Purple Rain (film)

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Purple Rain
Purple Rain movie poster
Directed by	Albert Magnoli
Produced by	Robert Calvallo, Steven Fargnoli, Joseph Ruffalo
Written by	Albert Magnoli, William Blinn
Starring	Prince, Morris Day, Apollonia Kotero Clarence Williams III
Music by	Prince, Michel Colombier, John L. Nelson
Cinematography	Donald E. Thorin
Editing by	Albert Magnoli Ken Robinson
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date(s)	July 27, 1984
Running time	111 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$7 million
Followed by	Graffiti Bridge (1990)
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Purple Rain is a 1984 feature film directed by Albert Magnoli and written by Magnoli and William Blinn. Prince stars in this movie, which was developed to showcase his particular talents. The film was very successful earning nearly US$100 million at the box office.

The film is tied into the album of the same name, which spawned three chart-topping singles: the opening number "Let's Go Crazy", "Purple Rain", and "When Doves Cry." The movie won an Academy Award for Best Original Song Score. Much of the movie's cinematography, by Donald Thorin, is closer to that of 1980s music videos than a conventional film.

Prince plays "The Kid", an aspiring Minneapolis musician with a difficult home life. He meets singer Apollonia Kotero, and they become involved in an untidy romance. The plot centers on Prince trying not to repeat the pattern of his abusive father (Clarence Williams III) and keep his band, The Revolution, and his relationship with his girlfriend, together. His main antagonist is fellow musician Morris Day and his group The Time. Excluding Prince and his on-screen parents, almost every actor in the movie uses his/her actual name for his/her character.

The movie idea was apparently developed by Prince during his "Triple Threat" tour. Initially the script was to be darker and more coherent. One early idea he had was for his character to be a musician with a drug addiction.^{[citation needed]} Prince intended to play opposite his girlfriend Vanity until their relationship ended. 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.

Filmed 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. A notable geographic error in the film shows Apollonia running up (and bailing on) a $37.75 cab fare going from the Greyhound Station to the nightclub. In reality, they were just across the street from each other.

A sequel titled Graffiti Bridge, was released in 1990.

[edit] In popular culture

An episode of Martin had Martin trying to get back in his girlfriend Gina's good side after a long absence, where he shows up at her apartment with a clean haircut and a copy of Purple Rain, which he says he remembers is her favorite film. Gina corrects him by saying "Purple Rain is not my favorite movie; The Color Purple is!" Martin then says "At least I got the purple part right!" Martin is further annoyed by the appearance of his nemesis Pam who barges into their date and says "Hey, Purple Rain! This is my favorite movie!"

In the film The Goonies, the character Mouth is seen wearing a Purple Rain T-shirt.

In the 1987 film Maid to Order, Ally Sheedy's character, Jessie Montgomery, sports a Purple Rain t-shirt as she works as a maid for the Starkey family.

On the episode of American Dad where Stan uses illegal immigrants to make holiday themed teddy bears, one of the illegal immigrants is wearing a white T-shirt depicting the poster.

Mad Magazine did a parody of the film titled Purple Acid Rain, which lampooned Prince's androgyny, feminine clothing style, and sexually suggestive music along with making fun of the movie.

In the movie Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, the characters Jay and Silent Bob are presented as being fans of The Time, who appeared in Purple Rain. The Time make an appearance at the end of the film, performing Jungle Love, and Jay and Silent Bob join them on stage. Writer and Director Kevin Smith has stated that he is a Prince fan, and once collaborated briefly on a documentary with Prince, which eventually fell through and was never released.

In an episode of The Golden Girls, Sophia listens to Purple Rain on a Walkman, playing air drums and singing along unknown that she is making herself look foolish.

In an episode of Friends, Chandler makes fun of Ross for wanting to have dinner at the Hard Rock Café because of the Purple Rain display.

In the popular arcade game Mortal Kombat Trilogy, Rain is a playable character. He is a purple ninja and this was originally a joke by the creators of the game.