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Niki Wurster Visit our Movie Scripts Page screenplay 451: http://www.geocities.com/~screenplay451/ Mao Guangqin 2 0 2000-01-22T12:04:00Z 2000-01-22T12:04:00Z 15 15409 87834 Pumpkin Software 731 175 107866 9.2504 1 21 0 0 Basquiat Sc
SCREEN GOES
BLACK
INTERVIEWER
(O.S.)
...
had twenty-three one man shows, been in forty three group shows from Zurich to
Tokyo..
FADE
UP
INT. GREAT
JONES STREET LOFT – DAY
Note: The following scene is shot in documentary
style.
INTERVIEWER
(O.S, CONT'D)
...
had over fifty articles written about you, switched galleries – how many times?
– DJ'd in the hottest clubs –
Jean looks out the window, yawns and rubs his eyes.
He now sports dreadlocks bundled into groups of spikes sticking out of his
head. He wears a wrinkled Wesleyan College T-shirt, paint-splattered jeans, and
no shoes; just out of bed, it would seem.
An INTERVIEWER – a balding Brit with all the humor of a
bank clerk – tries to buddy up with Jean on camera.
INTERVIEWER
(CONT'D)
...
one of the youngest artists ever to be included in the Whitney Biennial, also
produced a rap record. It's said you're quite the ladies man – even dated
Madonna for a couple months!!!
(takes a breath)
All
at the ripe old age of 24. One might ask: is there anything left for Jean
Michel Basquiat to do?
Jean and the interviewer face each other in front of
one of Jean's paintings. Jean stares at the interviewer, incredulous.
INTERVIEWER
(CONT'D)
What
is it that gets you out of bed in the morning?
(nervous laugh)
BASQUIAT
I
hate this. Turn that off.
Jean walks off
camera and disappears into his bedroom.
Shenge (the
former limo driver, now working as Jean's assistant) assembles stretchers.
SUPER: "GREAT JONES STREET, 1985"
A CAMERA CREW waits in the room. Jean returns.
INTERVIEWER
We're
running a little late.
He signals to the crew that he's beginning.
INTERVIEWER
(CONT'D)
(to crew)
Ready?
He points to some scribbled words on the canvas.
INTERVIEWER
(CONT'D)
...
Can you... decipher this for us?
BASQUIAT
Decipher?
INTERVIEWER
Yes.
What do they... stand for?
BASQUIAT
They're
just words.
INTERVIEWER
Yes,
I understand – but where do you take them from?
BASQUIAT
Where?
Do you ask Miles where he got that note from? Where do you take your words
from?
(beat)
Everywhere.
INTERVIEWER
(pointing to a detail)
What
are they?
BASQUIAT
(smiling mischievously)
Leeches.
A long list of leeches.
(looking at some frames Shenge's working on)
It
looks good like that.
INTERVIEWER
Hmmm.
And 'Parasites.'
(beat)
You
seem to be a Primal Expressionist.
BASQUIAT
You
mean like an ape?
He grabs a huge double mouthful of French Fries and
washes them down with champagne..
BASQUIAT
(CONT'D)
(chewing, spilling)
A
primate?
INTERVIEWER
Well,
you said that.
(beat – looks at notes)
You've
got a lot of references from Leonardo da Vinci, don't you?
BASQUIAT
Oh,
that's a "Leonardo's Greatest Hits" painting. You like it?
INTERVIEWER
Yes,
but as a black painter –
BASQUIAT
I
use a lot of colors – not only black.
INTERVIEWER
What?
BASQUIAT
I'm
not black.
INTERVIEWER
You're
not?
BASQUIAT
Not
what?
INTERVIEWER
Not
black.
BASQUIAT
No,
I'm Haitian-Puerto Rican.
The BUZZER sounds. He signals for
Steve not to answer the door.
INTERVIEWER
Yes,
yes... Let's talk about that.... your roots... Your father is from Haiti, isn't
he?
BASQUIAT
(growing weary)
Yup.
INTERVIEWER
Hmmmm.
Interesting. And when you grew up were there any primitives hanging in your
home?
BASQUIAT
We
don't hang them at home, y'know – just in the streets..
INTERVIEWER
I
see..
(beat)
And...
How do you respond to being called – hmmm...
(peruses some notes)
–
yes, "the pickaninny of the art world."
BASQUIAT
(smiles –
hurt, stunned)
Who
said that?
INTERVIEWER
Why,
that's from Time Magazine.
BASQUIAT
No,
he said I was the Eddie Murphy of the art world. He said the Eddie Murphy.
INTERVIEWER
Is
it true that your mother resides in a mental institution?
Jean walks off
camera like he just received a punch in the stomach.
The filming of
the interview becomes increasingly erratic.
INTERVIEWER
(CONT'D)
Let
me... just... open something up here. You come from a nice, middle class,
respectable home. Your father is an accountant. Why did you at one time live in
a cardboard box in Tompkins Square?
Jean walks back into frame.
INTERVIEWER
(CONT'D)
Or
rather, do you think you're being exploited or are you yourself exploiting the
white image of the black artist from the ghetto?
BASQUIAT
Are
those the only two possibilities?
(cramming a French Fry into his mouth)
You
wanna French fry?
INTERVIEWER
OK.
One last thing. Is there any anger in you? Any anger in your work?
BASQUIAT
Should
there be?
INTERVIEWER
Tell
me about it. What are you angry about?
Jean drifts off.
BASQUIAT
Mmmm.
I don't know. I don't remember.
INT. FANCY
GOURMET DELI – DAY
Jean and Andy
browse through the aisles. Jean piles things into his cart.
Jean
approaches the specialty counter. Andy continues with the cart.
(to COUNTERMAN)
The Counterman selects a miniscule plastic spoon of
caviar and begins to put it into a tiny glass jar.
BASQUIAT
(CONT'D)
I'd
like to taste it, first.
Reluctantly
the Counterman gives him a taste with a look like "what's a person who
looks like you doing buying caviar?"
Jean tastes the caviar and hands him back the spoon.
BASQUIAT
(CONT'D)
Is
that the best quality you have?
COUNTERMAN
Yeah,
it's the best one.
BASQUIAT
I'll
take the whole tin.
COUNTERMAN
It's
three thousand dollars!
BASQUIAT
I'll
take it.
(wipes nose with sleeve.)
Andy,
gimme three thousand dollars.
(beat)
Just
the caviar – I'll get the rest.
He hands two one hundred dollar bills for the other
items to the counterman, who checks them carefully.
BASQUIAT
(CONT'D)
You
check everyone's bills or just mine?
CUT
TO:
EXT. WINDOW –
DAY
A cheap pharmacy gift shop window. Jean and Andy look
in on two yellow furry stuffed ducks which are part of a larger display.
ANDY
WARHOL
When
I was little, my brother and I used to have two ducks as pets. We called them
the Rodriguez Brothers.
They walk into a beauty salon.
INT. BEAUTY
SALON – DAY
Jean and Andy
recline on the beautician's armchairs. THREE BEAUTICIANS busy themselves with the two of them,
simultaneously giving them pedicures and manicures. Jean sets down a magazine.
BASQUIAT
I
wish they'd quit writing this shit about me.
ANDY
WARHOL
That's
good. At least they're interested.
BASQUIAT
Everybody's
paying top dollar for scraps of paper, refrigerator doors – anything with a
SAMO tag on it.
(beat)
The
other day, I just wanted a pack of cigarettes, so I did a drawing and sold it
for two bucks. A week later this gallery calls me up: "Somebody's offering
us the drawing. Should we buy it for five thousand?"
ANDY
WARHOL
Wow...
Stop giving them away.
(beat)
I
got an invitation to model for Comme de Garcons... You wanna do it with me?
BASQUIAT
Yeah
– I'd do that... You could teach me.
ANDY
WARHOL
Gee.
I don't need to. You're a natural. You should sign up with my modeling agent.
Jean points to Andy's ankles – they have plastic flea
collars on them.
BASQUIAT
Cool.
ANDY
WARHOL
My
dog, Archie... I woke up with flea bites... Creepy. I ran out and bought flea
collars. They work really well.
Beat.
BASQUIAT
Let's
leave this town and go someplace. Some island.
ANDY
WARHOL
Let's
go to the Carnegie Museum. They have the world's most famous sculptures all in
these giant plaster replicas. It's really great. It's in Pittsburg.
EXT. STREET –
– DAY
They walk out
of the beauty salon..
Jean sees the
back of a girl. She looks a lot like Gina.
Ouch..
ANDY
WARHOL
What's
wrong?
BASQUIAT
That
girl looks just like my old girlfriend Gina.
ANDY
WARHOL
Do
you still love her?
BASQUIAT
Yeah.
I really blew it. I still think about her.
ANDY
WARHOL
Well,
have you asked her to come back?
Jean shakes his head `no,' sorry that he didn't.
INT.
BARBETTA'S (RESTAURANT) – DAY
A medium-sized
dining room with dark wood paneling and tastefully appointed furnishings.
