Basquiat
- R
- Year:
- 1996
- 108 min
- 712 Views
BLACK:
We HEAR "Waltzing Matilde," by Tom Waits.
INT. MUSEUM OF MODERN ART – DAY (DREAM SEQUENCE IN GRAINY BLACK
AND WHITE)
Fade out music.
Silence.
A well-dressed black BOY and his MOTHER walk through several
galleries.
They stand before Picasso's "Guernica," holding hands.
The mother is disturbed. Crying.
The boy looks up, confused and frightened, concerned to see his
mother crying in public. She looks at him tenderly.
Her brow furrows. She stops crying. She stares just above his
eyes.
Something's happening: she looks with wonder at the top of his
head... his eyes roll upward, trying to see – it's a crown!
He raises his hands. He touches it.
A beam of light illuminates the crown, casting its glow on his
mother's face.
The beam gets whiter, the rest of the screen gets black.
INT. CARDBOARD BOX
Silence. In darkness, we hear a VOICE – imbued with a sense of its
own history:
VOICE (O.S.)
Everybody wants to get on the Van Gogh
boat. There's no trip so horrible that
someone won't take it. The idea of the
unrecognized genius slaving away in a
garret is a deliciously foolish one. We
must credit the life of Vincent Van Gogh
for really sending this myth into orbit.
How many pictures did he sell? One? He
couldn't give them away. We are so ashamed
of his life that the rest of art history
will be retribution for Van Gogh's
neglect. No one wants to be part of a
generation that ignores another Van Gogh.
The beam of light shines through a small hole. It falls upon a
sleeping, dreaming, delighted face. It belongs to JEAN MICHEL
BASQUIAT.
OUTDOOR, DAYTIME SOUNDS filter in.
Hearing the voice, Jean frowns at being woken up.
EXT. TOMPKINS SQUARE PARK – DAY
A long, rectangular cardboard box.
SUPER:
"NEW YORK CITY"ANGLE ON:
RENE RICARD (early 30's), seated at a park bench, hunched over a
notebook. He's a raggedy dandy: A poet in a hooded sweatshirt and
white hightops.
As he writes, he reads aloud, as if addressing Posterity.
RENE (CONT'D)
(sighing theatrically)
In this town one is at the mercy of the
recognition factor. One's public
appearance is absolute.
Beyond him, a HAND gropes its way out of the box. It tosses a can
RENE (CONT'D)
I consider myself a metaphor of the
public. I am a public eye. I am a witness.
A HEAD appears from the box. It's Jean's.
Jean sees the start of a crisp, colorful autumn day. The urban
park around him is alive with a typically full range of the good
and bad in life. He eases himself out of the oversize box in which
he has spent the night. There's something about the way that he
stands while waking up that suggests he's almost surprised at his
own body, the adultness of his limbs – just a subtle hint of him
coming out of a dream.
He squints in the sunlight. He has a soft, gentle, Haitian face.
His hair is pulled tight to his head. He wears two pairs of blue
jeans (one cut like chaps over the other) a paint-covered Wesleyan
University T-shirt, and the inside lining of an overcoat. His
appearance is unruly, but it's deliberate. He's stylish.
He shakes himself off and collects his stuff, which includes: a
small book of Pontormo drawings, a can of black spray paint. and a
cigar box made into a loudspeaker with pencil holes and masking
tape.
Jean walks out of the park and looks up past the buildings at the
sky:
SUPERIMPOSED IN THE SKY – STOCK FOOTAGE OF A HAWAIIAN SURFER
Jean sees the surfer, 'riding the nose' in glistening, shimmering
sunlight.
DISSOLVE TO:
EXT. TOMPKINS SQUARE PARK – DAY
Rene grabs the box for use as a desk and continues to speak out
loud as he writes.
RENE (CONT'D, O.S.)
Part of the artist's job is to get the
work where I will see it.
EXT. LOWER EAST SIDE ST. – DAY
As he speaks, we see Jean pass the wall of a funeral parlor. He
spraypaints:
"SAMO AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO GOD"RENE (CONT'D, O.S.)
When you first see a new picture, you
don't want to miss the boat. You have to
be very careful because you may be staring
at Van Gogh's ear.
Jean signs his words with his 'logo', a triple pointed crown.
As he presses the spray can, we HEAR the roar of a breaker.
CUT TO:
Pressed into the concrete is a pair of EYEGLASSES. A light-colored
piece of rock completes the picture to make a face.
EXT. LESHKO'S RESTAURANT – DAY
JEAN'S POV:
His shoes pause next to the face in the concrete.CUT TO:
Is a METAL BILLBOARD with red plastic magnetized LETTERS that
reads:
"TODAY'S SPECIAL: CLAM CHOWDER $1.50. TRY IT!!!"CUT TO:
INT. LESHKO'S – DAY
Jean enters.
CUT TO:
EXT. LESHKO'S RESTAURANT – DAY
The sign. It now reads: "SAMO'S DAY OLD TEETH $5.00"
CUT TO:
INT. LESHKO'S RESTAURANT – DAY
Bending over a countertop, we see GINA CARDINALE, 22. He fixates
on her.
She looks up and notices his stare. She continues to work.
Still staring at her, he sits down at a table. He pours maple
syrup onto the table. He draws in the syrup with his fingers.
ANOTHER WAITRESS arrives at his table. She's put off by the syrup.
WAITRESS:
What'll it be?
Jean thinks about it, eyes still following Gina.
BASQUIAT:
Ummm. It'll be great. We'll live together
in peace. What's her name?
(indicates Gina)
He looks up at the waitress.
WAITRESS:
Gina. What'll it be?
BASQUIAT:
Pancakes.
She leaves and whispers something to Gina. Gina turns and glances
over at Jean.
Jean pours more syrup and starts writing his name.
At the grill, LESHKO, the burly Owner/Cook, has his watchful eye
on Jean. He doesn't like what he sees.
Jean smears the syrup thinly, so it doesn't erase itself. He draws
a picture of Gina, using his fingers and the silverware, rendering
her last expression strikingly with a few quick lines.
A GAUNT YOUNG MAN saunters up to Jean's table. He's sort of a
tall Puerto Rican Alain Delon with sleepy eyes. He is BENNY.
BENNY:
Hey – Willie Mays.
BASQUIAT:
Willie Mays.
Suddenly, Rene Ricard enters – a one-man parade. He beckons to
Gina, snapping his fingers.
RENE:
Nurse!!! Oh!!! Nurse!!! Carrot juice. Tofu
burger. Rapido!
GINA:
We don't serve that – amigo.
RENE:
Fine... A greasy cheeseburger. Fries – and
a vodka.
BASQUIAT:
(under his breath)
Who's that?
BENNY:
The Devil, man. Rene Ricard. Art critic –
writes for Artforum. People read him. Tell
him who you are..
BASQUIAT:
Who am I?
BENNY:
SAMO.
BASQUIAT:
Oh yeah..
Rene lands at the counter.
Jean's gaze is still on Gina.
She waits on a MAN at a nearby table.
CUSTOMER:
How's the special today?
GINA:
It's your stomach.
She hurries past Jean.
BASQUIAT:
Hey.
She slows down, not wanting to.
BASQUIAT (CONT'D)
What do you think?
She looks at her portrait in the syrup... She can't resist
smiling.
GINA:
It's me. I've never been done in maple
syrup. Here's a rag.
Gina smiles. She offers him one. As she holds it out, their eyes
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