Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child

Director Tamra Davis' documentary draws much of its strength and originality from a wealth of never-before-seen interview footage with enigmatic 1980s impressionist phenom Jean-Michel Basquiat. A close friend of Basquiat's, Davis was able to coax some valuable confessional tidbits from the young but preternaturally streetwise painter in his early 20s. But it's really the presentation of the larger cultural history surrounding these often intimate scenes that makes this feel like such a comprehensive and accurate portrait of the artist as a young man. The Radiant Child charts the course of Basquiat's meteoric rise to cult celebrity status and tragic self-destruction in a more informative (and less sensationalistic) way than Julian Schnabel's 1996 biopic. Interviews with art-world heavy hitters and contemporaries of Basquiat, such as Jeffrey Deitch, Larry Gagosian, Tony Shafrazi, and Fab 5 Freddy, among others, provide the expected effusive praise; but unlike so many documentaries, there's also plenty of constructive commentary here that transcends mere hagiography. Davis not only places Basquiat's success in its proper context—his wildly impressionistic word-collages and almost childlike figures being a much-needed antidote to the clinical minimalism of the '60s and '70s—but also puts into perspective his ultimate falling out with the critical establishment. DVD extras include an extended interview with Davis. Highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (M. Sandlin)