Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child

This superb documentary, opening with Tamra's early interviews taped in her California home, reveals the tragically short but meteoric career of this talented, humorous, driven artist of the streets. It's an enlightening revelation of his work and his walk, including historical interviews with and recent reflections of contemporaries, friends and critics. The soundtrack drops you back into the clubs and streets of the time, with scenes syncopated to beats of jazz, early hip hop and pop. Basquiat seemed to have an internal receiver that picked up myriad cultural/racial/sexual revolution vibes from the air around him. He spent his waking hours furiously translating those messages into color and vocabulary on everything and anything around him. Black meets white, history meets contemporary, illiterate meets egalitarian. Clashes and confusion became the prolific stream of dialog for his brush and spray can: ee cummings + Michaelangelo commissioned by God to interpret society on the Vatican walls of Soho. And as the demands began to consume him, the gentle muse slept off into the mist.

Tamra Davis created this documentary about her friend, the famous (or infamous) graffiti artists Jean-Michel Basquiat, (December 22, 1960 - August 12, 1988). The obvious love for the artist is evident in the manner Davis put together this series of interviews with those who knew him, sold his works, wrote about him, or were part of his large social entourage - Julian Schnabel, Larry Gagosian, Bruno Bischofberger, Tony Shafrazi, Fab 5 Freddy, Jeffrey Deitch, Glenn O'Brien, Maripol, Kai Eric, Nicholas Taylor, Fred Hoffmann, Michael Holman, Diego Cortez, Annina Nosei, Suzanne Mallouk, and Rene Ricard. Davis also includes some rather in depth discussions and demonstrations by sharing his many works which many (including Davis) declare were the zenith of Neoexpressionism in America. The problem with the film as a film is the quality of camera work and editing: it is a bumpy ride. But as far as a collection of statements from Basquiat himself it is a treasure. It is hard to believe that he was one of the first popular black artists to draw international acclaim. Unfortunately the rigors of his public persona and the drugs that accompanied that resulted in his far too early death. His place in art history is secure, but at a terrible price.

Grady Harp

No doubt a genius who was inspired and destroyed by his surroundings.

The Radical Child was the last of seven films I watched about the life and times of Jean-Michel Basquiat and perhaps the most in-depth one of all about his life and art. The documentary has interviews with lovers, acquaintances and art critics. This documentary has more of his art than any other and meaning behind the symbolism of his art including what inspired his art and style.

Hate it or love it, this is just a pure portrayal of a man flawed.

Like many people out there I'm sure, I had a loose understanding and knowledge of Basquit, but this film is very enlightening by filling in the missing gaps that I personally hadn't known about his life as told through those closest to him. The Director, who had a friendship with Basquit, does a wonderful job of interviewing people who knew him to really paint a full portrait of the mans character. Brilliant, creative, very sensitive.

Basquiat of course, rose to fame from the streets even though his father was a well off accountant. His life story is sad, in the crusty, white world of art in the late seventies and early eighties in NYC, the obnoxious liberals who Basquiat was often demeaned by, because of his ethnic background which he felt, probably rightly so, like he was being viewed as some kind of primitive animal. Very sad, very moving film about a gifted artist and one of the best of the 20th century.

I really liked this movie and what it shows not only about the new york art scene of the 1980s and Basquiat, but about how fame and success can easily lead to destruction. However, at times the movie is hard to watch because the sound is TERRIBLE! I don't understand how clearly talented film makers could take so little time and have so little care about the sound. They clearly took lots of time and care in interviewing many important and interesting players within the scene and Basquiat's life, but often I fell out of the movie simply because i was struggling to understand the bad audio, then starting to wonder why the audio was so bad. Some interviews had clearly exposed clip on mics and that was so much preferred to the other interviews where the audio was either distorted, rustle or clearly just a camera mic. I mean, even the interview done on the analog video camera in the 1980s sounded so much better than half of the interviews that feature prominently in the film.

I want to recommend this movie highly, as I feel its story has a lot of continuity to the artists of today, but i also have to strongly warn them that the audio is so bad that it might not be worth the struggle.

Please! please! Please! Documentary film makers out there, care as much about the sound as you care about the image and content. All three are needed to make a movie work. Nothing is more frustrating than suffering through an interview solely because the sound is bad. Learn something about sound. Care about your sound, or hire some one who does!