Purple Rain

Synopsis: The Kid (Prince) and his band, The Revolution, are one of three house bands at the Minneapolis club First Avenue. When a beautiful girl, Apollonia (Apollonia Kotero), appears on the scene she causes a rift between The Kid, The Revolution and his arch rival, Morris Day of The Time. Meanwhile his family is breaking apart. Things aren't looking good for The Kid.

In the early '80s Prince Nelson Rogers produced a succession of albums that enjoyed critical success but never quite hit the big time; Prince, Dirty Mind and Controversy all featured the rock-edged funkiness that he is renowned for but lacked that certain spark to send him to the major league. 1999 got him closer but no one could have foreseen the huge hit that Purple Rain, both the film and album, was to become.

It was a big risk for anyone to back a film starring a relatively unknown name and the producers even started filming without any financial support or a distributor but the moment When Doves Cry was released as the first single from the soundtrack album Prince was pure gold with over 10,000,000 copies of the album sold and the film earning squillions at the box office (it made $70m for a $7m production budget).

Combining Hendrix-style guitar theatrics and James Brown dance moves, he went on to become one of the most influential artists of the '80s. Looking back at Purple Rain, the Prince-penned music still packs a punch; from the epic opening riffs of 'Let's Go Crazy' to the taunting histrionics of  'Darling Nicki', reaching its poignant crescendo with the title track before closing with the dance pop of 'I Would Die 4 U' and 'Baby I'm A Star'.

The performances are surprisingly good for a mainly first-time cast with Prince convincing as the broodily pained Kid and Morris Day and Jerome Benton from The Time providing some comic relief. Although the romance between the Kid and Apollonia is on the surface the main attraction, it is the relationship between The Kid and his father which is the real emotional core of the film. His father's chilling statement "never get married" is actual advice Prince was given as a young man by his own father. This gives Purple Rain something lacking from most '80s music, a soul.

All the usual vacuous trappings of the decade are showcased; the tacky fashions, theatrical make-up and bizarre haircuts along with cheesy synth and thwacking drums  Whilst this is a mixed blessing, Prince is a energetic performer and certainly fans will lap this up.

FYI:  Prince went on to make Under the Cherry Moon, a film ripe for rediscovery, and the truly terrible Purple Rain sequel, Graffiti Bridge.

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