PURPLE: Movie Color Palettes

This is cinema’s most contradictory and psychologically complex color. Welcome to the tenth installment of our Movie Color Palette series! We’ve journeyed through a vibrant spectrum — from the primal power of red and the earthy grounding of brown to the artificial jolt of magenta and the cool detachment of cyan. Now, we arrive at perhaps the most regal, mysterious, and historically significant hue of all: purple.

For millennia, this was the color of emperors and kings. As discussed in the magenta installment, its pigment, famously derived from the rare Tyrian snail, was so exorbitantly expensive that it became the ultimate symbol of royalty, power, and immense wealth. In cinema, purple retains this aura of exclusivity, but its unique position — a blend of fiery, passionate red and calm, stable blue — gives it a powerful psychological duality. It is the color of magic, the supernatural, the unknown, and even a touch of madness or corruption.

In this article, we delve into the complex psychology and diverse symbolism of purple on screen. We’ll analyze how filmmakers wield this potent color, from the opulent robes in historical epics and the fantastical glow of a fantasy world to the unsettling, hazy light in a sci-fi thriller or the signature color of an iconic villain. Through compelling film examples, we will see how purple is used to convey power, spirituality, the surreal, and the otherworldly.

More Articles About Color Theory: RED: Movie Color Palettes BLUE: Movie Color Palettes YELLOW: Movie Color Palettes GREEN: Movie Color Palettes MAGENTA: Movie Color Palettes ORANGE: Movie Color Palettes  BROWN: Movie Color Palettes  BLACK & WHITE: Movie Color Palettes CYAN: Movie Color Palettes  The Many Types of Color in Film The Color of Dune with David Cole

MOVIE COLOR PALETTE SERIES

This exploration of purple is the tenth chapter in our ongoing mission to dissect the visual language of film, one hue at a time. Join us as we continue to unpack the cinematic spectrum, providing insights to deepen your appreciation and enhance your own visual storytelling.

PURPLE: THE COLOR OF MAGIC, MYSTERY & MADNESS

As we explored in our MAGENTA: Movie Color Palette article, the history of purple pigments is inextricably linked to rarity, power, and royalty. It stems from the impossibly expensive Tyrian purple dye. But beyond its royal status, purple holds a unique and complex psychological space, one that filmmakers have eagerly exploited.  

A DUALITY OF SPIRIT AND PASSION

In art and psychology, purple’s power comes from its composite nature. It is a blend of fiery, passionate red and calm, spiritual blue. This inherent duality makes it a color of ambiguity and tension. It represents the meeting point of the physical and the spiritual, the body and the mind, and as such, has long been associated with mysticism, magic, and the supernatural. It’s not the raw, earthly energy of a primary color; it’s a complex, contemplative, and often “unnatural” hue.

In medieval and Renaissance art, while gold and blue often represented the purity of heaven, shades of purple and violet were frequently used for the robes of Christ during his Passion or for the Virgin Mary, symbolizing piety, mourning, and a divine connection to earthly suffering. 

It was a color of spiritual authority, bridging the gap between human red and divine blue. Later, this association with the non-tangible made it a favorite of Romantic and Symbolist painters, who used shades of violet and purple to evoke dream states, melancholy, and a sense of the otherworldly.

PURPLE AND THE DAWN OF TECHNICOLOR 

The arrival of three-strip Technicolor in the mid-1930s finally made true, rich purples possible, and early filmmakers immediately leaned into its most potent associations: royalty, fantasy, and dark magic.

SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS

In Walt Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), the choice of purple for the Evil Queen’s flowing gown is a perfect early example. 

The color instantly communicates her royal status. However, its deep, non-natural shade, particularly in stark contrast to Snow White’s primary colors, also signifies her corruption, her connection to dark magic, and the story’s “unnatural” elements.

THE WIZARD OF OZ

In The Wizard of Oz (1939), shades of purple and violet are used extensively in the fantastical, otherworldly designs of the film. It’s a color that signals to the audience that they are far from the sepia-toned reality of Kansas.

In these early applications, purple was a color of pure spectacle, deliberately employed to bring an immediate sense of magic, power, and fantasy to the screen. 

Ultimately, it sets the stage for its more nuanced and psychological uses in the decades to come.

PURPLE ON THE EARLY SCREEN:

As color film technology matured beyond the initial three-strip Technicolor process, filmmakers gained even greater control over their palettes. They began to explore the deeper, more complex psychological dimensions of purple. 

Moving beyond its foundational use for royalty and high magic, directors from the 1950s through the 1970s wielded purple and its related hues (violet, lavender, mauve) to signify eccentricity, psychological unrest, altered states, and a cold, elegant form of evil.

WALT DISNEY ANIMATION: THE CODIFICATION OF REGAL EVIL

While the Evil Queen in Snow White introduced the concept, it was the animated feature Sleeping Beauty (1959) that cemented purple as the definitive color of elegant, aristocratic villainy in the cinematic consciousness. 

The film’s antagonist, Maleficent, is a masterpiece of color design. Her entire being is defined by black (representing pure evil and the void) and dramatic flashes of violet and purple in her robes and the magical flames she conjures. 

This purple is far more than “evil.” Rather, it’s regal evil. It signifies her immense, otherworldly power, her cold pride, and her separation from the natural, earthy tones of the good fairies, solidifying a visual shorthand that countless films would follow. 

MEL STUART: THE ECCENTRIC PURPLE OF WILLY WONKA & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY

In Mel Stuart’s Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971), color is used to create a world of pure imagination, and no costume is more iconic than Wonka’s (Gene Wilder) signature purple velvet coat. 

This single piece of wardrobe does immense character work. It’s the color of royalty, and he is the undisputed king of his fantastical domain. It’s the color of magic, and he is a creative wizard. But it’s also the color of eccentricity. He is a brilliant, unpredictable, and slightly unhinged madman. 

The purple perfectly captures his contradictory nature: Is he a kind benefactor or a moralizing tyrant? The color holds both possibilities, making it the perfect choice for his mercurial character.

NICOLAS ROEG: THE PSYCHEDELIC PURPLE OF PERFORMANCE

Nicolas Roeg, first as co-director of Performance (1970), helped usher in a grittier, more psychological use of color. The film explores the collision of a brutal London gangster and a reclusive, decadent rock star, Turner (Mick Jagger). 

As the gangster hides in Turner’s bohemian flat, the film’s visual style becomes increasingly disorienting. The set design and lighting are steeped in rich, decadent, and sensual colors, including deep purples and magentas. 

Here, purple is the color of the psychedelic counter-culture, representing altered states of consciousness, androgyny, and the sensual, amoral blurring of identities. It’s a disorienting, intoxicating, and “unnatural” hue for a film that dissolves the very boundaries of reality. 

PURPLE IN CONTEMPORARY FILM:

As filmmaking moved into the digital age, directors and colorists gained unprecedented, precise control over their palettes. Purple, no longer constrained by the availability of specific pigments or the variability of film stock, was fully unleashed. 

Contemporary filmmakers have embraced its inherent duality to explore complex themes. It has become a go-to hue for stylish villainy, otherworldly technology, surreal dreamscapes, and a modern, spiritual form of power. 

CHRISTOPHER NOLAN: THE ANARCHIC PURPLE OF THE DARK KNIGHT

Perhaps the most iconic use of purple in modern cinema is the signature color of Heath Ledger’s Joker in The Dark Knight (2008). This is the purple of chaos. His gaudy, ill-fitting purple suit, deliberately paired with a sickly green, creates a jarring, unnatural, and unsettling visual. 

The color choices are a direct reflection of his philosophy. The purple signifies his desire for anarchy, his theatrical menace, and his complete break from societal norms. It’s the color of a bruise, of corruption, and of a grand, psychopathic performance. 

RYAN COOGLER: THE ROYAL PURPLE OF WAKANDA IN BLACK PANTHER

Ryan Coogler reclaims purple’s association with royalty and infuses it with new meaning in Black Panther (2018). In Wakanda, purple is the color of Vibranium, the nation’s lifeblood, and it represents a unique fusion of spiritual heritage and technological supremacy. 

This is most beautifully realized in the Ancestral Plane, a breathtaking landscape bathed in ethereal purple light, where T’Challa communes with his ancestors. 

Here, purple is not just royal; it is spiritual, cosmic, and powerful, a positive and Afrofuturist symbol of a power unlike any other on Earth. 

PANOS COSMATOS: THE PSYCHEDELIC PURPLE OF VENGEANCE IN MANDY

In Panos Cosmatos’s cult masterpiece, Mandy (2018), purple is not just a color; it’s a psychoactive state. The entire film is soaked in a thick, “cosmic” purple and violet haze that represents the story’s descent into a psychedelic, grief-fueled nightmare. 

This unnatural, hazy purple, often blended with bloody reds, creates a surreal, otherworldly atmosphere. It becomes the color of the film’s dream logic, its sinister cult, and the vengeful, almost magical, rage of its protagonist, transforming the entire landscape into a heavy metal album cover brought to life. 

ALEX GARLAND: THE UNNATURAL PURPLE OF MUTATION IN ANNIHILATION

In Alex Garland’s sci-fi horror Annihilation (2018), purple is the color of the alien and the unknowable. Inside “The Shimmer,” the very laws of nature are refracted, often manifesting as a beautiful, unnatural purple and violet sheen on the landscape and mutated creatures. 

This ethereal purple represents a seductive but terrifying corruption. It’s the color of a beautiful, invasive, and non-human force that is actively rewriting life itself, creating an atmosphere that is both mesmerizing and deeply unsettling.

THE RUSSO BROTHERS: THE COSMIC PURPLE IN AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR

In the culmination of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Avengers: Infinity War (2018), the Russo Brothers use purple as the ultimate symbol of cosmic power and menace. This is most evident in the film’s central antagonist, Thanos, a “mad titan” whose very skin is a shade of purplish-mauve, giving him an unnatural, regal, and imposing presence. 

Furthermore, the first Infinity Stone he acquires, the Power Stone, is a violent, pulsating purple. This hue visually represents the uncontrollable, destructive, and otherworldly energy he commands, drawing directly from a long comic book tradition of purple as the color of supreme, universe-ending villainy.

NICOLAS WINDING REFN: THE ELECTRIC PURPLE OF VIOLENCE

In the neon-drenched underworlds of Nicolas Winding Refn’s films, purple is the color of a waking nightmare. In Only God Forgives (2013), purple and deep violet are used with hellish reds to light the interiors of the Bangkok underworld, signifying a space of impending violence, corruption, and otherworldly judgment. 

Similarly, in The Neon Demon (2016), the high-fashion world is bathed in a synthetic, saturated purple and magenta glow, representing its complete artifice, predatory nature, and a surreal, narcissistic descent where beauty and horror become one. 

 

BENJAMIN CLEARY: THE SERENE PURPLE OF A NEAR-FUTURE

Benjamin Cleary’s sci-fi drama Swan Song (2021) uses a clean, minimalist, and often cool palette to depict its near-future setting. Lavender and soft purple hues appear in the atmospheric lighting of the sterile, high-tech cloning facility, contrasting with the warmer tones of the outside world and human memory. 

This purple is the color of a serene, contemplative, and slightly melancholic technological limbo, reflecting the film’s themes of identity, loss, and the quiet weight of difficult choices. 

EMERALD FENNELL: THE DECADENT PURPLE OF ARISTOCRATIC ROT

Emerald Fennell’s Saltburn (2023) uses a rich, decadent color palette to depict the world of the English aristocracy, with purple and red being particularly significant. These colors represent wealth, power, desire, and corrupted luxury. The opulent interiors of the Saltburn estate are often bathed in a warm, golden light, but moments of transgression, desire, and violence are steeped in deep reds and purples. 

The purple here is the color of a bruise, of poison, and of a royal-like decadence that has turned rotten, visually representing the seductive but ultimately corrosive nature of the world Oliver enters. 

JANE SCHOENBRUN: THE HAZY PURPLE OF NOSTALGIA AND HORROR

Jane Schoenbrun’s I Saw the TV Glow (2024) is defined by its stylized, lo-fi aesthetic, and purple is a central, atmospheric color. The film is steeped in the hazy, dreamlike glow of old CRT televisions and suburban teenage alienation. Purple, often paired with magenta, becomes the color of “The Pink Opaque”—a supernatural, liminal space that is both alluring and terrifying. 

It represents a reality just beyond our own. It’s a feeling of dysphoria, and the fuzzy, half-remembered quality of a haunting, nostalgic obsession.

JULIA DUCOURNAU: THE BODILY PURPLE OF TRANSFORMATION

Julia Ducournau’s Palme d’Or-winning Titane (2021) uses color in a visceral, tactile way. While known for its metallic blues and fiery oranges, purple appears in key moments of bodily transformation and trauma. It’s the unnatural color of deep, spreading bruises on skin and the strange, iridescent, oil-slick quality of the protagonist’s leaking fluids. 

It’s a corporeal, unsettling hue that highlights the film’s themes of body horror, dysmorphia, and the painful, “unnatural” merging of flesh and machine. 

EDGAR WRIGHT: THE NEON PURPLE OF A SINISTER PAST

Edgar Wright’s Last Night in Soho (2021) uses a dual-color palette to separate timelines, but purple (and magenta) acts as a bridge. While the present day is dominated by cool blues, the idealized 1960s are all alluring reds. As the dream sours into a nightmare, the film’s neon-lit world becomes a sinister, disorienting mix of reds and blues, often combining to create an intense, threatening violet/purple glow. 

This purple represents the intersection of the two worlds, the bleed-through of past trauma, and the glamorous dream turning into a ghostly, neon-soaked nightmare. 

BRADY CORBET: THE SYNTHETIC PURPLE OF POP STARDOM

Brady Corbet’s Vox Lux (2018) charts the rise of a pop star born from tragedy. The film’s aesthetic becomes increasingly artificial as her fame grows, and the performance sequences are bathed in the synthetic, spectacular light of the stage. Purple and magenta are key colors here, representing the manufactured, empty, and almost alien nature of modern pop spectacle. 

It’s the color of a performance that is all surface, a high-tech, emotionally detached show that masks the deep trauma at its core.

ALEJANDRO INARRITU: THE THEATRICAL PURPLE OF MAGICAL REALISM

In Birdman (2014), cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki creates a world of contrasts. The cramped, stressful backstage reality of the theatre is often steeped in sickly greens and yellows. But in moments when Riggan (Michael Keaton) escapes into his superheroic delusions, the lighting often shifts. A deep, theatrical purple or magical blue can be seen, particularly on the stage itself or in his fantasy sequences. 

This purple represents the “magic” of the theatre, his ego, his past power, and his flights of magical realism, a stark contrast to the gritty “truth” he is supposedly chasing.

DAVID LYNCH: THE UNSETTLING VIOLET OF THE HOLLYWOOD DREAM

David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive (2001) uses color to navigate its slippery, dreamlike logic. While reds and blues are prominent, purple and violet hues appear at key points of intersection between the dream and the nightmare. The ominous, flickering purple light of Club Silencio, for instance, is a prime example. 

This purple is the color of a synthetic, pre-recorded, and deeply melancholic void. It signifies a space where reality has collapsed, representing the artificiality of the Hollywood dream and the tragic unreality of Diane’s existence.  

RYAN GOSLING: THE NEON-SOAKED PURPLE OF A DARK FAIRYTALE

Ryan Gosling’s directorial debut Lost River (2014) paints a dark, modern fairytale set against a decaying urban landscape. The film is defined by its intense, neon lighting, which cinematographer Benoît Debie saturates to an extreme. Along with lurid reds and greens, deep purple is used to light the film’s more surreal and menacing spaces, particularly the bizarre underground club. 

This purple is the color of a magical, yet deeply unsettling, underworld. It’s a synthetic, dreamlike hue that highlights the film’s themes of decay and fantasy.

DAVID LOWERY: THE COSMIC PURPLE OF ETERNITY

David Lowery’s A Ghost Story (2017) uses its unique aspect ratio and desaturated palette to create a profound sense of melancholy and time. While largely defined by muted tones, the film’s climax features a stunning, cosmic light show as the ghost finally lets go. This sequence explodes with ethereal, nebulous purples, violets, and blues. 

Here, purple is the color of the cosmos, of eternity, and of a spiritual transition beyond the confines of the house and time itself, offering a moment of transcendent, otherworldly release. 

MOLLY MANNING WALKER: THE HAZY PURPLE OF THE CLUB

In How to Have Sex (2023), director and DP Molly Manning Walker plunges the audience into the hazy, hedonistic, and often overwhelming sensory experience of a teen holiday. The film’s defining night scenes are set in clubs drenched in hazy purple, magenta, and blue light. 

This purple is the color of the party, a synthetic, intoxicating, and disorienting glow. It creates an atmosphere that is both exciting and predatory, visually representing the blurred lines, peer pressure, and the confusing, often dangerous, space between youthful desire and consent. 

HARMONY KORINE: THE HAZY PURPLE OF HEDONISM

Harmony Korine’s The Beach Bum (2019) is a sun-scorched, neon-hazed comedy, and purple is a key part of its otherworldly, hedonistic palette. Cinematographer Benoît Debie bathes the film’s perpetual night-life in a saturated, dreamlike glow. 

Purple and magenta light from bars and clubs create a disorienting, almost magical atmosphere. It’s the color of an altered state, a world without consequences, reflecting the carefree, poetic, and completely detached lifestyle of its protagonist, Moondog. 

STEVEN SPIELBERG: THE DIGITAL PURPLE OF THE OASIS

In Ready Player One (2018), Steven Spielberg visually differentiates the bleak, gray real world from the vibrant digital world of the OASIS. Within the OASIS, purple is a key signifier of fantasy and technology. It appears in the glow of magical items, the energy of high-tech weapons, and the digital landscapes of certain planets or zones (like the nightclub). 

This purple is purely synthetic, representing the infinite, fantastical, and non-physical possibilities of the digital world where the characters truly feel alive. 

THE POWER OF VISUAL REFERENCE: SHOTDECK ILLUMINATES CINEMATIC STORYTELLING

Throughout this exploration of purple in cinema, we’ve relied on striking visual examples to illustrate the color’s diverse applications and emotional impact. From the regal, magical purples of Black Panther and the chaotic villainy of The Dark Knight, to the psychedelic haze of Mandy, these images are invaluable tools. They help us understand how color functions as a central part of the cinematic language. But where can filmmakers, film students, and passionate cinephiles find these specific shots, analyze color palettes in detail, and draw inspiration for their own work?

The answer, increasingly, is ShotDeck. ShotDeck is more than just a vast collection of film stills. It’s a revolutionary resource that’s transforming how filmmakers approach pre-production, visual research, and even film analysis itself. It’s the world’s largest searchable database of high-definition movie images, meticulously curated and tagged with an unprecedented level of detail.

Every image in this article, showcasing the masterful use of purple across a range of films and directorial styles, was sourced from ShotDeck’s extensive library. As we continue our Movie Color Palette series, exploring the vibrant world of cinematic color, resources like ShotDeck will undoubtedly play an increasingly vital role. They empower filmmakers to learn from the masters, dissect visual techniques, find inspiration for using specific hues like purple, and ultimately, shape the future of cinema.

THE BOTTOM LINE:

Our deep dive into cinematic purple reveals a color with unparalleled historical weight and psychological complexity. Born from the rarity of Tyrian dye, its association with royalty, power, and wealth was its foundation. But its true power, and the reason filmmakers are so drawn to it, lies in its duality. As a blend of passionate red and stable blue, purple is inherently mysterious, a color of the spirit, magic, and the supernatural.

This exploration of purple, our tenth installment, concludes our main journey through the Movie Color Palettes series. It proves that every hue, especially one as complex as purple, is a deliberate, potent choice. It connects us to deep-seated cultural symbols of power and the unknown, making it one of the most powerful and transformative colors a filmmaker can wield.

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