Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child

Clarisse Lemaitre

Documentaire pop, bien ficelé et énergique à l'image de cette période si belle des années 80 à New York et LA... Images d'archives très nombreuses et fructueuses, portrait réussi, ce documentaire est un chef-d'oeuvre du genre !

Emlyn

As a fan of Basquiat for a few years now, I can saw that this documentary has made me feel much closer with his works as well as with the man himself. When watching the biopic Basquiat directed by Julian Schnabel, I found that the savant like way Jean was portrayed was hard to identify with, whereas it was the use of actual interviews and footage in The Radiant Child that powerfully resonated with me.

Matthew_Lucas

Lively, vibrant portrait of the artist as a young man is an energetic work of art all its own.

Yy

Went to see Radiant Child at the Reel Film Festival in Toronto. The documentary is very well made, very lucid, and in the end makes you feel closer to Basquiat's work, or at least it I did. Highly recommend it. Most surprising was Basquiat's relationship with Andy Warhol.

Eric Rucker

Conventional docuentary conventions kinda make me crazy but there’s so much heart here, so much love and equanimity and acceptance. Such a beautiful work. It really helped me connect with Basquiat’s work for the first time. I’m blown away. And heartbroken. My first real meeting with him and it’s like he just died. There are great people scattered through that art world but it is not a safe place for gentle souls.

Wee Hunk

Schnabel's version of Basquiat was self-serving. This movie shows the same journey, but comes up with different reasons. JMB figured out what the art world was, and realized he had been taken advantage of. He was the golden goose, and they squeezed him til he bled. He ended up alone. That would never happen to a cynic like Schnabel because he's a shark too. It's more about money to him than art.

mpho3

Far and away the best cinematic pic on Basquiat, documentary or fictional. All others I've seen do him a disservice, but this insightfully and poignantly captures the phenomenon of Jean-Michel/Samo/Basquiat in the context of his time, our time, now then and future time. This is particularly true for me given I've never been a superfan of his work, but the film allowed me to wholeheartedly connect with it. Thank you!

HenriqueA

Pretty good doc, even if it doesn't go much into his art and I would hope. Still, great to hear from the people who wore there.