DVD-2 34 WARNER HOME VIDEO PRINCE THE AUTEUR had ...
WARNER HOME VIDEO
PRINCE THE AUTEUR had a colorful reign in the 80s, and these three new releases commemorate that now-nostalgic moment when multiculturalism and androgyny made egotism fun.
In the self-mythologizing Purple Rain, Prince bid for the decade's Zeitgeist champ-his only likely rival Michael Jackson's Thriller coup. This low-budget piece of Oscar-winning self-adoration actually has a theme, though you have to peek out from under the avalanche of hooks to catch it. It's the oversexed story of a boy-man (The Kid) who comes to understand that sexism is unfair to women.
Single-by-single, Purple Rain revived the movie musical with Prince's incendiary stage performances and director Albert Magnoli's deft imitation of Bob Fosse. Magnoli stuffed some feeling amidst the ruffles and eyeliner. When the Kid's competitor Morris Day ridicules him backstage, Magnoli cuts to a shot of Day alone in the corridor regretting his callous one-upsmanship. That pause for reflection is an instance of conscientious drama few pop artists today would dare. But then audacity is what makes Purple Rain terrific.
Mystique was the rule for the unofficial sequel, Under the Cherry Moon. Prince's ego shoved Mary Lambert out of the director's chair and the result, a black-and-white psycho-comic-minstrel musical. Nothing really works, but the music from the Parade album (my favorite) interrupts the soundtrack-and who could argue with "Kiss"? The DVD features music videos from Parade, providing a time-capsule supplement.
Few things went right with Graffiti Bridge. Despite Hendrix mythology, the storyline (?) is pure delirium: Prince chases an angel named Aura (Ingrid Chavez). Saving grace is Tevin Campbell-a true r&b cherub singing "Round and Round." Prince's movie rain turns to mud, but the saga continued in the innovative concert film Sign O the Times, my choice for the best American movie musical since Singin' in the Rain. It'd make a great DVD.
ARMOND WHITE