Basquiat as a biopic, a requiem even; (director Julian Schnabel talking to Charlie Rose 9th August 1996) is a labour of love, where the big name stars worked for 'scale' and the recording artists gave masters and publishing rights at 'unheard of' rates. The movie experience makes equal room to emphasize the soundtrack.
It begins as the credits roll with the back of a little boy and his mum walking down a corridor then arrive in front of Picasso's “Guernica”.
A grown-up dreadlocked Basquiat comes out of a cardboard box in the bushes behind a graffiti-ised park seat. As he walks NY he sky becomes a massive wave a surfer is riding.
He gets thrown out of a cafe but makes friends with Gina, the waitress; then he visits his vague mum in an institution to tell her he's getting married; his love is obvious wheras the marriage is not.
He catches up with Gina on the street and asks her to come to Mudd Club and she says he can call her. Theyre now sleeping together.