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New York Beat Movie
Original Title
Downtown 81- Director: Edo Bertoglio
- Writer: Glenn O'Brien
- Producer: Maripol; Patrick Montgomery
CGiii Comment
Jean Michel Basquiat is/was an embarrassment to the art world - his art is deplorable - however, 'they' created the monster and they must preserve their creation - after all, huge amounts of money is (still) the main thrust behind this conservation of a charlatan.
If this had been released when it was meant to have been released - Basquiat would have achieved nothing more than he was capable of - scribbling sub-standard graffiti....
The film was 'lost' for a while..then, conveniently, rediscovered without the sound - it was re-dubbed using an actor for Basquiat...and the point was?
Bertoglio is as much a charlatan as Basquiat - at least the latter managed to con a community (of assholes) out of wads of cash - whereas Bertoglio is an asshole who conned no-one.
Trailer...
The(ir) Blurb...
The film is a day in the life of a young artist, Jean Michel Basquiat, who needs to raise money to reclaim the apartment from which he has been evicted. He wanders the downtown streets carrying a painting he hopes to sell, encountering friends, whose lives (and performances) we peek into. He finally manages to sell his painting to a wealthy female admirer, but he's paid by check. Low on cash, he spends the evening wandering from club to club, looking for a beautiful girl he had met earlier, so he'll have a place to spend the night. Downtown 81 not only captures one of the most interesting and lively artists of the twentieth century as he is poised for fame, but it is a slice of life from one of the most exciting periods in American culture, with the emergence of new wave music, new painting, hip hop and graffiti.
Cast & Characters
Ted Bafaloukos as Junk Dealer;
Tom Baker as Go-Go Bar Patron;
Eszter Balint as Herself;
Jean Michel Basquiat as Himself;
Roberta Bayley as Street Girl;
Snooky Bellomo as Manic Panic Girl;
Tish Bellomo as Manic Panic Girl;
Bemshi as Dancer;
Victor Bockris as Conversationalist at Mudd Club;
Byron Bowie as Himself