WhenPrince’sPurple Rainhit cinemas in 1984, it transformed the multitalented artist from Minneapolis into a global megastar. With his vibrant, sensually charged music videos getting heavy rotation on MTV, fans of his royal badness flocked to theaters worldwide to see him make hisacting debut on the big screen. Expecting a two-hour concert movie with romantic scenes, however, audiences discovered thatPurple Rainwas a gritty semi-autobiographical tale of a rising star musician caught between love, ego, and the struggle to survive in an abusive household. The emotional hook of its story and memorable soundtrack madePurple Rainthe single most important milestone in Prince’s legacy.
Despite a brewing tension with his label Warner Bros., the film division of the entertainment company was eager to continue the story of Prince’s “The Kid” and his music rivalMorris Day, the lead singer of The Time. After making blockbuster sales with the soundtrack to 1989’sBatman, the moment appeared perfect for Prince to return to the world established inPurple Rain. As gritty and real as the original movie was, however,the artist decided to take the 1990 sequel,Graffiti Bridge, in a surreal but strange direction.
What is ‘Graffiti Bridge’ About?
Titled after the now-defunct bridge in Eden Prairie, MA,Graffiti Bridgetakes place some years after The Kid and Morris’s respective bands competed against each other at Minneapolis’ First Avenue nightclub. With the original club owner, Billy Sparks, long since passed, The Kid and Morris are willed as co-owners of the newly named Glam Slam club where the former artist plays every night with Prince’s real band, the New Power Generation. Simultaneously, Morris runs a separate competing club called Pandemonium, where he continues to perform with The Time. The two musicians fight to control other clubs in the Seven Corners section of Minneapolis as Morris attempts to extort The Kid by threatening to take full control of Glam Slam so he can pay off the unseen mayor of the neighborhood. Based on the premise alone,Graffiti Bridge’s plot departs fromPurple Rain’s character-driven tale in favor of aWest Side Story-style rival gangs angle.
Aside from the competing nightclubs plot ofGraffiti Bridge’s storyline,the sequel attempts to carry over some of Purple Rain’s emotional tone. The previous installment’s third act saw The Kid’s abusive musician father (Clarence Williams III) attempt to take his own life, but survives.Graffiti Bridgeestablishes The Kid’s father having passed away in the interim as he grieves by writing letters to him in solace. The Kid’s father was not the only role dropped as Prince’s real-life fallouts with several Purple Rain cast members, includingApolloniaKoteroand members ofThe Revolution, led to the addition of new characters played by funk legendGeorge Clinton, gospel singerMavis Staples, and teen starTevin Campbell. For Prince fans expecting key storylines fromPurple Rainto be carried over naturally, they would be surprised to find out thatGraffiti Bridgewas treated as a standalone sequel in a fantasy universe.
WherePurple Rainwas explicit in its music, love scenes, and coarse dialogue,Graffiti Bridgegoes full spiritual withPrince taking the director reinsfrom the previous film’s director,Albert Magnoli. Also absent wasPurple RainscreenwriterWilliam Blinn, whoadapted story notes from a notebook Prince wrote into a cohesive script. This time around, Prince wrote the screenplay by himself with the concept of aWizard of Oz-inspired journey of finding God rather than a semi-biopic. Authentic locations in Minneapolis are replaced by artificial sets inside the artist’s Paisley Park studio. While there are concert scenes like the original film,the sequel has random moments of characters breaking into full-blown 1950s-era musical numbers devoid of the reality thatPurple Rainestablished.
Adding to the fantasy world ofGraffiti Bridgeis The Kid’s new romance Aura (Ingrid Chavez). Much like Apollonia inPurple Rain, Aura is caught in a love triangle between The Kid and Morris, with the latter simply wanting to sleep with her. While both men have their intentions for the mystery woman,Aura represents the bizarre religious slant of the storywhen she’s revealed as an angel sent from Heaven to bring salvation to The Kid and Morris. The triangle leads to some funny but unpleasant moments of the two rivals trying to seduce Aura. One scene sees The Kid save an unconscious Aura by taking her out of Morris’ pitch-black living room before he can seduce her. The scene ends with Morris making out with his bandmate Jerome (Jerome Benton) in place of Aura and vomiting off-screen.
The story ofGraffiti Bridgelacks a cohesive structure compared toPurple Rain. A major part of its theme isthe concept of music as a spiritual force versus a means for commercial reward. The Kid struggles to keep his club open due to patrons being turned off by his soulful but high-tempo tunes. Meanwhile, Morris Day and The Time’s funk-heavy tracks bring big bucks to Pandemonium and further embarrass The Kid. Somehow, Aura has to be the one to settle the feud by encouraging The Kid to not compromise his sound while changing Morris into a better man than a wannabe gangster. Add to that several music video-style sequences to pad the run time,Graffiti Bridgecomes off as an abstract art house film rather than a major studio release.
‘Graffiti Bridge’ Ends On A Somber But Uplifting Note
Graffiti Bridgelacks the electrifying climax thatPurple Rainhad with Prince tearing down the house to the songs “I Would Die 4 U” and “Baby I’m a Star”. The sequel attempts to go further in its religious direction by not ending with a wild performance, despite The Kid challenging Morris to another battle of the bands for control of Glam Slam. Instead, Aura gets killed by a random car on the street, resulting in the two rivals settling their differences through The Kid’s performance of the faith-based tune “Still Would Stand All Time”.It subtly represents the movie title as the power of music as a healing force that bridges The Kid and Morris together rather than dividing them further.
WithoutPurple Rain’s gritty storytelling and edgy tunes,Graffiti Bridgeis a sanitized imitation of the original. Audiences in 1990 were left perplexed by Prince deviating away from the world established inPurple Rainto make a statement about spiritual connections and maintaining one’s identity in a commercial-driven society. Without an established filmmaker and screenwriter behind the scenes, the sequel would be nothing more than a vanity project only Prince understood. Sadly,it would be the last movie he would headline. While its soundtrack sales overcame the terrible box office,Graffiti Bridgeremains a unique but odd entry in Prince’s historic career.
