Infamy (2005)

Director:

Doug Pray

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

A feature-length documentary about graffiti culture as told through the experiences of six well-known graffiti writers and a graffiti buffer. |

Cast

Claw	...	As herself
Joe Connolly	...	As himself
Earsnot	...	As himself
Jase	...	As himself
NM	...	As himself
Saber	...	As himself
Toomer	...	As himself

MPAA:

Rated R for language throughout.

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

USA:R

Company:

1171 Production Group

Quotes:

As himself: You get a kid, and you bust him in his school for graffiti; and you think you got him in trouble. When actuality what you just did was made him a hero in front of his peers. Now he's big time; now he's hardcore; you add validity to him.

Soundtrack:

Get Up

The Best Graffiti Documentary That I Can Find

I have seen a number of graffiti documentaries, and have liked many, but this is the best of the lot. This documentary, more than any other that I have seen, can place different types of graffiti in relation to one another, and which can locate graffiti within the larger art world, and within the community at large. That the film is able to do this while telling compelling human stories, and without relying on lectures and commentary, but using only the words of the subjects themselves, takes this film from good to great.

With the other graffiti documentaries I have seen , you sometimes get the feeling that a great deal of work went into gathering up a bundle of information and presenting it to you. That is all very well, but this film does not just compile information, or even cut a core sample out of the subject, but like art itself, manages to capture the essence of the subject itself.

A lot of documentaries are interesting to a person who likes, or is interested in a particular subject, but "preach to the choir" as it were, requiring that the viewer already accept the point that is nominally being made, well ahead of time. By contrast, 'Infamy is a film that you can show to someone who doesn't understand or accept graffiti.

Last, but not least, this documentary does not simply rely on the virtues of the art that is the subject of the film. From production values, to the human dramas of the artists, this is a good film, and upholds the standards of its own medium. A top-notch documentary all the way around.