New Basquiat Bio Pic

I always found it strange Julian Schnabel decided to release his first film as a biopic on Jean Michell Basquiat. The film was good for what is was but they never struck me as having a particularly close relationship. Now Tamera Davis has released "Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child” which is done in documentary style. It has its pros and cons like any other film but I did find that it did fill in the gaps that the Schnabel film didn’t cover and it seems a bit more intimate. Basquiat seems more lucid.

Well this is not an entry to compare the two films so let me talk about the Davis film. The pros are more in connecting his art to his experience in the art world and society on the whole. How his rise to fame was covered was also a treat from his graffiti work to doing group shows to galleries. Also the interview footage was especially delightful particularly when both Warhol and Basquiat are together. Better to say that if one is a fan of this artist this film will be especially insightful.

Now my concerns or grip would be the over simplifying him as a person or better yet an artist. It come across as a bit too romantic which is something that one should always be mindful of when doing a biopic on an artist. I wanted to know more about the father, mother, and more of a speculation on why he left. Also there was the girl friend who seems really nice but it would be interesting to know a little more about her relationship with him. Now these are all personal concerns and I am positive that they don’t want to share such intimate information so I understand.

Overall I enjoyed this biopic and recommend it to anyone who wants to see more of this artist, and hear his tale.