Jean-Michel Basquiat stars as a New York artist trying to move a painting while hustling for a place to sleep. Filmed in 1981 but unreleased until 2000, Downtown 81 is a window on a lost world of life on the margins and crazy creative ferment. Featuring John Lurie, Fab Five Freddy, and Debbie Harry, with musical performances by DNA, James White and the Blacks, and Kid Creole and the Coconuts—and Manhattan in all its mangy glory.
