Alternate Best Actor 1996: Jeffrey Wright in Basquiat

Jeffrey Wright did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Jean-Michel Basquiat in Basquiat.

Basquiat is an interesting, if slightly disjointed film, about the short life street artist turned toast of the art scene of NY of the same name.

Jeffrey Wright has perhaps long been an actor on just the edge of a breakout for what must be said is his entire film career. This as his performance here was his first cinematic role of note, despite acclaim in reception for his work still led to Wright being more or less in this same place over 25 years later. This is once again a shame as Wright's unique talents are clearly on display right from the outset here in the role of Jean-Michel Basquiat which in itself is a considerable challenge, and something the extremely talented Wright is more than up for. Basquiat, despite being about a completely different art era, actually shares several similarities with director Julian Schnabel's latest film At Eternity's Gate. This as both films follow an artist, in almost a manner is to be representative of their style, and despite many different between Basquiat and Vincent Van Gogh, we find a very similar idea at the center of their stories, as presented by Schnabel. This idea being in crafting the way the artist's perspective is fundamental in this existence. As this was found in Willem Dafoe's portrayal of van Gogh in that later film, it is also within Jeffrey Wright's portrayal of Basquiat. This in that his performance too is built up from this idea, and this absolutely essential in terms of granting an understanding of the man, particularly how he exists in the film. This as if a lesser actor was in the role, I think it would be extremely easy to create an excessively grating or even cartoonish character out of Basquiat given his eccentricities, however Wright finds a real truth to him.

Wright's performance is from the ground up so to speak, in that everything that comes from his work is granted in the idea of creating that Basquiat is on a different wavelength from most people. In this portrayal of this though Wright does a few careful things, that really make this a remarkable portrayal. The first in the act of the eccentricity, particularly Basquiat habit of making graffiti out of anything, including the art of others, Wright portrays this as this state of id, rather than any mischief in him. Whether he is painting with maple syrup on a diner table, or technically vandalizing work by Andy Warhol (David Bowie), Wright physically makes it just as though he is infant interacting with his environment. It is just as a natural thing that he presents as just as he would breathing, and shows very much that there is not even a second thought in this, either in concern for what he is doing, nor in terms of doing anything malicious on purpose either. It is just the man being himself. In this is the greatness of Wright's work in that he makes such a tangible portrayal of what is in a way a ethereal figure often in his story. Wright in his unassuming demeanor, and rather timid voice in the role, just simply becomes this man, who is interacting within a world that almost isn't quite his own. This isn't because he's an alien, but rather like van Gogh in "Eternity" he is someone who sees the whole world in a way that simply no one else does, which is a different experience entirely.

Wright is pure in this sense, and there is something innately compelling to watch Wright work here, who seems decidedly unmannered despite technically being very much so. Wright manner as the retiring, and insular not only feels honest, but also even has this notable charm to it. Wright's way is that he never cheats the idea even for a moment, never plays up a scene, even in Basquiat's most flamboyant moment it is just this behavior of the man that still feels like how he interacts with the world, rather than any playacting. A reason for this though is that Wright does not use it as an excuse to close off his performance, and just seem detached or otherworldly. He rather finds a real humanity within the alternate perspective that gives this performance a real power. This as we see particularly in the moments of interacting less so in the art world and more so on the more interpersonal level. One main one being with his brief one with his mother, where Wright reveals what is at Basquiat's heart a real sensitivity, as he tries to speak to her in her ailing state. I love his delivering in this scene as we see Basquiat trying to connect so timidly and nothing but pure concern for his mother in his eyes in the moment. Wright is wonderful in this because within it he finds something genuine within both the flaws and virtues of the man, these that are not at all alien, even if brought on at times by his perspective of the world.

We see this in his scenes with his girlfriend, Gina (Claire Forlani), where he does capture a tenderness, in his modest manner of attempting to connect with her, even if even in this more intimate relationship Wright reveals a distance within the struggle. Wright is fascinating though in that throughout the film we get what is really a shorthand in his performance, in we come to know how Basquiat's reactions mean due to the consistency and vividness of Wright's performance. This as we later see Basquiat reacting to Gina finding out that he cheated on her, he doesn't say a word, but Wright's quietly damaged expression is just so perfect of displaying how the man falls into himself in a way when he is suffering. This is similar as well in just his eyes convey the discomfort when his father, and his wife, that is not Basquiat's mother, come to his art show. This is not delved into yet the wound of this is within Wright's expression so remarkably, however within the way that it is Basquiat. He doesn't yell about it, rather it is this internalization and unease as he seems to not be able to quite express this anxiety the same most would, yet you still understand it through Wright. This grants sense then the companionship we see between himself and Andy Warhol, where there is a real warmth in their technically strange interactions, however what Wright, and Bowie, show is two people on the same wavelength, that is different from all others, connecting in their own way, that is very much off the beaten path. In these moments we see the direct connection in Wright's work where the interactions are of men with almost understanding of this different sight. The man's suffering though then comes from others attempting to label him, and loss of anyone to understand him, which is only exacerbated by the death of Warhol. This where we see him coping with drug use, which Wright portrays as the moments of the most intense moments, of that internalization welling up within him, that is so potently shown within Wright's eyes in this moment. The use of the drugs to be this vain attempt a reprieve from the world that can't quite connect with him. I adore the moments where we see Basquiat directly face questions that pry towards his identity or situations that play upon, and Wright brings this discontent so meekly, yet pointedly as he expresses as the man expresses himself. This as just up front who he is, but in turn that is within his nearly passive state of just trying to be who he is. In the end of the film, as Basquiat is essentially lost in the world, Wright is heartbreaking in his final speech about leaving the city. This in his delivery is rather with this tragic resignation with the sense of leaving the earth entirely as this is this desperation that Wright conveys as a man who believes he will never find his place or understanding from another again. This is a beautiful performance by Jeffrey Wright because he depicts Basquiat as a one of a kind person, however never does so to idolize, simplify or to create a cloying ideal. He does so in creating a real person, unique in their state yet truly human within this idiosyncrasy.