Basquiat

When brilliant American painter Jean-Michel Basquiat died of an overdose at the age of 27 in 1988, fellow artist Julian Schnabel market the moment by scrawling, "JMB August 12th" on a 16-foot tarpaulin. Nearly ten years in the making, Schnabel's latest work is Basquiat, a film of exhilarating verve which casts an eclectic group of celebrity names into the New York arts firmament in a portrayal of Basquiat's brief life.

But in this stellar company, which includes David Bowie, Dennis Hopper, Christopher Walken and Courtney Love, it is newcomer Jeffrey Wright who dazzles most as the art prodigy on a drugs-fuelled spiral of self-destruction. Wright is a revelation as the eccentric junkie who became the first black painter to make an impact on the myopic white art world. His expressive features convey emotion and vitality more more eloquently than words, and together with Schnabel Wright manages to portray the hitherto unshown -- what it is that artists actually do. The scene of Basquiat attacking a huge canvas on the floor with paintbrush, spray can, Magic Marker and paint roller is riveting in its matter-of-factness and exquisite in its creation.

Surprisingly Basquiat, a film about an artist by an artist, never loses its sense of humanity. Schnabel understands how to tell a story and how to create empathy. What's most interesting is that Basquiat belies Schnabel's reputation as a monstrous egomaniac. Even though he casts Gary Oldman as his on-screen alter ego alongside several members of his own family, his film is filled with a generosity rarely found in the art world. You are charmed by Basquiat's character, but feel for those -- not least the artist himself -- who suffer for his genius. Basquiat is not without its faults, however -- the soundtrack is ill-used and intrusive, David Bowie verges on the ridiculous as Andy Warhol and Courtney Love's pointless debut is to strut about like a deranged tranvestite, but then you can't have everything. Wright is magic, and Clare Forlani, who plays the girlfriend he dumps when fame comes calling, is heart-breakingly gorgeous.

Reviewed by Monika Maurer