PURPLE
RAIN
En
1983, Prince possède une équipe sauvage qui porte
sa griffe : Vanity, The Time, Sheila E, Wendy et Lisa
Ces
deux filles vont particulièrement l'influencer, leur
père ayant joué avec Franck Sinatra, Barbara
Streisand, les Beach Boys et même
les Jackson 5 ! Influencées par Franck
Zappa, Joni Mitchell, Satie et Miles Davis, elles sont
les deux pilliers du groupe The Revolution
qui accompagne Prince dans l'aventure Purple Rain.
Déjà en projet en pleine tournée
"1999" de 1983, le film Purple Rain est un parie osé
: rares sont les chanteurs qui ambitionnent un film. Même
M. Jackson ne l'a pas osé. À ce jours, Prince
en a déjà quatre à son actif, tous sortis
en salle dans le monde ! Le film prend forme grâce à
William Blinn, producteur exécutif de
la série Fame et Hutch dans la série
Starsky et Hutch. Blinn écrira un scénario
inspiré de la vie de Prince, mais c'est le tandem Cavallo
et Fargnoli, deux producteurs, qui vont porter le film. Le script
final est simplifié :
à Minéapolis, ville du Minesota, le Kid (Prince),
se déchire entre des parents en rupture et un groupe
musical rival au sien : The Time, dont le leader,
Morris Day, lui volle sa petite copine, la serveuse métis
Apolonia.
La Warner, après un tournage tourmenté,
hésite. Ce sont les excellentes critiques dans la presse
qui vont modifier la donne. Ainsi, de 6 salles prévues
aux USA, le film passe à 700 !
Lors de la première à Hollywood, tout le gratin
du showbizz est présent : Bruce Springsteen
(qui ne tarira pas d'éloge), Steven Spielberg,
Lionel Richie, Rick James (la star funk écrasée
par la vague princière,) Little Richard
(une des influences notoire de l'Artiste) et Quincy
jones (producteur du Thriller de Michael Jackson).
Springsteen et le jeune Michael Jackson étaient de véritables
modèles scéniques pour Prince, à l'époque.
Purple Rain le film et l'album font un triomphe
et sacre Prince star mondiale. 1984, c'est aussi l'apothéose
du style vestimentaire princier par excellence: un style où
l'esprit funck-Rock semble incarner une petite armée
de révolutionnaires baroques androgynes et flambloyants.
Jabots et redingotes imprimées seront même portés
par Janet Jackson ! En coulisses, Jam et Lewis
de The time, qui produiront plus tard des stars comme Janet
Jackson, quittent le navire. Côté projecteurs,
le triomphe est explosif : l'album, la chanson titre et le film
sont chacun dans les tops pendant des mois. Idem pour l'album
de The Time : Ice Cream Castle et d'Apolonia 6. Les touristes
déferlent sur Minéapolis : le public blanc est
conquis. Minéapolis toute entière, comme Menphis
avec Elvis Presley, bénéficie de la tempête
"New Funck" guidée par Prince.
Le First Avenue, club où se déroule une partie
de l'action du film, devient un club mythique.
Prince peut être fier, lui qui avait affirmé :"
j'ai grandi dans un monde noir et blanc, j'ai écouté
toutes sortes de musiques et je les jouerais toute ma vie. Je
veux être jugé sur la qualité de mon travail,
pas sur la couleur de ma peau."
La tournée Purple Rain nécessitait une logistique
énorme, pourtant Prince n'oublira pas de donner quelques
concerts pour des œuvres de charité. La bête
de scène qu'est Prince offre ainsi une tournée
gigantesque et épuisante. Vanity a déjà
abandonné, le groupe The Revolution et The Time sont fatigués,
et Prince sait déjà qu'il ne connaîtra pas
de plus grand succès. 1984 était bel et bien l'année
pourpre. Cette même année, Jesse Jhonson
disait déjà : "Purple Rain n'est pas ce que
Prince a fait de mieux. Il a enregistré des trucs merveilleux,
très mélodiques, qui dorment sur des bandes. Je
ne sais pas si le public est prêt pour ce genre de matériel"
In
1983, Prince is the leader of a wild team: Vanity, The
Time, Sheila E, Wendy and Lisa
The two girls
will strongly influence the man. Their fathers both played with
Franck Sinatra, Barbara Streisand, The Beach Boys and
the Jackson 5! Influenced by Franck Zappa,
Joni Mitchell, Satie and Miles Davis, the 2
girls are the 2 pillars of the band The Revolution.
Already
a project during the 1999 Tour (1983), the Purple Rain movie
is a daring project: a very few singers did their OWN movie
on screen. Even M. Jackson never did it. Nevertheless, Prince
has got 4 big movies by now, distributed wordlwide!
William Blinn, executive producer of "Fame"
and playing Starsky in the "Starsky & Hutch"
TV soap, helped in writting the movie. Blinn writes a story
inspired by the life of Prince, but finaly two other producers,
Cavallo and Fargnoli, will carry the whole production. The final
script is simplified:
Prince plays "The Kid" in the movie,
a bi-racial young man from a low income side of town, and his
father is constantly physically abusing his mother. "The
Kid" tries numerous times to fend for his mother, but the
arguments only continue. Aside from his home life, trouble is
brewing in his band because he refuses to perform a song penned
by his fellow bandmates Lisa and Wendy, titled "Purple
Rain". His band seems on the edge of breaking up and other
bands, such as The Time headed by Morris Day, are trying to
edge themselves in.
Things seem tough in "The Kids" life, but he does
have a saving grace. A sexy siren by the name of Apollonia who
moved from New Orleans to Minnesota to try to make it big at
the club. Prince starts up a relationship with her.
As
the relationship escalates he finds himself falling in love
with Apollonia, especially after she pawned her ankle bracelet
to buy him the white guitar he'd been eyeing. Afterwards she
tells his she's going to be in a band created by Morris from
'The Time', and "The Kid" slaps her across the face,
his father has rubbed off on him. He tries to apologize but
Apollonia leaves in tears. Will Prince get Apollonia back? The
original script was a much darker story revolving around The
Kid who was torn between life (i.e; gratuitous sex scenes and
dynamic live performances) and death (in this version of the
film, The Kid’s father murders his wife and then commits
suicide).
First
Avenue is the club in the movie where the band, The
Revolution and Prince, wear costumery and hair styles which
look like strange versions of the outfits soldiers wore during
the Revolutionary war. Prince creates a kind of "Purple
fashion". The movie was also filmed at other
locations in Minneapolis and Eagan, Minnesota as well as allegedly
some work in Los Angeles when the weather in Minneapolis turned
bad. his same
year, Jesse Jhonson already: told: " Purple Rain is not
what Prince has made the best. He has recorded wonderful tracks,
very melodic, that sleep on bands. I do not know if the public
is ready for this kind of material".
In
1984, The Time does no longer exist despite a platinum "Ice
Cream Castle" 3th album. Jam and Lewis from The time leave
the scene, they will later successfully produce Janet Jackson
and other dance hits. Vanity, lead singer of
Vanity 6 and star of 80's classics "The Last Dragon"
and "Action Jackson" is
tired too, and the Warner, after a tormented shoot, hesitates.
The excellent press critics finaly convinces Warner Bross. The
movie is released in 700 screens in the USA!
During the Purple Rain premiere in Hollywood, the whole showbusiness
is here: Bruce Springsteen, Steven Spielberg, Lionel
Richie, Rick James (the funk star who never recovered
from this Prince year), Little Richard, one
of Prince's idol, Quincy jones (the Thriller
album producer). Both Bruce Springsteen and the (young) M. Jackson
inspired Prince on stage.
Purple Rain the movie and the album is a triumph and makes Prince
an international star. Like Menphis did with Elvis Presley,
Mineapolis takes benefits with the tremendous "New
Funck" phenomenon.
Prince can be
proud, as he once said:"I growned up in a black and white
city, so I listened to both black and white music and I will
always play every kind of music". When the Purple Rain
tour ended, he already knew that Prince would never get a success
as BIG as Purple Rain…
Purple Rain is truly an 80's classic and definitly one of the
greatest movies ever which starred an actual performer. Mariah
Carey and Eminem tried to capture Purple Rain but the
two films just didn't have the magic that Prince's film had.
And that very 1984 year, Prince and his purple related artists
were just about everywhere!
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1984
- 111 mn - Video VHS
2DVDs Special Edition 2004
Director:
Albert Magnoli
Productors:
Joe Ruffalo, Robert Cavallo, Steve Fargnoli
Cast:
Prince, Apolonia Kotero, Jill Jones,
Jerome Benton, Morris Day, Clarence Williams III
Academy Award:
Best Original Song Score and Adaptation
VIDEOS
When doves cry
Purple Rain
Let's go Crazy
Take me with U
ALBUMS
Purple Rain -
Prince & The Revolution
1. Let's go crazy
2. Take me with U
3. The beautifull ones
4. Computer blue
5. Darling Nikkie
6. When doves cry
7. I would die 4 U
8. Baby I'm a star
10. Purple Rain
Apollonia 6 -
Apollonia 6
Purple Rain hit:
Sex Shooter
Ice Cream Castles - The Time
Purple Rain hit:
Jungle Love
The bird
The Glamourous Life - Sheila
E
Wild Animal - Vanity
+
HITS
Modernaire -
Dez Dickerson
God - Prince
Father's song -
Prince
First
Avenue Club website
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