Graffiti Bridge (film)

Infobox_Film
name = Graffiti Bridge


imdb_id = 0099691
writer = Prince
starring = Prince,
Morris Day,
Ingrid Chavez
music = Prince
director = Prince
producer = Randy Phillips,
Craig Rice
distributor = Warner Bros.
released = November 2, 1990
runtime = 95 min.
awards = None
language = English
budget = ??

"Graffiti Bridge" is a film written, directed and starring Prince. It is a sequel to his highly successful first film, "Purple Rain", though notorious for its relatively low quality and poor performance at the box-office. However, like "Purple Rain", it was accompanied by a hit soundtrack.

Story

The plot re-joins "Purple Rain"'s lead character The Kid, in his future life as a performer and club co-owner. Morris Day, his rival from "Purple Rain", returns as co-owner of The Kid's club Glam Slam as well as several others in the area, including his mainstay Pandemonium. Prince is forced into paying Morris $10,000 so Morris can pay off the mayor; Prince in turn can keep co-ownership of his club. Losing clientele, The Kid challenges Morris to a music battle for ownership of Glam Slam.

The film was panned universally for having a wealth of filler; indeed, the film seems to be a collection of music videos strung together with a loose plotline. The film's screenplay was even rejected by Madonna, who turned down the role of the mysterious angel-like figure, Aura, stating that the writing was awful.

A lack of potent characterization or engaging plot left the entire narrative dead and ineffective. The decision to film most scenes in artificial studio sound stages (at Prince's Minneapolis studio Paisley Park) further added a gloomy artifice to the mood.

Interestingly, a few video outtakes have surfaced which indicate that the entire movie was intended to have a more fantastic musical feel not unlike old Hollywood musicals or modern Bollywood. The outtakes of two musical numbers "Can't Stop This Feeling I Got" and "The Latest Fashion" would have helped to instill a fantasy mood, but it seems that these elements were cut at the 11th hour in order to force the movie to seem a more proper relative of "Purple Rain" the film even if it meant costing the very little quality the movie actually had.

Ideas for the filming began as early as 1987, but was cancelled numerous times due to casting. Prince had wanted Madonna in the film as Aura, but she told him that the script was awful. Another brief choice was former girlfriend Anna Fantastic, and then girlfriend Kim Basinger and hopes were high that with Basinger in the film, it could be a hit (As she herself was a talented singer as well.) but when she and Prince broke up in 1990, Ingrid Chavez was hastily hired. For Mavis Staples' role, Prince had planned on using Patti LaBelle, but it never formalized.

Reception

While Prince's earlier movies have become cult classics, "Graffiti Bridge" has yet to achieve any status outside its initial box-office flop.

The critical response for the film was far from favorable, with many reviewers arguing that Prince was attempting to position himself as a "Christ-like" figure, particularly during the sequence for the songs "Still Would Stand All Time" and "Graffiti Bridge". It seemed that The Kid was a far different character from the one in "Purple Rain". Indeed, the only characters who remained unchanged were Morris Day and his sidekick Jerome Benton. Cameos included gospel singer Mavis Staples, up-and-coming teen star Tevin Campbell and funk icon George Clinton, although each were confined to roughly one song in the film. The music of the film was seen as the highlight, though "Thieves in the Temple" was the only song to really make an impact on the charts.

The title "Graffiti Bridge" comes from a now torn-down bridge located in Eden Prairie, MN. The bridge was torn down in the early 1990's to make way for new construction [New York Times, [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=travel&res=9C0CE3DD1639F936A15751C0A966958260 Lovers of Graffiti Rally To Save an Old Bridge] , New York Times, February 25, 1990.] , but to this day remains a local legend.

References