A brilliant idea that unfortunately was undermined by a terrible, amatuerish screenplay and story and direction.

Hear me out...

After the massive success of PURPLE RAIN Prince, movie-wise, could have done whatever he wanted.

The idea of a light, frothy, fun pastiche - one set in southern France - is not a bad idea.

It could have shown a different, lighter side of Prince onscreen after PURPLE RAIN...and also, the European/Continental setting of the picture could have seriously broadened his appeal overseas (which sort of happened anyway).

The music and score was, of course, absolutely brilliant.

But if Prince had allowed another more seasoned writer to re-write the script and also allowed the movie to be directed by a person other than himself - preferably an industry pro who had a voice and who Prince trusted and listened to - the movie could have been a lot better (and made more $).

I agree. It's funny and a good idea but flawed in execution.

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Conversely, Graffiti Bridge was always a terrible idea, even on paper.

NouveauDance said:

I agree. It's funny and a good idea but flawed in execution.

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Conversely, Graffiti Bridge was always a terrible idea, even on paper.

LOL. Agreed. Why did Prince film a Purple Rain sequel ON A FLIPPIN' SOUND STAGE????!!!!!!!

And with a script written by what appeared to be a middle schooler.

soladeo1 said:

NouveauDance said:

I agree. It's funny and a good idea but flawed in execution.

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Conversely, Graffiti Bridge was always a terrible idea, even on paper.

LOL. Agreed. Why did Prince film a Purple Rain sequel ON A FLIPPIN' SOUND STAGE????!!!!!!!

And with a script written by what appeared to be a middle schooler.

Yep. Still haven't watched that thing whole way through and never will. I don't even think I rewatch the music videos, even though the actual music is good.

Graffiti Bridge is the worst thing Prince has ever done

I agree. The essence of the Prince we knew up till this point was all over and throught the movie.

Only things that were not a brilliant idea was not having band performances and Prince thinking he could direct the movie.

AvocadosMax said:

Graffiti Bridge is the worst thing Prince has ever done

Love the album, but the movie seemed like a continuing music video with all the songs featured. I liked Under the Cherry Moon though. I thought the movie was cute and quirkly and of course I think Parade is a classic.

Two things that killed it:

A black-and white film in a period when classic B/W films were being colorized.

Killing off the main character.

The less said about both films, the better.

I've long thought UTCM could have been a brilliant movie if Prince and Jerome were cast as jazz musicians in 1920s New Orleans (or Paris). The romance -- including the obvious racial drama -- could have been the side story. The only thing really wrong with the movie is that it's too Reagan-era money-grubbing.

[Edited 8/3/19 21:18pm]

soladeo1 said:

A brilliant idea that unfortunately was undermined by a terrible, amatuerish screenplay and story and direction.

Hear me out...

After the massive success of PURPLE RAIN Prince, movie-wise, could have done whatever he wanted.

The idea of a light, frothy, fun pastiche - one set in southern France - is not a bad idea.

It could have shown a different, lighter side of Prince onscreen after PURPLE RAIN...and also, the European/Continental setting of the picture could have seriously broadened his appeal overseas (which sort of happened anyway).

The music and score was, of course, absolutely brilliant.

But if Prince had allowed another more seasoned writer to re-write the script and also allowed the movie to be directed by a person other than himself - preferably an industry pro who had a voice and who Prince trusted and listened to - the movie could have been a lot better (and made more $).

prince trying to be more accessible and more "normal" may have helped him with a lot of the public but guys like me, and i'm sure many of his misfit fans preferred the exotic, mulatto, rebel loner Prince the best, we saw more of ourselves in him. But ya, it may have helped him had the project worked. what would have really helped him is if he'd milked purple rain and refrained from having bodyguards beat people up and been more accessible at the zenith of his fame, not two years later, even back then, the pop world moved along at a rapid pace, always has, you're hot today, cold tomorrow. Sinatra was trying to kill himself just a few years after his peak because of this truth.

AvocadosMax said:

Graffiti Bridge is the worst thing Prince has ever done

Co-sign.

A lot of UTWCM's problems could have been solved by making Prince more of an outirght musician and less of a gigalo. If he was actually a street level musician. a struggling poet and artist and legitimately portrayed as actually POOR and sympathetic instead of this weird self absorbed asshole, you might have had something.

Showing him playing guitar on the street corner and doing his piano lounge lizard stuff in small smokey bars, along with dialing down his clothes a few notches to give off the impression that he's seriously struggling could have allowed for more musical numbers - which plays to his strength obviously.

But the biggest problem was the writing.

It often made no fucking sense at all and, when it did, never made us feel any sympathy for the main character. He just came off as this narcissistic, off putting weirdo that emobied everything that people who don't like Prince REALLY don't like about Prince. This was overcome in Purple Rain due to the musical numbers, Prince's natural charisma and a story arc that at least showed us WHY the Kid was a fucked up asshole while being offered a path to redemption.

Here, we're just supposed to like him because he's Prince and super cool and all I guess.

EDIT: Hey. Is everyone's avatar showing up for anyone else? I just noticed that they're not displaying for me

[Edited 8/4/19 7:42am]

laytonian said:

Two things that killed it:

A black-and white film in a period when classic B/W films were being colorized.

Killing off the main character.

I agree that the movie should have been in color.A black and white movie released in the summer of 1986?! That was a tough sell.

I am kinda opposite on the "on paper it's a good idea". Here is a musician, who is a huge star and made a movie about being a band. Now he wants to star in a movie as an actor? Elvis had some succes with it, but he always had a song to sing.

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On top of that, not just a movie, but a 40s/50s style movie, both in the writing and the camera work? Almost all the other actors are musicians or unknowns?

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It was an idea that was doomed from the start. On top of that, add some huge egos and trouble with directors, actors, people being changed/fired during the shooting and a star that takes on roles he never had done or even attempted, while being distracted by a range of ladies.

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Oddly enough, I like the end result. Would have been nicer in colour (I don't like how they made it b/w, could have used more contrast), would have been nicer if the corny lines had been worked on more, would have been nice if it had a happy ending, would have been....

.

As it is, it's a nice movie, funny at times (never really touching though), cool looking, with amazing music.

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They might release UTCM in colour,

as an extra DVD with the PARADE remaster,

if that might happen in the future.

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Then they probably will.

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Visually (black and white film, album artwork, videos) and sonically (album + outtakes + Clare Fischer), this era was STUNNING.

UTCM itself isn't even all that bad as a movie. I rewatched it after Prince died and it held up surprisingly well.

Se7en said:

Visually (black and white film, album artwork, videos) and sonically (album + outtakes + Clare Fischer), this era was STUNNING.

UTCM itself isn't even all that bad as a movie. I rewatched it after Prince died and it held up surprisingly well.

Agreed. People who bag on the black and white (in particular) don't get what he was trying to do. This was supposed to be a send-up of 30s screwball comedies. Doing it in color would have been incongruous and stupid.

Definitely my favorite era.

Se7en said:

Visually (black and white film, album artwork, videos) and sonically (album + outtakes + Clare Fischer), this era was STUNNING.

UTCM itself isn't even all that bad as a movie. I rewatched it after Prince died and it held up surprisingly well.

the black and white was not the problem, the look of everything, prince may never have had a better set of fashion and imagery. The movie had real problems but.., it was good enough that many of us quote and like parts of the entire project to this day. His pop moment was over, I wonder had he even made a pr two instead at that time, would it have fared any better. it's never been easy or rather, a sure thing for artists to hop across medias and have success, never, there is always a question, "will the tv star be able to do movies?" "Will the singer be able to act in a movie?" and going all the way back to the silent film era "will silent film stars be able to succeed with sound" some could, some couldn't.

Genesia said:

Se7en said:

Visually (black and white film, album artwork, videos) and sonically (album + outtakes + Clare Fischer), this era was STUNNING.

UTCM itself isn't even all that bad as a movie. I rewatched it after Prince died and it held up surprisingly well.

Agreed. People who bag on the black and white (in particular) don't get what he was trying to do. This was supposed to be a send-up of 30s screwball comedies. Doing it in color would have been incongruous and stupid.

Definitely my favorite era.

+1

soladeo1 said:

Vannormal said:

-

They might release UTCM in colour,

as an extra DVD with the PARADE remaster,

if that might happen in the future.

-

Then they probably will.

-

It must be nice to hope for the things you wish to want.

Vannormal said:

-

They might release UTCM in colour,

as an extra DVD with the PARADE remaster,

if that might happen in the future.

-

Then they probably will.

-

We have been told repeatedly that there is no color print (or original) of Under the Cherry Moon.

Prince was a bad actor, simple as.

And before you bring up Purple Rain...... That was a hit because of all the things surrounding Prince and his character. The music, the vibe, Morris, the music scene etc.
But even then his acting was embarrassing to say the least.

And it was more visible on UTCM and GB.

callimnate said:

Prince was a bad actor, simple as.

And before you bring up Purple Rain...... That was a hit because of all the things surrounding Prince and his character. The music, the vibe, Morris, the music scene etc.
But even then his acting was embarrassing to say the least.

And it was more visible on UTCM and GB.

This is fair. He just about pulled it off in PR because there wasn't much acting and what their was his distant attitude was part of the story, but in UTCM and GB his standoffishness is unappealing to an audience. The humour also doesn't translate to many audiences. I've watched it with people who've sat stone-faced through a lot of the jokes because they just don't get Prince's humour. The jokes aren't so much the problem as the delivery, it just doesn't project on to the big screen.

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The music took a back seat in UTCM so that can't be used so much as a crutch, or as it was in PR, the selling point and real star. The story premise works and much of the cast is servicable. The setting is fantastic, it just needed more people experienced in the medium to really take Prince's raw ideas and tighten them up into a more professional package. Difficult when you have an untouchable megastar with a recently track record in proving naysayers wrong with cinema.

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Re: colour and b&w. I love the b&w theme of the era, but it was filmed in colour, so the movie looks washed out. When you see the colour stills, you see the beautiful costumes in all their glory. Maybe there could've been a compromise where the intro bar scene was in b&w, and then with the opening fanfare of CT's Parade it could've burst in to colour, something like that. You get the idea with regards to it's golden age of Hollywood influences, but you get the visual hit of Prince and crew in the South of France in all their flamboyant glory. Just spitballin' ideas.

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I will say regardless of final execution the ideas were solid and tried and tested movie archtypes. Additionally, these kind of vanity projects are just something you don't get unless you at that level of fame and in the eye of the storm as Prince was post-Purple Rain. You almost wouldn't want it any other way because you lose something when things are too ironed out of all their kinks and idiosyncrasies. It's fun to examine and pick at the threads, wondering about the what if's and could've beens (as we are here).

Flaws preventing be more commercial succesful:
B/W
He died, and did so in the most theatralic embarassing way
Music was a side-thing
Too typical humor (the Record Store wordplay was very awkward for many of us Europeans)
too many 'wait for it' moments

TheFman said:

Flaws preventing be more commercial succesful:

He died, and did so in the most theatralic embarassing way

I don't think the ending had anything to do with the movie being a commercial flop. No one knew Christopher was going to die before they saw it.

sexton said:

TheFman said:

Flaws preventing be more commercial succesful:

He died, and did so in the most theatralic embarassing way

I don't think the ending had anything to do with the movie being a commercial flop. No one knew Christopher was going to die before they saw it.