Purple Rain (Albert Magnoli, 1984)

In life there are certain pieces of pop culture which we have weaknesses for and many of them remain unexplainable. Usually they are follies of youth and while I can't explain the fascinations of today's youth with Justin Beiber or reality television, I understand the attraction based on my childhood love of Prince and the film Purple Rain (Albert Magnoli, 1984). To me, films become a part of us. We absorb their images, remember the lines and their songs resonate in our minds. I think part of the power of film lies in it's ability to become so ubiquitous within our conscious mind. As a cinephile many classic films do this to me, whether it is the mis-quoted Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942) or seeing Jamie (Colin Firth) win the love of Aurelia (Lucia Moniz) in the brilliant Love Actually (Richard Curtis, 2003). The thing about Purple Rain is it really isn't very good, it's not considered a classic and ultimately its only purpose is to propel Prince in his career. Which doesn't mean I don't love every second of it!

And what an incredible vehicle the film is for Prince. The film showcases everything that Prince is good at, from catchy pop songs to blistering guitar work, from massive sex appeal to charming idiosyncrasies, and all of it is on display here. One of the biggest pop acts from the eighties (anyone remember Prince v MJ debates) Prince is one of those rare pop stars with actual real musical talent. The film shows him doing it all, from his soulful rendering in the title song to the underrated guitar solo in Computer Blue. At the same time he is blessed with charisma and sex appeal, and that rare quality in which woman want to be with him and men want to be around him (or both and vice versa). As he coaxes Appolonia to baptize herself in the waters of Lake Minnetonka all of these qualities are on display. Still, the best that Prince has to offer comes out in one of the best soundtracks to a film ever made.

Films of the eighties saw a rise in the use of soundtracks to not only promote the film but also as another revenue stream for the film. Films such as Footloose (Herbert Ross, 1984) and Top Gun (Tony Scott, 1986) extensively used soundtracks to promote and the songs from the soundtrack were in turn used to propel narrative and fill screen time. No film soundtrack from the eighties worked for it's film quite like Purple Rain did. The soundtrack generated three top ten hits and each is as memorable as the next. The film starts with the frenzy of Let's Go Crazy, propels through a montage with When Doves Cry and allows The Kid (Prince) to finally realize his potential with the beautiful and haunting title song Purple Rain. Granted these songs all exist within the narrative but that doesn't preclude them from being absolutely great.

Also great within the film (and this is entirely subjective to me and probably me alone) is the outlandish production design of this film and its setting in the eighties. The costumes, hair and makeup and dancing is either ridiculous or extremely cool, depending on your point of view. The colors are bright, the fabrics are silky and shiny, the hair god-awful. I won't mention the dancing as a better example of that would be Footloose. What really speaks to me in the production design, twenty five years later, is the uniqueness and individuality placed within the PD. I have long believed that as a child of the eighties we had none of this, that we were all clones of one another. Never is this more evident than when one is watching The Breakfast Club (John Hughes, 1985). Those five main characters are eighties children. I have always felt there was no deviation for kids of this time. We all fell into one of those five groups on display in The Breakfast Club and that was it. Watching Purple Rain I must now re-evaluate this belief, and if a film can do that after twenty five years and over at least twice as many viewings, that speaks volumes about how good that film is. One of my all time favorites, it always will be!