Stephen Spielberg directed this adaptation of Alice Walker's Pulitzer prize-winning novel, which spans 40 years in the life of Celie (Whoopi Goldberg), a poor black woman who endures years of abuse from her father and her husband (Danny Glover). When her husband embarks on an affair with beautiful Shug (Margaret Avery), friendship also springs up between the two women, and Celie finally begins to blossom.