Downtown 81
Downtown 81 is an urban fairy-tale set in New York that tracks a day in the life of a young artist named Jean (played by Jean-Michel Basquiat, then 19). In a Homeric, yet open ended styling, Jean has a rollercoaster ride of a day filled with different characters, obstacles and scenarios. Through the course of his odyssey Jean’s travels span Manhattan from the Upper East Side to the financial district, however most of his time is spent “Downtown” (SoHo,LES,Tribeca). The day is peppered with cameos, performances (notabley Kid Creole and the Coconuts) and locales that paint an amazing scene of downtown in 1981.
“Downtown” geographically is the brilliance of downtown 81. The film itself isn’t particularly good for films sake, but the documentation of the rugged and raw essence of what downtown once was makes this a must see for any creative or interested individual. The Dark alleys, pushers, streets, artists, squats, musicians, designers, models, clubs, graffiti… Downtown 81 feels authentic, like a real snapshot of an exciting and important time in Gotham history. Imagine all of this culture jammed into an 80 minute film set to a dope soundtrack and starring JMB…… exactly.
I had forgotten that once upon a time there was a elevated highway running along the lower west side until I saw the closing shot of Downtown 81, which made the entire film for me. We miss you.
Samo was a genius that arrived to this planet before for his time and ironically left before his time. Downtown 81 is a classic movie following JMB around lower manhattan getting fresh open wound raw footage of lower manhattan and cameos of the one of the best and first Rap groups ever, can’t be duplicated. When I first got put on to Downtown 81 while chillaxin at one of my favorite meat packing district spots “Pop Burger”, I knew that I had to check the movie out, since I was instant admirer of all things JMB. And it’s stayed one of my favorites movies since I first checked it. I wish someone knew how to duplicate that film, the only gratification I get of any semblance of Downtown 81 is watching Jeffrey Wright best rendition of Samo in Basquait.
Signing out with the crown and a famous JMB quote “Plush Safe He Think”