And This is For Colored Girls Who Are Moving to the Ends of Their Own Rainbows

I saw For Colored Girls last night with my husband (well, he will be in 5 weeks). He was opposed to going but I nagged him enough to make him change his mind. Let me begin by saying, I am so pleasantly surprised. I went in to the film skeptical and fearful Perry might destroy such a beautiful and powerful piece of literature. (I am also not a fan of Tyler Perry's work and Ntozake Shange is one of my all time favs.)

Every phrase and every beat in the chore-poem has great depth and meaning. It is something that could have been easily lost in translation. I wan to commend Tyler Perry for doing Shange justice and translating this book well to film. Literature and film are two totally different mediums so I understand that he might have had to make some hard artistic choices to maintain integrity.

After watching the film I went home and re-read the book to make a fully informed critique of the film. I decided, for what it was, I was happy and would recommend this film to everyone - especially men.

For starters, Perry could not have assembled a better cast of women. Every performance was amazing. I have always loved Lorreta Devine and Thandie Newton and Madame Rashad. Kimberly Elise is always so moving and she definitely was in this film. I have read the book so many times and every time I notice something new. With these women and their performances I got the same feeling; there was a new emotion and interpretation with their delivery, as if I had read it all over again with fresh eyes. One example, "Somebody almost walked off wit all of my stuff...", delivered by Devine, just became so much clearer for me. Sure, I was able to comprehend the words when I read them but when she spoke them, I felt those words.

There were some great moments in the film. One was the Opera scene...no spoilers so I'll let you see it and decided for yourself on that one.

One of my favorite parts of the book is the Toussant L'Ouveture poem which was shortened dramatically for the sake of moving the film along. I understand, but its my favorite part of the book and I would have liked to hear it through. Perry of course could not remain 100% true to the book but fans of the book beware he did make a few changes.

One change that I appreciated was the "my world is now six blocks" speech delivered by Macy Gray. In reading the poem, I always imagined an older woman or a middle age woman moving about her day full of errands in Harlem. Perry's interpretation of a very much jaded woman whose given up for the most part was a different look at the character I had never seen before.

IF you have seen the 80's PBS version of the film, featuring Shange herself, you may prefer this Perry's version, much like I do. That's not to say I don't love the original, but Perry's version makes for a much better film. I also believe that Perry's version will be able to reach those women moving to the ends of their rainbows; those women who may not find the book easily accessible.

Those of you out there who might be skeptical like I was, I say give it a shot. For those of you who are Perry/Madea fans, this may not be the film for you.