Basquiat (1996)

Basquiat tells the story of the meteoric rise of youthful artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. Starting out as a street artist, living in Thompkins Square Park in a cardboard box, Jean-Michel is "... See full summary »

Director:

Julian Schnabel

Writers:

Lech Majewski (story), John Bowe (short story),

Stars:

Jeffrey Wright, Michael Wincott, Benicio Del Toro

2 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jeffrey Wright	...	Jean Michel Basquiat
Michael Wincott	...	Rene Ricard
Benicio Del Toro	...	Benny Dalmau
Claire Forlani	...	Gina Cardinale
David Bowie	...	Andy Warhol
Dennis Hopper	...	Bruno Bischofberger
Gary Oldman	...	Albert Milo
Christopher Walken	...	The Interviewer
Willem Dafoe	...	The Electrician
Jean-Claude La Marre	...	Shenge (as Jean Claude LaMarre)
Parker Posey	...	Mary Boone
Elina Löwensohn	...	Annina Nosei
Paul Bartel	...	Henry Geldzahler
Courtney Love	...	Big Pink
Tatum O'Neal	...	Cynthia Kruger

Storyline

Basquiat tells the story of the meteoric rise of youthful artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. Starting out as a street artist, living in Thompkins Square Park in a cardboard box, Jean-Michel is "discovered" by Andy Warhol's art world and becomes a star. But success has a high price, and Basquiat pays with friendship, love, and eventually, his life.

---

Plot Keywords:

artist | friendship | street artist | art | andy warhol | 

---

Taglines:

In 1981, A Nineteen-Year-Old Unknown Graffiti Writer Took The New York Art World By Storm. The Rest Is Art History.

---

Genres:

Biography | Drama

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for drug use and strong language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

9 August 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

Build a Fort, Set It on Fire

Filming Locations:

Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$3,300,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

ITL 96,783,000 (Italy) (9 May 1997)

Gross:

ITL 780,048,000 (Italy) (6 June 1997)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Eleventh Street Production, Jon Kilik, Miramax Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Christopher Walken, Benicio Del Toro and Vincent Gallo all co-starred in Abel Ferrara's The Funeral, also released in 1996.

---

Goofs

When Basquiat is painting the Amoco sign, the white stripe runs completely through the black horse. But when Andy Warhol approaches the sign, the white stripe does not continue through the horse.

---

Quotes

[first lines]
Rene: Everybody wants to get on the Van Gogh boat. There's no trip so horrible that someone won't take it. The idea of the unrecognized genius slaving away in a garot is deliciously foolish one. We must credit the life of Vincent Van Gogh for really sending this myth into orbit. I mean, how many pictures did he sell, one? He couldn't give them away. He has to be the most modern artist, but everybody hated him. He was so ashamed of his life that the rest of our history will be ...
[...]

---

Crazy Credits

At the very end of the credits, a short clip showing a surfer riding on a wave is displayed. It's very similar to the surfing/wave shots that Basquiat keeps seeing whenever he looks up to the sky during the movie, but it's in full color instead of being blue-tinted.

---

Connections

Features New York Beat Movie (1981)

---

Soundtracks

"Pixote Theme"
Performed by Electro Band
Written by John Neschling
Published by HB Filmes LTDA

User Reviews

Shame on the critic...

Why is it whenever a work comes out about an artist of a modern slant, there arrives the masses claiming their dogs might paint better...and how about the simple complaint that "they didn't show us what was going on in his mind..."

Hogwash. Art will always be in the eye of the beholder, and unless you hear it from the horse's mouth, nobody knows what is going on in the head of anyone else. Take a look at Julian Schnabel's most recent work "Before Night Falls," and subject it to the same analysis. The only reason we might know more about Reinaldo Arenas is because he wrote it down...the motives are not always as clear as we might hope to believe we have grasp of...

How about Jackson Pollack? How many of us know that the "Wizard of Oz," an apparently simple, innocent childhood fable, was actually a political statement of the author (and this is from the "horse's mouth")?

Take the film for what it is and don't spend your time looking for the boom mic to peek into shots or read Basquiat's mind and you might find it enjoyable. For the art critics out there, let us not pretend to understand the process unless you are somewhat of an artist yourself, okay. Because you cannot understand the motive does not change the fact it may exist on some other plane than we perceive. Okay, off of my soap box!