Studio Practice : Downtown 81 Basquiat film

I have finally managed to download and watch a copy of the illusive Basquiat drama. The film provides a rare, real-life snapshot of the subculture within 1981 Manhattan. It is a bizarre elliptical urban fairy tale that has a dream-like quality with a philosophical script and avant-garde cinematography. Starring renowned artist Jean-Michel Basquiat and featuring such famous No Wave faces such as James Chance and Arto Lindsay, alongside a host of other names from the era in general such as Latin American disco band King Creole and the coconuts and director Amos Poe.

The basis of the story is incredibly similar to the more amateur, early No Wave film I watched 'A Permanent Vacation' as a young male protagonist walks around downtown and has a series of interactions. This points towards it being a popular format within the genre and helps me build up more of an image around No Wave cinema. The acting within the film is far less wooden than the Jim Jarmusch production, however, although there is still a definite No Wave feel about it. This is perhaps due to the fact it was filmed in 81 - towards the end of the era and it was only released and re-edited in 2001 assumably with a far higher budget than it would have had in the 80s.

Visually its incredibly inspiring as it features Basquiat's famous hand style in stunning locations around New York as well as a whole host of genre-specific trends from fashion to cars.

A recurring presence is the representation of authority within the film as various characters try to put J.M down or educate him. An example of this is the man in the bowler hat. Basquiat responds with a defiance and wit that represents the postpunk era and especially no wave.

Here are some key quotes and imagery I gathered:

"He said that I was free to go, he was right but he had no idea" - the doctor to J.M.

"I was free but the city wasn’t" - upon leaving the hospital, a reflection of the debt and ruin that Manhatten was in

"I wanted to paint the town red, paint the town black" - important reference of colour, I feel the aggression and passion in red and black are distinctively No Wave

"New York, New York, Gotham city, the Big Apple" - reference to the early 70s branding of the city in an ironic sense

People normally ask “what’s your medium” I normally say “extra large”

"Back on the streets again, the lower east side, looked like a war zone, like we dropped a bomb on ourselves" - again similar themes to a permanent vacation, a possible reference to Vietnam war

"You can get anything you want here if you try"

"You have to think big just to survive, it can be a jungle and it can be a paradise too" - The ethic of the time, everyone wanted to make it

"I could see the handwriting on the wall, it was mine, I’ve made my mark on the world and it’s made its mark on me, I’m a writer but sometimes I feel like I was written, you see that guy, they say, he’s a real character, but maybe I wrote myself, that’s life right? write, rewrite, you don’t know what’s next, you don’t know where it will end but one thing leads to another " - referencing his graffiti and the mark he's left on the city

"Boom! boom! for real, was I dreaming? No, maybe I was just waking up, waking up to my own luck" - When he finds a suitcase full of money

"Most people don’t know how to make a wish, or what to wish for, I wish they did" - clever wordplay throughout almost as if he's reading a poem

"I drove through the night and into the day like I was driving to the end of a dream, and when I saw the light, I knew I was awake, and it was good" - a possible reference to the short-lived nature of No Wave and unfortunately of J.M Basquiat