Tyler Perry, acclaimed director of several movies including the sequel 'Why Did I Get Married', has done it again, this time trying to reinvent his voice directing ‘For Coloured Girls’, a movie adaptation of 62 year old playwright and novelist Ntozake Shange’s award winning 1975 stage play 'for colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is enough.' While Ntozake’s play consists of seven different women from various points across the country, reciting“dark phrases of womanhood” in the form of poetry, dance and music, Perry’s film connects the lives of nine women living in a New York Harlem apartment building.
For Coloured Girls’ cast includes some of the best actresses in America, with Janet Jackson who plays Jo an icy fashion editrix, Kimberly Elise as Crystal, a working mother in an abusive marriage, Kerry Washington playing Kelly a social worker to Crystal’s kids and others including Whoopi Goldberg (Alice); a religious fanatic, Thandie Newton as Tangie , Gilda (Phylisia Rashad) the building manager, Loretta Devine and Anika Noni Rose.
The plot includes various situations surrounding Ntozake’s play affecting women in genral, from homicide, rape to domestic abuse and abortion . Perry finds a way of showing the different struggles of each of these women living in one building and how they come together to help each other in their tragedies.
Perry's attempt to adapt Ntozake's play was awaited with eager anticipation and has been received with mixed reviews. While some critics have compared the movie with the play concluding that the movie had fallen short, others, say Perry’s work should not be critiqued based on the original play. Some critics say they are tired of the stereotypes that demean uplifted black relationships and ‘coloreds’ while others conclude that Perry ‘For Coloured Girls’ was brilliant in portraying the struggles of not just the black woman but of women of all races.
I'm yet to watch this widely talked about movie, have you? We would like to hear your views, was it a hit or miss, share with us what you think.
You have to watch this movie to see that all the critiques are wrong about it. I personally have not read the play or knew that the movie was an adaptation of the play. I think that the movie captures the struggles all black women have to face accurately. I felt in tune with the film since I know someone who has gone one or more of the issues addressed and I have also similarly gone through some of the issues. The spoken word kind of echo to the film is a new aspect in film making, at least for me. Of cause the film has a few short comings, it is rather too long and presents a couple of hi cups but over all it gets a thumbs up from me. All I can say is that this is a must watch film for all black women. If you don;t feel empowered at the end of it, you probably missed the point.