Downtown 81 Review
By Jonelle
There's No Place Like Home
Imagine New York City without Starbucks. Or GAP. Or Banana Republic. If, like me, you sigh wistfully with this imagery in mind, then you will enjoy "Downtown 81". Is it a good film? Not particularly. Is it a better documentary (or time capsule) of the 1980's? Yes, absolutely, without a doubt.
Like all good celebrities who have reached iconic status know, one must die young in order to preserve our interest and nostalgia for a "better" time, place or person. Jean-Michel Basquiat was 19 years old when he helped make this picture in 1981. He died eight years later. The film was never completed while he was alive because the rough-cut and audiotapes were lost. Though the negative was later found, dialog had to be rerecorded. With the exception of Saul Williams who does the voice of Basquiat, the other voices don't seem to fit the characters. Perhaps it was intentional, but the newly recorded dialog doesn't match the mouths well and results in unintentional laughter at the expense of the overall film (wasn't Deborah Harry available to do her own voice?).
Regardless, the film has humor, warmth and charm. We are transported back to a time when New York City was it . Underground clubs were still cool, and sometimes meant only a handful of people gathered around a turntable. Sassoon rocked, and no one gave a shit about Kate Spade handbags. A decade when Disney didn't live in Times Square, hookers did. Drugs were good, and strippers had breasts that actually moved. I don't mean to say that things in 2001 are not as good as they were then. Complaining about the changes in New York has been done already, but I cant help wondering if a film like 'Downtown 81' would ever be able to be made (and lost) again?
There isn't much of a plot, but it doesn't matter. This film gave me the feeling that I stepped into a conversation that had already started, and was simply going along for the ride until it was time to get home for dinner. In Giuliani's New York, the variety of characters represented in this film still exist, though today they seem a little more self-conscious and forced. 'Downtown 81' makes me remember why I fell in love with New York City in the first place. On a good day, I could round the corner on Great Jones and Lafayette, walking east to Avenue B and see where the story continues.
