Film Festivals above all else are meant to bring people together. They are meant to create conversations, create a community, celebrate filmmaking and spectacle. The retrospective on Purple Rain was fun, energetic, and campy. Prince’s film debut celebrated his talent and theatrics and above all brought people together to dance and laugh. This retrospective set out to remind all those attending the Portland International Film Festival what filmmaking and festivals can do, build a community of film lovers. And as our special guest speaker for the night of Purple Rain’s screening: If we want to dance, go ahead, Prince would have wanted us to.
Purple Rain was screened at the Whitsell Auditorium in the Portland Art Museum, a fact I found humorous. The film has a reputation for being dated and campy, and its presence may have been more welcome at the Hollywood Theater a space that welcomes these types of special screening events more. Art museums are inherently meant to display art pieces, which I must now insist is not to say Purple Rain is not a work of art, however the highbrow thoughtfulness of the space does not complement the campiness of the film. Much like how The Rocky Horror Picture Show is screened weekly at the Clinton Theater in Portland and has created a cult among it, so did Purple Rain deserve such an environment. The sternness of the environment may have been a huge factor in the attendance of the film, the screening was sparsely attended. Again, if it were in a traditional theater, the attendance may had been larger.
The film, despite its now politically incorrect and misogynistic views on love and domestic violence, succeeds in shining a spotlight on the superstar that was Prince. His charisma translated well on screen giving the effect that we were back in the 80s watching him live. The plot of the film is melodramatic, the acting is awful, and the sides story of the Kid’s turbulent family home was tone deaf to the rest of the film. But in the long scheme of things, who cares? The costumes were zany and of their time, the film was hilarious, and most importantly, Prince was undeniably Prince. The titular performance of “Purple Rain” is still so powerful, now thirty-six years later, that I could not help but be moved by it.
This, to me, is why the current state of COVID-19 and its effect on the city is so upsetting. It is disrupting day to day life and events that bring together the community, such as PIFF. The current state of limbo the festival is on is disappointing though not the fault of the festival itself. Of course, we should be prioritizing our health. Our everyday life will continue and PIFF will return next year. However, it is always important that we remind ourselves what is worth celebrating. That we search for that light at the end of the tunnel. That we celebrate our lives and dance to fun 80s anthems. Prince would have wanted that.
Written by Anny Gutierrez
PSU School of Film @ PIFF 