This film biography of the artist Jean-Michel Basquiat left me wanting to have a better understanding of him as a person and as an artist. The movie takes us from Basquiat's being a graffiti artist sleeping in a cardboard box to being a major superstar cavorting with Andy Wharhol in such a halting way that I never felt I got to know the person or his art. You might think that in covering a decade of a person's life in less than two hours director Julian Schnabel could only skate on the surface and leave us with the superficial story we get here, but Schnabel himself proves that a more complete and satisfying film portrait can be accomplished by having given us a treatment of the entire life of the Cuban writer and poet Reinaldo Arenas in his magnificent "Before Night Falls." The contrast between these two movies illustrates the problems I have with "Basquiat." For example, we are told that Basquiat came from a middle-class family, so why did he wind up sleeping in a cardboard box in a New York City park? We are given a few hints about his relationship with his mother, who winds up in a mental institution, but not enough information to form any solid ideas about it. His father appears in one scene at an art opening, but we are left with no idea about the relationship between Basquiat and his father. So, whereas we come away from "Before Night Falls" with a firm grasp on Arenas' young life, we are left with knowing almost nothing about the early Basquiat.
Basquiat's personality remained opaque to me. I got very little feel for his work habits and almost no feel for his art. I knew little about his art going into this movie and was disappointed that we did not get to see enough of his work to have an opinion about it. After all, that is what he was famous for. Don't most artists say that in order to know them you should know their art? If that is true, "Basquiat" does not give us much of a chance to know the person. However, if Schnabel agrees with the statement made by a person in the movie that only about twelve people in the world understand art, then maybe he felt it would be pointless for us to see much of Basquiat's paintings. But Schnabel didn't seem to feel that way about his own work though, since much of the art we do see is Schnabel's.
Scenes that could clarify only confuse. Take for example the scene where Basquiat is being interviewed by a Larry King type reporter. Basquiat not only confounds the reporter, but us as well. Was he being arrogant or rude or inarticulate or embarrassed or shy or conflicted or what? He must have signed off on giving the interview, so why behave like he did?
What accounts for Basuait's decline and ultimate death by heroin overdose? In one scene between Basquiat and Andy Warhol Basquiat claims to be clean and there is an indication that his work has been on the decline at that point. Is the implication that drug use fueled Basquiat's work? This is not pursued. It *is* shown that Warhol's death was a tremendous blow to him.
The movie has a great cast, with some cameo appearances being throw-aways. Willem Dafoe appears as an electrician with the soppy advice to Basquiat, "You'll get there, you'll get there." For a moment I thought I was seeing a Disney movie. And Christopher Walken is pretty much wasted in his role as an interviewer. But there is some great work by Jeffrey Wright as Basquait, by Benicio Del Toro as Basquiat's early friend as well as by Dennis Hopper as an art dealer. David Bowie steals ever scene he is in as Andy Warhol - he alone makes this movie worth seeing.
One area where "Basquiat" feels authentic is in its depiction of the New York art scene. The complex interactions among art dealers, gallery owners, artists, critics, patrons, and hangers-on gives us an insider's view. Clearly Schnabel knows what he is talking about here.
The music is all over the map from the Rolling Stones' "Waiting on a Friend" to Henyrk Górecki's third symphony.
As in "Before Night Falls," Schnabel promotes the idea of art as the manifestation of an artist's pursuit of freedom. In a scene near the end of "Basquiat" we see the artist standing up in a jeep and delighting as it speeds along. We get the idea that Basquiat's life was a pursuit of personal freedom that was blunted in his confronting the real world.
Basquiat's personality remained opaque to me. I got very little feel for his work habits and almost no feel for his art. I knew little about his art going into this movie and was disappointed that we did not get to see enough of his work to have an opinion about it. After all, that is what he was famous for. Don't most artists say that in order to know them you should know their art? If that is true, "Basquiat" does not give us much of a chance to know the person. However, if Schnabel agrees with the statement made by a person in the movie that only about twelve people in the world understand art, then maybe he felt it would be pointless for us to see much of Basquiat's paintings. But Schnabel didn't seem to feel that way about his own work though, since much of the art we do see is Schnabel's.
Scenes that could clarify only confuse. Take for example the scene where Basquiat is being interviewed by a Larry King type reporter. Basquiat not only confounds the reporter, but us as well. Was he being arrogant or rude or inarticulate or embarrassed or shy or conflicted or what? He must have signed off on giving the interview, so why behave like he did?
What accounts for Basuait's decline and ultimate death by heroin overdose? In one scene between Basquiat and Andy Warhol Basquiat claims to be clean and there is an indication that his work has been on the decline at that point. Is the implication that drug use fueled Basquiat's work? This is not pursued. It *is* shown that Warhol's death was a tremendous blow to him.
The movie has a great cast, with some cameo appearances being throw-aways. Willem Dafoe appears as an electrician with the soppy advice to Basquiat, "You'll get there, you'll get there." For a moment I thought I was seeing a Disney movie. And Christopher Walken is pretty much wasted in his role as an interviewer. But there is some great work by Jeffrey Wright as Basquait, by Benicio Del Toro as Basquiat's early friend as well as by Dennis Hopper as an art dealer. David Bowie steals ever scene he is in as Andy Warhol - he alone makes this movie worth seeing.
One area where "Basquiat" feels authentic is in its depiction of the New York art scene. The complex interactions among art dealers, gallery owners, artists, critics, patrons, and hangers-on gives us an insider's view. Clearly Schnabel knows what he is talking about here.
The music is all over the map from the Rolling Stones' "Waiting on a Friend" to Henyrk Górecki's third symphony.
As in "Before Night Falls," Schnabel promotes the idea of art as the manifestation of an artist's pursuit of freedom. In a scene near the end of "Basquiat" we see the artist standing up in a jeep and delighting as it speeds along. We get the idea that Basquiat's life was a pursuit of personal freedom that was blunted in his confronting the real world.