SummaryBasquiat chronicles the meteoric rise to fame of the gifted and charismatic young New York artist, Jean-Michel Basquiat, as he emerged from the streets of the East Village to become an internationally renowned sensation. (BV Entertainment)
Directed By:Julian Schnabel
Written By:Lech Majewski, John F. Bowe, Julian Schnabel, Michael Holman
Basquiat
Metascore
Generally Favorable
65
User score
Generally Favorable
6.7
My Score
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Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
65
70% Positive
14 Reviews
14 Reviews
20% Mixed
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
10% Negative
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
100
Most movies stress the agony of art (think of Kirk Douglas' Van Gogh in "Lust for Life"). Schnabel's exceptional film honors his friend by showing the act of creation as a natural high.
80
It's also quite energetic -- there isn't a boring shot anywhere, and writer-director Schnabel is clearly enjoying himself as he plays with expressionist sound, neo-Eisensteinian edits, and all sorts of other filmic ideas.
75
Written and directed by Julian Schnabel, himself a gifted painter, this is one of the rare art-world movies that succeeds as both human drama and visual artistry.
70
But the film, written and directed by fellow artist Julian Schnabel, is so tender in its affections, these omissions and poetic licenses seem like the embellishments of a good friend.
63
According to Schnabel, the movie is intended to celebrate the man's life, not to mourn his death, so Basquiat's last days are not shown. It's one of many miscalculations made by the director, because, when the end credits roll, we're left without a sense of closure.
50
Despite the movie's suffocating sense of chic Soho hipness, it touches on all the square cliches about the tragic life of the misunderstood artist.
25
Schnabel can't decide whether he wants to tell a traditional rise-and-fall morality tale or make an art film. His attempt at telling Basquiat's story straightforwardly collapses under its own banality.
User score
Generally Favorable
6.7
52% Positive
11 Ratings
11 Ratings
43% Mixed
9 Ratings
9 Ratings
5% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
Oct 19, 2012
5
Basically a surprisingly old fashion biopic - late 1930s, 1940s **** Jake Hamilton of "Empire" magazine that you have sited among your critics' responses has hit the nail-on-head when he sites DAVID BOWIE's utterly delightful and indeed mesmerizing performance as Andy **** every scene he was in I eagerly awaited EVERY WORD that Bowie's Warhol had to say......a truly amazing and fascinating performance by Bowie- a real treat !!...for this reason I am giving the film a 5 instead of a 2 rating
Production Company:
- Eleventh Street Production
- Jon Kilik
- Miramax
Release Date:Aug 9, 1996
Duration:1 h 48 m
Rating:R
Tagline:In 1981, A Nineteen-Year-Old Unknown Graffiti Writer Took The New York Art World By Storm. The Rest Is Art History.
Awards
Film Independent Spirit Awards
• 1 Win & 2 Nominations
National Board of Review, USA
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
Venice Film Festival
• 1 Nomination
