Downtown 81
Encyclopedia
Downtown 81 is a film that was shot in 1980-1981.
This film, directed by Edo Bertoglio
, written and produced by Glenn O'Brien
with post-production in 1999-2000 by Maripol
, is a rare real-life snapshot of ultra-hip subculture of post-punk era Manhattan. Starring renowned artist Jean-Michel Basquiat
and featuring such early Village artists as James Chance
, Amos Poe
, Walter Steding, and Tav Falco
, the film is a bizarre elliptical urban fairytale. In 1999, Michael Zilkha, founder of ZE records (the label of several of the film's artists), became the film's Executive Producer.
, is evicting him.
Later, while trying to sell his art work, he encounters many downtown New York characters, from musician Arto Lindsay
and his band DNA
to David McDermott to graffiti artists Lee Quinones
and Fab Five Freddy
. Jean eventually does manage to sell some of his art work to a rich middle-aged woman who is interested in more than just his art, but she pays with a check. As the film progresses, he wanders the streets of New York City
, looking for Beatrice. He catches performances by Kid Creole and the Coconuts
and James White and the Blacks. Finally he happens upon a bag lady (Debbie Harry
) who turns into a princess when he kisses her. As a reward, she gives him a stack of cash.
program and the Mudd Club
, said of the movie: “Pennyless, Jean-Michel was kicked out of his apartment, then tried to sell his paintings for daily income. He showed up at clubs and tried to pick up girls to go to her apartment to have someplace to sleep. Basically, it was based on his real life…” O'Brien had worked for Andy Warhol
, and had adopted his technique of having actors essentially play themselves with a minimal plot. “The film is an exaggerated version of life” he said.
Jean-Michel Basquiat was homeless at the time of the movie, and slept in the production office during most of the shooting. The film production bought Basquiat canvas and paints to make paintings for the film. The paintings that appear in the movie belonging to Basquiat’s character are by Basquiat himself, and among his first canvases.
Debbie Harry (who plays the fairy princess who gives him money), and her boyfriend Chris Stein
, both of the band Blondie
, bought a painting of Basquiat’s for $200 after the end of shooting.
and Rizzoli
, but the movie was abandoned in the mid-'80s due to financial problems. Producers O'Brien and Maripol resurrected the film after acquiring the rights in 1999 (over a decade after Basquiat's death). It was released in 2000 as 'Downtown '81.'
The dialogue audio for the film was lost, so actor Saul Williams
dubbed the late Basquiat's voice. However, the musical soundtrack, mostly live club performances recorded on location using a RCA 24 track mobile unit, survived.
(who cameos in the film) and the Lounge Lizards, DNA
, Tuxedomoon
, the Plastics
, Marvin Pontiac, Kenny Burrell
, the Specials, Chris Stein
, Melle Mel
with Blondie
, Kid Creole and the Coconuts
, James White and the Blacks, Vincent Gallo
, Lydia Lunch
, Steve French and Suicide
.
Many of the recordings were of live performances, but DNA and Tuxedomoon were recorded in the studio for the soundtrack.
reviews were mostly favorable. This was not for the quality of filmmaking or plot, but for the pseudo-documentary qualities, seeing Jean-Michel Basquiat doing graffiti, and especially the no-wave bands of the time.
Variety called it “an extraordinary real-life snapshot of hip, arty, clubland Manhattan in the post-punk era.”
A rare movie review in Artforum said "Basquiat is a joy to watch. He floats through the movie with cool grace and unflagging energy; he's a natural in front of the lens..."
British Art Critic Adrian Searle wrote that “Downtown 81 captures that New York moment when punk, emerging rap, art school cool and the East Village art and music scenes were at their creative best.”
While the main appeal of the film seems to have been the art and music, some commentators also appreciated giving the modern viewer a peek at the decimated Lower East Side
of 1980, saying "the real star of the film is the gritty milieu of a New York long gone", and that "New York Beat...conveys the vast gulf between Manhattan’s rich and the forgotten corners of the city, and the marginal existence of the artistic underground who tried to survive in between these worlds."
This film, directed by Edo Bertoglio
Edo Bertoglio
Edo Bertoglio is a Swiss photographer and film director. He is the director of Downtown 81.-Life and work:Edo Bertoglio received his degree in film directing and editing at the Conservatoire Libre du Cinema Francais in Paris in 1975...
, written and produced by Glenn O'Brien
Glenn O'Brien
Glenn O'Brien is primarily a writer, largely on the subjects of art, music and fashion. He's featured as "The Style Guy" at GQ magazine, and has published a book with that title....
with post-production in 1999-2000 by Maripol
Maripol
Maripol was brought up in France before moving to New York, USA in 1976. She is an artist, film producer, fashion designer and stylist who has had an influence on the looks of many influential artists, including Grace Jones, Deborah Harry, and Madonna. Maripol is also a Polaroid artist...
, is a rare real-life snapshot of ultra-hip subculture of post-punk era Manhattan. Starring renowned artist Jean-Michel Basquiat
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Jean-Michel Basquiat was an American artist. His career in art began as a graffiti artist in New York City in the late 1970s, and in the 1980s produced Neo-expressionist painting.-Early life:...
and featuring such early Village artists as James Chance
James Chance
James Chance, also known as James White , is an American saxophonist, songwriter and singer....
, Amos Poe
Amos Poe
Amos Poe is a New York City director and screenwriter, described by The New York Times as a "pioneering indie filmmaker."-Career:Amos Poe is one of the first punk filmmakers and his film The Blank Generation —co-directed with Ivan Kral— is one of the earliest punk films...
, Walter Steding, and Tav Falco
Tav Falco
Tav Falco is an American-born musical performer, performance artist, actor, filmmaker, and photographer. He has led the psychedelic rock-and-roll group Tav Falco's Panther Burns since 1979...
, the film is a bizarre elliptical urban fairytale. In 1999, Michael Zilkha, founder of ZE records (the label of several of the film's artists), became the film's Executive Producer.
Synopsis
The film opens with Jean (Basquiat) in the hospital with an undisclosed ailment. After checking out, he happens upon an enigmatic woman, Beatrice (Anna Schroeder), who drives around in a convertible. He arrives at his apartment only to discover that his landlord, played by former Yardbirds manager Giorgio GomelskyGiorgio Gomelsky
Giorgio Gomelsky is a filmmaker, impresario, music manager, songwriter and record producer. He owned the Crawdaddy Club where The Rolling Stones were house band, and he was involved with their early management. He hired The Yardbirds as a replacement and managed them. He was also their...
, is evicting him.
Later, while trying to sell his art work, he encounters many downtown New York characters, from musician Arto Lindsay
Arto Lindsay
Arthur Morgan Lindsay is an American guitarist, singer, record producer and experimental composer. He is a 1974 graduate of Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida....
and his band DNA
DNA (band)
DNA was a No Wave band formed in 1978 by guitarist Arto Lindsay and keyboardist Robin Crutchfield. Rather than playing their instruments in a traditional manner, they instead focused on making unique and unusual sounds...
to David McDermott to graffiti artists Lee Quinones
Lee Quinones
George Lee Quiñones is an American artist and actor. He is one of the several artists rising from the New York City Subway graffiti movement....
and Fab Five Freddy
Fab Five Freddy
Fred Brathwaite , more popularly known as Fab 5 Freddy, is an American Hip hop historian, Hip hop pioneer and former graffiti artist...
. Jean eventually does manage to sell some of his art work to a rich middle-aged woman who is interested in more than just his art, but she pays with a check. As the film progresses, he wanders the streets of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, looking for Beatrice. He catches performances by Kid Creole and the Coconuts
Kid Creole and the Coconuts
Kid Creole and the Coconuts is an American musical group created and led by August Darnell. Its music incorporates a variety of styles and influences, in particular "American and Latin American, South American, Caribbean, Trinidadian, Calloway" and conceptually inspired by the big band era...
and James White and the Blacks. Finally he happens upon a bag lady (Debbie Harry
Debbie Harry
Deborah Ann "Debbie" Harry is an American singer-songwriter and actress, best known for being the lead singer of the punk rock and new wave band Blondie. She has also had success as a solo artist, and in the mid-1990s she performed and recorded as part of The Jazz Passengers...
) who turns into a princess when he kisses her. As a reward, she gives him a stack of cash.
Parallels to real life
Writer Glenn O’Brien, who knew Basquiat from his TV PartyTV Party
TV Party was a Public-access television cable TV show in New York City that ran from 1978 to 1982. Glenn O'Brien was the host. Chris Stein, co-founder of the pop band Blondie, was the co-host and Walter "Doc" Steding was the leader of the TV Party orchestra. Amos Poe was the director...
program and the Mudd Club
Mudd Club
The Mudd Club was a TriBeCa nightclub that was opened in October 1978 by Steve Mass, art curator Diego Cortez and Anya Phillips, a figure in the downtown punk scene...
, said of the movie: “Pennyless, Jean-Michel was kicked out of his apartment, then tried to sell his paintings for daily income. He showed up at clubs and tried to pick up girls to go to her apartment to have someplace to sleep. Basically, it was based on his real life…” O'Brien had worked for Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol
Andrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
, and had adopted his technique of having actors essentially play themselves with a minimal plot. “The film is an exaggerated version of life” he said.
Jean-Michel Basquiat was homeless at the time of the movie, and slept in the production office during most of the shooting. The film production bought Basquiat canvas and paints to make paintings for the film. The paintings that appear in the movie belonging to Basquiat’s character are by Basquiat himself, and among his first canvases.
Debbie Harry (who plays the fairy princess who gives him money), and her boyfriend Chris Stein
Chris Stein
Christopher "Chris" Stein is co-founder and guitarist in the New Wave band, Blondie. He is also a producer and performer for the classic soundtrack of the hip hop film Wild Style....
, both of the band Blondie
Blondie (band)
Blondie is an American rock band, founded by singer Deborah Harry and guitarist Chris Stein. The band was a pioneer in the early American New Wave and punk scenes of the mid-1970s...
, bought a painting of Basquiat’s for $200 after the end of shooting.
Production
'New York Beat' was shot over December 1980 and January 1981. It was initially funded by FiorucciFiorucci
Fiorucci is an Italian fashion label founded by Elio Fiorucci in 1967. The first shop exposed Milan to the styles of Swinging London and American classics such as the T-shirt and jeans. By the late 1970s and early 1980s this would be reversed, and the New York store would become famous for the...
and Rizzoli
RCS MediaGroup
RCS MediaGroup S.p.A. , based in Milan and listed on the Italian Stock Exchange, is an international multimedia publishing group that operates in daily newspapers, magazines and books, radio broadcasting, new media and digital and satellite TV...
, but the movie was abandoned in the mid-'80s due to financial problems. Producers O'Brien and Maripol resurrected the film after acquiring the rights in 1999 (over a decade after Basquiat's death). It was released in 2000 as 'Downtown '81.'
The dialogue audio for the film was lost, so actor Saul Williams
Saul Williams
Saul Stacey Williams is an American poet, writer, actor and musician known for his blend of poetry and alternative hip hop and for his leading role in the 1998 independent film Slam.-Biography:...
dubbed the late Basquiat's voice. However, the musical soundtrack, mostly live club performances recorded on location using a RCA 24 track mobile unit, survived.
Soundtrack
The soundtrack features music by: Jean Michel Basquiat with Andy Hernandez; Basquiat's own band, Gray; John LurieJohn Lurie
John Lurie is an American actor, musician, painter and producer. He is co-founder of The Lounge Lizards, a jazz ensemble. Lurie has acted in 19 films including Stranger than Paradise and Down by Law, composed and performed music for 20 television and film works, and he produced and starred in...
(who cameos in the film) and the Lounge Lizards, DNA
DNA (band)
DNA was a No Wave band formed in 1978 by guitarist Arto Lindsay and keyboardist Robin Crutchfield. Rather than playing their instruments in a traditional manner, they instead focused on making unique and unusual sounds...
, Tuxedomoon
Tuxedomoon
Tuxedomoon is an experimental post-punk/New Wave group formed in San Francisco, California, consisting of core members Blaine L. Reininger, Steven Brown and Peter Principle....
, the Plastics
Plastics (group)
Plastics—or, alternately, The Plastics—were a short-lived Japanese new wave music group prominent in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Their music was a major influence on Japanese pop music and their songs have been covered by many bands, most notably Polysics and Pizzicato Five.Perhaps their...
, Marvin Pontiac, Kenny Burrell
Kenny Burrell
Kenneth Earl "Kenny" Burrell is an American jazz guitarist. His playing is grounded in bebop and blues; he has performed and recorded with a wide range of jazz musicians.-Biography:...
, the Specials, Chris Stein
Chris Stein
Christopher "Chris" Stein is co-founder and guitarist in the New Wave band, Blondie. He is also a producer and performer for the classic soundtrack of the hip hop film Wild Style....
, Melle Mel
Melle Mel
Grandmaster Mele Mel , also known as Melle Mel , is an American hip-hop musician — one of the pioneers of old school hip hop as lead rapper and main songwriter for Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five.- Biography :...
with Blondie
Blondie (band)
Blondie is an American rock band, founded by singer Deborah Harry and guitarist Chris Stein. The band was a pioneer in the early American New Wave and punk scenes of the mid-1970s...
, Kid Creole and the Coconuts
Kid Creole and the Coconuts
Kid Creole and the Coconuts is an American musical group created and led by August Darnell. Its music incorporates a variety of styles and influences, in particular "American and Latin American, South American, Caribbean, Trinidadian, Calloway" and conceptually inspired by the big band era...
, James White and the Blacks, Vincent Gallo
Vincent Gallo
Vincent Gallo is an Italian-American film director and actor. Though he has had minor roles in mainstream films such as Goodfellas, he is most associated with independent movies, including Buffalo '66, which he wrote, directed, did the music for and starred in; The Brown Bunny, which he also...
, Lydia Lunch
Lydia Lunch
Lydia Lunch is an American singer, poet, writer, and actress whose career was spawned by the New York No Wave scene...
, Steve French and Suicide
Suicide (band)
Suicide is an American electronic protopunk musical duo, intermittently active since 1970 and composed of vocalist Alan Vega and Martin Rev on synthesizers and drum machines. They are an early synthesizer/vocal musical duo....
.
Many of the recordings were of live performances, but DNA and Tuxedomoon were recorded in the studio for the soundtrack.
Reviews
After it premiered as 'Downtown '81' at the 2000 Cannes Film FestivalCannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
reviews were mostly favorable. This was not for the quality of filmmaking or plot, but for the pseudo-documentary qualities, seeing Jean-Michel Basquiat doing graffiti, and especially the no-wave bands of the time.
Variety called it “an extraordinary real-life snapshot of hip, arty, clubland Manhattan in the post-punk era.”
A rare movie review in Artforum said "Basquiat is a joy to watch. He floats through the movie with cool grace and unflagging energy; he's a natural in front of the lens..."
British Art Critic Adrian Searle wrote that “Downtown 81 captures that New York moment when punk, emerging rap, art school cool and the East Village art and music scenes were at their creative best.”
While the main appeal of the film seems to have been the art and music, some commentators also appreciated giving the modern viewer a peek at the decimated Lower East Side
Lower East Side
The Lower East Side, LES, is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by Allen Street, East Houston Street, Essex Street, Canal Street, Eldridge Street, East Broadway, and Grand Street....
of 1980, saying "the real star of the film is the gritty milieu of a New York long gone", and that "New York Beat...conveys the vast gulf between Manhattan’s rich and the forgotten corners of the city, and the marginal existence of the artistic underground who tried to survive in between these worlds."