Basquiat (Criterion) 04/25 Blu-ray (Rental)

Julian Schnabel’s tribute to his friend and fellow painter Jean-Michel Basquiat is less a conventional biopic than an impressionistic, sensory immersion into the much-mythologized downtown-Manhattan art world of the 1980s. Jeffrey Wright, in his first lead film role, stars as the visionary artist whose rise from graffiti tagger to art star forces him to confront the glare of sudden fame, along with racism, his own struggles with addiction, and the difficulties of being self-determining and free in America. Bolstered by an ensemble cast that includes a sublime performance by David Bowie channeling Andy Warhol, Schnabel’s directorial debut—presented here in the filmmaker’s own luminous black-and-white remastering—is a profoundly expressive elegy for a radiant life cut short. DIRECTOR-APPROVED 4K UHD + BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES New 4K digital restoration of the 2024 black-and-white version of the film, supervised and approved by director Julian Schnabel, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack One 4K UHD disc of the 2024 black-and-white version presented in Dolby Vision HDR and one Blu-ray with the film and special features Audio commentary featuring Schnabel and writer and curator Giulia D’Agnolo Vallan New 4K digital restoration of the 1996 theatrical version New interview with actor Jeffrey Wright Interview from 1996 with Schnabel and actor David Bowie Trailer English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing PLUS: An essay by film scholar Roger Durling