Basquiat: Theatrical Version
Basquiat
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1h 46m
Directed by Julian Schnabel • 1996 • United States
Starring Jeffrey Wright, David Bowie, Dennis Hopper
Julian Schnabel’s tribute to his friend and fellow painter Jean-Michel Basquiat is less a conventional biopic than an impressionistic, sensory immersion into the much-mythologized downtown-Manhattan art world of the 1980s. Jeffrey Wright, in his first lead film role, stars as the visionary artist whose rise from graffiti tagger to art star forces him to confront the glare of sudden fame, along with racism, his own struggles with addiction, and the difficulties of being self-determining and free in America. Bolstered by an ensemble cast that includes a sublime performance by David Bowie channeling Andy Warhol, Schnabel’s directorial debut is a profoundly expressive elegy for a radiant life cut short.
Up Next in Basquiat
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BASQUIAT Commentary
This commentary track, recorded in 2024, features director Julian Schnabel and writer and curator Giulia D’Agnolo Vallan.
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Julian Schnabel and David Bowie, 1996
In this interview with talk-show host Charlie Rose, originally broadcast on August 9, 1996, director Julian Schnabel and actor-musician David Bowie discuss the challenges of making BASQUIAT and what made Jean-Michel Basquiat one of the most singular and important artists of the late twentieth cen...
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Jeffrey Wright on BASQUIAT
In this 2024 interview, actor Jeffrey Wright revisits his journey leading to BASQUIAT— his first lead film role—and where he sought inspiration in bringing artist Jean-Michel Basquiat’s story to the screen.
