parental abuse scenes is some of the most awkwardly written ever heard as the father (not portrayed as being a drunk) says things to his frightened wife such as âyou just need to believe in meâ or âI donât want your ass on the streetsâ to which she replies âyou never let me have any funâ (is she a hooker?) so naturally Prince has a bit of trouble dealing with these two whackos being his parents. In addition, his two (possibly lesbian) female band members keep pestering him to listen to a tape of their own music in the hopes of incorporating it into the show. What makes all of this so strange is that with the realization of Clarence Williams III as the father being the only real actor in the movie, nearly everyone else (including Prince) is pretty much playing themselves, even using their real names as the names of their characters (whereas Prince goes by The Kid), thus giving things a sort of weird pseudo docudrama / documentary type vibe that permeates much of the story especially the fascinating relationship both on camera and off between Prince and the equally talented Morris Day as Day only says 13 whole words of dialogue (mostly of contempt) to Prince the entire movie (even getting away with calling Prince a f*ggot) while Prince never addresses him at all since the cold rivalry between them runs so deep that they donât consider the other one even worth talking to while in real life the two actually really had a love / hate type relationship for years (even as Morris would return in the sequel, Graffiti Bridge). But the real issue there was that Day was said to have had a serious substance abuse problem during filming, often having to be dragged from his trailer to the set and doing all of his scenes while being high as a kite, something that unfortunately comes across onscreen given his shuffling and indifferent acting performance here. In fact, the scenes between he and Apollonia (whose character at times seems to have a stalker like quality) come across as being literal masters classes in the art of bad acting. So with all of these things working for the movie (or against it), it should have been a no brainer that Prince was going to have to come up with a hell of a music soundtrack in order to pull it all together and that he did, winning the Oscar for Best Original Music Score (all the more impressive considering that it consisted of individual songs and not an instrumental based soundtrack as is the usual type of work that is honored in that category). Things start off strong with Letâs Go Crazy along with The Beautiful Ones followed by the more transcendent When Doves Cry (used during a montage sequence as opposed to being done onstage) and then Darling Nikki (shown as being the song that pisses everyone off including the club owner) and finally the legendary title track itself (portrayed in the movie as having started off as being the song that his lesbian bandmates wanted him to listen to) that in essence âmakes him a starâ. The filmâs narrative structure smartly revolves around making all of the major story conflicts at some point or another get played out on the club stage in the form of Princeâs music and songs, a tactic that earns him some major criticism as being the type of stuff that ânobody wants to hearâ and which ânobody understands except youâ whereas Morris Day And The Time get up there and perform (very well it should be said) such unashamed happy dance music like Jungle Love and The Bird which would indicate that Morris gets along very well with management because he doesnât put his personal issues up onstage, regardless if the music itself is good or not as more than once itâs brought up that Princeâs father was himself a failed musician for possibly the same reasons. But the Purple Rain song itself is supposed to be that ultimate coming together between being the music of undisputed genius and the reconciliation of the Prince characterâs personal demons. As far as being a cinematic effort, it fulfills the requirements of the rags to riches rock n roll melodrama that will never win any awards for its script or acting (especially Apollonia) and also proved that Prince would or could never play anybody other than himself in a movie, but the music is and was more than good enough to carry the whole movie through to the promised land and even make it timeless in many waysâŠ
7/10