BASQUIAT
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 1996 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): ** 1/2
After the recent I SHOT ANDY WARHOL, the new movie BASQUIAT (also as BUILD A FORT, SET IT ON FIRE) begs the question of whether we need another movie about Andy Warhol's world. Ignoring the answer, artist Julian Schnabel wrote his first script and directed his first movie about Jean Michel Basquiat (Jeffrey Wright) who was a black painter who died at the age of 27 from a heroin overdose. Basquiat's paintings have been exhibited alongside both those of Warhol's and of Schnabel's, and Basquiat was a personal friend of Andy's and a full fledged member of his entourage.
As the show opens, 22 year old Basquiat is getting out of the cardboard box in which he lives. Although he grew up in a middle-class family, he spends his days spraying graffiti on the walls all over the city. He goes into a coffee shop and pours syrup all over the table and then begins to finger-paint in it before they throw him out. There are quotes from the narrator about van Gogh - how he was considered crazy in his day and managed to sell only one painting before he died. The show tries hard to convince us Basquiat could be the van Gogh of our time.
Although Basquiat is considered important since he was one of the first African Americans to become a famous pop artist, I found his work on a par with a typical kindergarten class. In one scene in the movie, Warhol and Basquiat comment on a guy who is urinating on Warhol's painting to give it just the right look. If you can get beyond the drug culture aspects, they smoke dope and blow it up their nose in the show, and can ignore the quality of the "art", the acting is quite good.
The artists you meet in the film are a strange lot to say the least. Everyone is an artist. As Andy's electrician (Willem Dafoe) explains to Basquiat that he is an artist too, but "I'll be 40 in July, and I'm glad I never got recognition. It gives me time to develop."
The show is full of the people that swarm around Basquiat as soon as they realize that there is money to be made. Every agent wants to represent him, and every gallery owner wants to display his works. One of the earliest to write about him is Rene Ricard (Michael Wincott from DEAD MAN). As Rene explains it, "when I speak nobody believes me, but when I write it down everybody knows it to be true." Later Rene goes on to claim that, "We're no longer collecting art; we're buying people." One of his first agents, Gina Cardinale (Clair Forlani), glowing describes his art as, "This is the true voice of the gutter." Gosh, I'll guess take two then.
Unlike Jared Harris's more remote characterization of Andy Warhol in I SHOT ANDY WARHOL, here David Bowie is great as the legendary pop artist. He throws himself into the role with gusto. Andy's friend and agent Bruno Bischofberger is played with amazing restraint by the frequently combustible Dennis Hopper.
Even after he becomes famous, Basquiat still dresses like a homeless person. The costumes by John Dunn are dead on. Kind of shocking having an apparent bum going into a fancy department store, asking to taste the caviar and buying a three thousand dollar tin of the best in the store.
One of the more ironic lines in the film comes from his friend and fellow artist Albert Milo (Gary Oldman). Albert tells Basquiat that "good conversation is hard to find in this town." The irony is that Basquiat seems incapable of forming coherent sentences. Jeffrey Wright is brilliant in his interpretation of the artist. A nice piece of acting.
The music by John Cale and all of the songs chosen are one of the high points of the show. Frequently the camera (Ron Fortunato) will slowly pan a scene without dialog but with beautiful songs being song. I wish there had been even more of these scenes.
Rounding out the cast, we have Benicio Del Toro, Christopher Walken, Jean Claude Le Marre, Parker Posey, Elina Lowensohn, Paul Bartel, Courtney Love, and Tatum O'Neal among many others. It looks like half of Hollywood wanted a part. Although you may not care about the people they play, the acting, as I said earlier, is worth seeing.
BASQUIAT is incorrectly listed in the press kit as running 1:26. I timed it at about 1:50. The shorter length would have been better, and we could have stood a few less stars and parts. The film is rated R for drug use and some bad language. There is no sex, nudity, and only one mildly violent scene. It is possible to misinterpret the show's message as graffiti is a way to great riches and drug usage is cool. As an adult, I can see beyond that, but teenagers might not. For that reason, I am recommending that teenagers not see the show. For adults, I give it a marginal thumbs up for the acting and the music. His paintings get a big thumbs down from me, but this is a movie review, not an art review. I award the film ** 1/2.
**** = One of the top few films of this or any year. A must see film. *** = Excellent show. Look for it. ** = Average movie. Kind of enjoyable. * = Poor show. Don't waste your money. 0 = One of the worst films of this or any year. Totally unbearable.
REVIEW WRITTEN ON: August 9, 1996
Opinions expressed are mine and not meant to reflect my employer's.
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