Waydowntown (2000)

This Is Not By Vincent Gallo
This is a very indie film. Left in someones basement or attic because they couldn't finish editing it at the time... it has been miraculously preserved and released. This is not eye opening cinema.It is jaw dropping footage of the lower east side and the village. You will not see it like that in New York now. The movie trails along behind basquiat in this fictional account of what it is to be on the everyday side of things for the artist and the art scene. Based on some real life; most aspects feel staged instead of actual accounts and it is a film not a documentary. Written by Glenn O'Brien.

An Oddity
I thought the movie was disjointed, it lacked subject matter. Very odd.

Hard to watch...
I am also a fan of Basquiat and of Schnabel's movie.

I loved watching the taped interviews of Basquiat available at MOCA-LA during the last Basquiat exhibiit. (I believe they're available on YOU-TUBE now.)

I found "Downtown 81" extremely painful to watch as I felt Basquiat was being exploited by this film maker. For me, he was "produced and directed" and painfully not himself.