BASQUIAT - 1996 Reviewed by The Movie Kid Copyright 1996 Rob Reser
Writer/Director: Julian Schnabel Stars: Jeffrey Wright, Michael Wincott, David Bowie, Dennis Hopper, Gary Oldman, Christopher Walken, Willem Dafoe, Parker Posey, Courtney Love and Tatum O'Neal.
First time Writer/Director Julian Schnabel uses film as his canvas to paint the portrait of Jean Michel Basquiat. JMB (played elegantly by Jeffrey Wright) is an enigmatic individual who is never fully explained. Coming from a fairly stable and supportive home-life we never truly know why Basquiat decides to spend his nights in a cardboard box at the films opening. A struggling "vandalistic" artist, Basquiat moves through the streets with an uncaring and self-destructive attitude. He fends for his daily meals by scrounging what he can and ultimately stops wherever he feels like it to use any materials he has on hand to express his feelings on walls, signs, and delicatessen tables. Basquiat travels, much like Schnabel's camera work, aimlessly from encounter to encounter sprawling his eclectic prose across buildings and alleys as he goes. After impressing a small time waitress by painting her portrait in syrup on the restaurant table, Basquiat starts a relationship with the beautiful Gina Cardinale (played by Clair Forlani). Gina, herself, wants to be an artist and her works are scattered throughout her meager apartment. Basquiat, who is so lost in his own quest to alter all that is out of place, wakes up early one morning to scribble all over her art and paint across one of her nicer dresses. It is this kind of attitude that follows Basquiat throughout the entire movie. He only answers to himself and fails to compromise his integrity, or at least what he mistakes as such, by lashing out against anyone and anything that doesn't see his vision. David Bowie does an incredible job portraying Andy Warhol, the most notorious of "pop" artists. In an early scene Basquiat interrupts a lunch Warhol is having with his agent, Bruno Bischofberger (Dennis Hopper) to try and pawn off some of his post-card size scribblings at ten bucks a pop. It is evident that Basquiat is only motivated by his own means and when his works begin to gain notoriety, the fame never really changes him. His attitude is unwavering and he is completely unconcerned with who he angers, antagonizes, lies to or dicks over along the way. The only thing that his growing fame and increasing income affords him is the ability to paint more and to take even more drugs. One of the biggest debates we had after the movie was whether or not John Michel Basquiat (based on the workds portrayed in the film) was actually artistic or simply a scam artist. I believe he was an extremely talented individual who lived on a higher plain than most other artists. In a scene where Christopher Walken was interviewing him on his new found success and meaning of his works, Basquiat was able to show us a little of how he thinks when he draws. To me this served to show that his talent was out of the normal scope of what most consider "art", which is what made his paintings so remarkable. John Michel Basquiat was not a nice person, nor someone who had any real feelings for anyone other than himself and his mother. He did, however, develop an interesting relationship with Andy Warhol, but even that was a peculiar one. Basquiat's relationship with his mother was never really revealed though we know that she was locked away in a mental institution and that he made regular visits to see her. He even attempted to rescue her from that place late in the film but was so destructive to himself and out of control by then that he never managed to help her. BASQUIAT is an incredible journey through the underground art world and showcases an all star cast. Decidedly depressing and visually out of sync, BASQUIAT triggers many emotions and succeeds in all of it's endeavors to let us follow the obusive actions of a man whose visions are only known to himself. 4 spots (out of 4)
Favorite Line: Andy Warhol - "I can't tell what's good anymore."
Rob Reser aka THE MOVIE KID Http://www.filmspot.com MovieKid@filmspot.com
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