Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1513564
50 C I N E M O N T A G E F E A T U R E By Kristin Marguerite Doidge E legant and grounded: that's how di- rector Blitz Bazawule described his vision for the new musical film, "The Color Purple," to picture editor Jon Poll when they first got started. "I knew the film we were going to make would have to depart from the 1985 movie in terms of tone — and that we'd have to find our own visual language that would carry on sonically," Bazawule said. "As we navi- gated the trauma and abuse in the story, we knew the fantastical elements had to come from reality." Oscillating between reality and fantasy, the post-production team — including Poll, additional and first assistant editor Kheireddine El-Helou, sound engineer Paul Massey, and supervising sound editors Julian Slater and Renee Tondelli — helped Bazawule strike a balance between style and substance as he took the helm of his first feature film. The coming-of-age period dra- ma is based on the stage musical, the 1985 dramatic film directed by Steven Spielberg, and the 1982 novel of the same name by Alice Walker. The new version stars Taraji P. Henson, Danielle Brooks, Colman Domingo, Corey Hawkins, H.E.R., Halle Bailey, Phylicia Pearl Mpasi, and Fantasia Barrino in her Feelings in 'Color' THE POST-PRODUCTION TEAM REVEALS HOW REMAKING 'THE COLOR PURPLE' AS A MUSICAL BROUGHT NEW EMOTIONS FROM A CLASSIC WORK HAPPY DAYS: Phylicia Pearl Mpasi, left, and Halle Bailey in "The Color Purple." P H OT O : WA R N E R B R O S . P I C T U R E S