biography of an artist who wrestled with the demons that plague any creative process.

Film is ultimately an imperfect genre for biography: Events must be condensed, themes must be chosen and then presented with broad strokes, influences are inevitably included briefly or ignored altogether. In Basquiat, several of the main characters, such as Basquiat's girlfriends Claire and Big Pink and his friends Benny and Greg, are composites. Other aspects of the film are obviously taken from real life, like Basquiat's friendship with Andy Warhol and his relationship with art dealers like Mary Boone and Annina Nosei. Schnabel says of the film's events: "Most of the stuff in this movie happened. The rest, I hope is true to his spirit." Basquiat does succeed, however, in striking a mood for the art world--elegant and elevated but gritty and unflinching--and carrying it through.

The film's atmosphere is considerably aided by a stellar cast. Jeffrey Wright, best known as the Tony Award winning actor of the Broadway production Angels in America, carries the film as Basquiat with a world-weary sadness and moments of child-like joy. Dennis Hopper, Gary Oldman, Willem Dafoe and Benicio del Toro (the mumbling thief in The Usual Suspects) are all a pleasure to watch in their varying roles. David Bowie particularly succeeds as the outrageously famous Andy Warhol, playing the pop culture hero with an endearing goofiness that simply shines. The film explores many subjects such as fame, friendship, artistic merit and race (Basquiat was one of the first African-American painters to really succeed in the overwhelmingly white New York art world), and the cast seems to have complete sympathy with and mastery over these themes.

Most interestingly, Basquiat acts as a commentary and reflection on art itself. Schnabel plays with film's conventions by often de-synchronizing the visual and the audible--for instance, he'll show Basquiat looking pensive and silent while we hear Basquiat's voice commenting on something else entirely. It may sound jarring, but it works beautifully in context, highlighting the complexity of Basquiat's life and the frequently dissonant nature of great art. Especially in the second half of the film, the narrative slows down to experiment with and explore the artist's psyche and work.

Painting is a slow medium that demands patience on the part of its audience, and this film seems to be trying to reflect that. Some will undoubtedly call it boring, but it also seems refreshing and a rare attribute when it comes to film, in that it gives the audience some time and space to actually reflect on what it's seeing. Basquiat is an unusual film in both its art world subject matter and its artistic representation. It's well worth seeing for those who will take the time to consider its meanings.