Riffs, Ruffles and a Revolution: The Impact and Influence of Purple Rain

Overview

Take a richly-human story of survival and triumph, a now soundtrack by some of the hottest bands around and the startling, brooding presence of the 24-year old rock superstar Prince - the man who lived the music - and you've got Purple Rain, which according to Rolling Stone, "may be the smartest, most spiritually ambitious rock-'n'-roll movie ever made." This is the passionate behind-the scenes stuff that rock-'n'-roll dreams are made of, a pulsating, slice-of-rock semiautobiographical film starring Prince as "The Kid", a Minneapolis club musician known for his lightning guitar riffs and flash-fire vocals. As alienated as he is talented, The Kid struggles with both a tumultuous homelife and his own smoldering anger while taking refuge in his music and his steamy love for sultry Apollonia Kotero (lead singer of the camisole-chic Apollonia 6)