Basquiat

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Basquiat ★★★ Build a Fort Set It on Fire 1996 (R)

Firsttime writer/director and reknowned '80s pop artist Schnabel paints a celluloid portrait of AfricanAmerican artist Jean Michel Basquiat, who went from grafitti artist to overnight sensation in the mid1980s before dying of a drug overdose at 27. Schnabel's firsthand knowledge provides details of the painters, the dealers, and the patrons of the whirlwind New York art scene of the time, using an allstar cast (no mean feat on a $3 million budget). Making the move from stage to screen, Wright is an aptly deep and elusive Basquiat and Bowie stands out in a marvelously concevied portrayal of Basquiat's pseudomentor, the equally sensational Warhol. Features authentic works of the artists portrayed and some very convincing Basquiat reproductions done by Schnabel. 108m/C VHS, DVD . Jeffrey Wright, David Bowie, Dennis Hopper, Gary Oldman, Christopher Walken, Michael Wincott, Benicio Del Toro, Parker Posey, Elina Lowensohn, Courtney Love, Claire Forlani, Willem Dafoe, Paul Bartel, Tatum O'Neal, Chuck Pfeiffer; D: Julian Schnabel; W: Julian Schnabel; C: Ron Fortunato; M: John Cale. Ind. Spirit ’97: Support. Actor (Del Toro).