Style Wars (1983)

A documentary that exposes the rich growing subculture of hip-hop that was developing in New York City in the late '70s and early '80s, specifically focusing on graffiti art and breakdancing.

Director:

Tony Silver

Stars:

Demon, Kase 2, Eric Haze

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Demon	...	Self
Kase 2	...	Self (as Kase)
Eric Haze	...	Self (as SE 3)
D. 5	...	Self (as D-5)
Spank	...	Self
Trap	...	Self
Kay Slay	...	Self (as Dez)
Butch	...	Self
Skeme	...	Self
Zone	...	Self
Ces157	...	Self (as CES 157)
Kid167	...	Self (as Kid 167)
Min One	...	Self (as Min)
Cap	...	Self
Michael Martin	...	Self (as Iz the Wiz)

Storyline

A documentary that exposes the rich growing subculture of hip-hop that was developing in New York City in the late '70s and early '80s, specifically focusing on graffiti art and breakdancing.

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Plot Keywords:

breakdance | subway | new york city | hip hop | graffiti | 

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Genres:

Documentary | Music

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Did You Know?

Trivia

According to Seen, Henry Chalfant originally intended to make a documentary about breakdancing but felt that he did not have enough interesting footage. So he instead focused on graffiti art and combined the footage which led to graffiti art becoming associated with hip-hop culture.

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Quotes

Cap: Dust started pulling some shit with me, and I'm telling you, he's lucky we didn't catch him by that wall, because if he would of been, -even if you were shooting the movie, it would of just been boom boom boom and that's the way it woulda went.
Cap: that was a beautiful wall, I really liked that, people like that, they deserve getting everything they got crossed out, forevea."

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Connections

Featured in NY77: The Coolest Year in Hell (2007)

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Soundtracks

Jam Hot
(uncredited)
Performed by Johnny Dynell

User Reviews

Interesting and cool documentary on New York subway graffiti

I was curious to see how this film played for me because to some degree I am target audience while also not being target audience. I love hip hop (and no, 50 Cent does not fit that category for me so much as Black Star, for example, would) and I like the culture around it of break-dancing and graffiti writing. However on the flip side I do see graffiti on public property (or others' property) as being a nuisance and part of dragging areas down by giving the impression of lawlessness and a lack of safety. Whether it is true that it does encourage crime, it is of little doubt that the clean and well-lit subway stations of modern New York feel a lot less threatening than the ones that you see in this film.

The film does a good job of showing both sides of argument and, although the focus is the cultural side, it doesn't play down the fact that the graffiti is both creative and a nuisance and that it is possible to see it both ways at the same time. Here we see some great pieces on trains and walls but we also see idiots like Cap who literally spray their names on top of other peoples' work, the former producing some imaginative work that does make the "art" claim fly, the latter very much demonstrating the criminal damage side of it. The contributions from the bombers or taggers are mostly good, with plenty of typically Noo Yark characters of all ages and races talking with an energy and passion on the subject as it was happening.

The link to break-dancing and hip hop is not as strongly made as I would have liked and it doesn't manage to explore the birth of this street culture as well as I would have hoped. That said though it is still interesting to see a documentary about the graffiti trend and have captured it as it was in its heyday before it was stamped out. The film doesn't pander to either side but clearly sides with those being creative and allows the quality of the work to shine through, mostly ignoring those who would just seek to quickly spray their names on a train with nothing else to offer.

Not as culturally important as I would have liked it to have been but nonetheless interesting and cool at the same time and well worth seeing for the real heads.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1983 (USA)

Also Known As:

Graffiti-háború

Company Credits

Production Co:

Public Art Films

Technical Specs

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1