Downtown 81

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08/05/2022 I actually worked as the sound recordist on this movie about a year after moving to NYC from Baltimore. It was super low-budget, street-level, run and gun film whose script was written while hanging out on slushy December street corners in very young Soho and Alphabet City, while waiting for a very late Jean-Michel Basquait to show up. It had a first-time young, very arty Italian director, which was extra fun, and a first-time producer who constantly looked at his watch and sweated bullets. Shame on those who think ill of this home-grown masterpiece. You obviously haven't lived very deeply, but dedicated your lives to fluff instead. See more 12/13/2019 It's Jean-Michel Basquiat. It's New York. A pre-fame version of the cult artist. A year before Madonna. A city where everything can happen. « If you can make it there, you can sell your unwanted hair ».When the Lower East Side was more close to be a post war decor. We bought a can of beer each to go see Downtown 81. Couldn't find my usual 473ml size. 710ml is the new 473ml. How many times would I have to pee during the movie? Jean is an artist who tries to sell a painting to get some money because he has nowhere to sleep. Not so far from Basquiat reality. The real artist, homeless without any prestige or money yet. Funny to see him walking by the Guggenheim without knowing what his true legacy was going to be. « Nature pushing through the concrete » The talent of the artist. Leaving graffiti all around the city. « The whole livery line bow like this with the big money all crushed into these feet ». We get to see his creativity. Sitting down. Waiting. Grabbed a random book. Flips through the book. Took his marker pen out. Without hesitation. Adding details to photos. It all comes alive. It all becomes him. Outside Basquiat's there's music. Post punk. New waves music at is best. Live performance, Kid Kreole and the Coconuts, recording session, DNA, Debbie Harry hiding in the garbage as a fairy to become. A celebration of different types of art with a capital A. People doing art for the art. Fuck the money. 72 minutes of film. Had to drink fast but didn't have to run to the bathroom. At first we were hiding our huge can of beer in the intimate Metrograph theatre 2. But as the movie was going through our eyes and making sense in our head, there weren't any reasons to hide. The closest I've come to being a punk. A simple fairy tale that takes place in the real world where dreams can come true. An unfinished movie that found is own end directed by Edo Bertoglio. Purrr See more JWood 12/11/2019 An interesting time capsule of the early 80's art scene in NYC. See more 02/18/2016 cinegeek.de Klar, heute kennen wir Jean Michel Basquiat als einen der einflussreichsten Künstler seiner Zeit. Als er aber noch ein junger Mann war auf der Suche nach seinem Stil, spielte er in diesem Mix aus Doku und Experimentalfilm eben einen solchen jungen Mann auf der Suche. Inszeniert wurde der Film 1980-81 von Edo Bertoglio, der Basquiat aus seiner TV Performance in "TV Party" kannte. New York zu der Zeit war voller Dealer, Nutten, verlassener Gebäude und Graffitis. In derselben Zeit entwickelte sich die Underground Scene mit neuer Musik und neuer Kunst. Downtown 81 gehörte auch dazu, ein Kultfilm, ein Klassiker, der erst viel später veröffentlicht werden sollte. 12 Jahre nach dem Tod Basquiats wurde der Film in Cannes aufgeführt. Trotzdem konnte man Downtown 81 bis heute kaum sehen. Das ändert sich durch diese amerikanische DVD Veröffentlichung. Probleme beim Abspielen? Die DVD ist leider ausgestattet mit einem Regional Code (Zone 1 für USA, während wir hier in Zone 2 für Europa sind). Wie kann man die DVD trotzdem sehen? Google "code free" und du findest eine Anleitung. See more 09/21/2012 Absorbing, almost stream-of-consciousness art. See more 05/21/2012 "Downtown 81" wants to be transcendent and wants to the cognoscenti on art and culture. I'm not sure if it achieves just that (it probably doesn't,) but it does manage to capture the small pockets of culture in Manhattan that revolves around music, visual arts, fashion, etc. If anything the film is a fascinating time capsule that looks like a documentary and has the ultra-left ideas and attitudes of the people in the place imbedded in the screenplay. As the film progresses it gets more and more avant-garde, and like the hip drugged youth in the film whose ambitions only go as far as their ecstacy/ketamine/THC-suppressed drive for change, the film also feels as if it nearly loses sight of its original ambition and scope, especially in the 2nd and 3rd act. The film embraces its disjointedness and converts itself into, what might as well be, a compilation of electrifying, kinetic music videos, as inane and aimless they may be. But, at the same time it is an impeccable showcase of the area's culture and the people whom it belongs to. Other than the premise, which is still somewhat interesting, most notably with the charming ending, some choices in editing and camera angles are questionable. At best the film, which is really just an embodiment of one idea after the other, is moderately interesting. Perhaps amusing or a pleasant distraction. Just don't expect it to be nearly as enriching as it pretends to be. See more Read all reviews

Downtown 81

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