Wild Style (1983)

Legendary New York graffiti artist Lee Quinones plays the part of Zoro, the city's hottest and most elusive graffiti writer. The actual story of the movie concerns the tension between ... See full summary »

Director:

Charlie Ahearn

Writers:

Charlie Ahearn (original concept), Charlie Ahearn

Stars:

'Lee' George Quinones, Lady Pink, Fab 5 Freddy

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
'Lee' George Quinones	...	Raymond 'Zoro'
Lady Pink	...	Rose 'Lady Bug' (as Sandra 'Pink' Fabara)
Fab 5 Freddy	...	'Phade' (as Frederick Braithwaite)
Patti Astor	...	Virginia
Andrew Witten	...	Z-Roc (as Zephyr)
Busy Bee	...	Chief Rocker
Carlos Morales	...	Hector
Alfredo Valez	...	Chico
Niva Kislac	...	Niva
Glenn O'Brien	...	Museum Curator
Johnny 'Crash' Matos	...	Union Crew
Daze	...	Union Crew (as Chris 'Daze' Ellis)
Fred 'Caz' Glover	...	Union Crew
Edwin 'Obe' Ortez	...	Union Crew
Lisa Lee	...	Fly Girl

Storyline

Legendary New York graffiti artist Lee Quinones plays the part of Zoro, the city's hottest and most elusive graffiti writer. The actual story of the movie concerns the tension between Zoro's passion for his art and his personal life, particularly his strained relationship with fellow artist Rose. But this isn't why one watches Wild Style--this movie is *the* classic hip-hop flick, full of great subway shots, breakdancing, freestyle MCing and rare footage of one of the godfathers of hip-hop, Grandmaster Flash, pulling off an awesome scratch-mix set on a pair of ancient turntables. A must-see for anyone interested in hip-hop music and culture.

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Plot Keywords:

hip hop | graffiti | cult film | new york city | breakdance | 

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Taglines:

More vital than 100 flash dances!

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Genres:

Documentary | Drama | Music

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 June 1984 (Denmark)

Also Known As:

Graffiti

Company Credits

Production Co:

Wild Style

Technical Specs

Runtime:

82 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The stick-up guys were cast when Charlie Ahearn saw them hanging around the location. Ahearn offered them a prop gun but they insisted on using their real sawed-off shotgun. All of their lines were improvised.

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Connections

Referenced in Brown Sugar (2002)

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Soundtracks

Stoop Rap
Performed by Double Trouble
(uncredited)

User Reviews

Wild Style (1983)

Much like the later documentary STYLE WARS, this is a portrait of the blossoming New York hip hop scene of the early 80's, encompassing rap, break dancing, and graffiti art. However, this film weaves in a fictional plot line about a tagger (real graffiti artist "Lee" Quinones) struggling with his persona and his art and its place in society. As a film, the word that comes to mind is "amateurish". The cast consists mostly of real personalities from the scene, and none of them are particularly good at acting. The photography is lackluster and the editing is sloppy, and the low budget is obvious (a scene of people frolicking in a pile of money takes on an unintended comic edge when it turns out to be all $1 bills). But as a celebration of artistic expression, it's a joy. If the dramatic scenes aren't exactly Oscar-caliber, they're at least heartfelt, and serve well enough as the glue between the performances, which are electrifying. Featuring Grand Master Flash, Busy Bee, Lisa Lee, Double Trouble, Rock Steady Crew and more, and culminating in a dynamite outdoor amphitheater show, it's a showcase for a lot of great talent. Not the best filmmaking in the world, but a hell of a party.