Basquiat(1996)- User Reviews

"Basquiat" is a classic. Director Julian Schnabel looks at a subject he knows well, the flush New York City art world of the 1980's, because he was one of its major players. Best known for his paintings embedded with smashed crockery, here Schnabel puts away the brushes and canvas, picks up the camera, and portrays a fellow art star who didn't survive his fifteen minutes of fame: Jean-Michel Basquiat.

The young painter Basquiat (Jeffrey Wright) rises from sleeping in cardboard boxes in a city park to become a darling of Manhattan's cultural elite. And they eat him alive. Or rather, they throw heaps of money at him for his graffiti-inspired work, and success makes him lose touch with reality. Now he can afford the best of everything, including drugs. Sadly, with inevitable results.

Schnabel brilliantly captures New York City of that period, with luminaries like Andy Warhol (poignantly played by David Bowie) who both helped and exploited Basquiat on his meteoric trajectory. The director occasionally introduces odd bits of old footage into his feature--animation, "Metropolis," and an evocative clip of a surfer riding the heavens above Gotham. And it all makes sense. Indeed, "Basquiat" is written and composed with sparks of genius.

Basquiat achieved the artistic acclaim he craved, even if time may deem his production a flash in the pan. But Schnabel's movie about him will certainly endure, an authentic, hip look at the risks of the American dream.