The film opens with clips of some of Maier’s former charges, now fully grown, puzzling over how to describe her. They use words like “paradoxical”, “bold”, “mysterious”, and “eccentric”. But if there was one thing they could all agree on, it was that Vivian Maier was very, very private. Following this is Maloof’s exposition of his first contact with Maier’s work. During work on a history project in 2007 for the city of Chicago, he went searching for photographs in an auction house, where he bought one box out of a set that was filled with negatives. Although he ended up not using the photos for his book, he eventually goes through them and begins to notice a pattern of rather phenomenal shots. Having been told the box belonged to a ‘Vivian Maier’ he tried looking her up and found nothing. Then, as the documentary shows with rather typical screenshots of a computer screen, he uploads some photos to Flickr and the work takes off. Before he knows it, he has a mystery to solve. Who could have taken so many photos and then just left them in a box unprinted?

Alternating between interviews with the parents and children who interacted with Maier and shots of her photographs, the documentary begins to explore the puzzle she left behind. Maloof finds his way to a storage unit that is practically overflowing with boxes filled with anything you could imagine. People said she kept everything—and they meant it. Newspapers, clothes, undeveloped film, uncashed income checks, even teeth! Maier was a pack rat, who it seems felt she had to keep everything and take it with her too. Families that hired Maier all described a similar situation; she would arrive with stacks of boxes that could fill a room. Another consistent memory from her charge is that she always had a camera around her neck, and she was always taking pictures. Despite taking hundreds of thousands of photos, nobody ever saw them. All the evidence seems to point to a very secretive woman who would not have wanted anyone to see her work. But then why take so many photos?

Maloof seeks to answer this question as he works to piece together her life’s story. His amateur sleuth work brings him into contact with the New York Public Records office, and he uncovers that Maier did not have much family, but the records that could be found suggest they were equally as private. The limited information that was uncovered about her family leads him to a small town in France where he comes into contact with an elderly cousin, who appears to be Maier’s only living relative. Very few people seem to know anything about Maier or remember her with any real clarity, but Maloof does his best to interview all of them in the documentary.

Maloof interviews other prominent photographers and gallery curators for an insight into the quality of Maier’s work and each of them praised her skill. They spoke of a humanity in her photography that is rarely seen. Her work displayed a sense of humor and a sense of tragedy. Maier appeared interested in what it meant to be human. Her work exemplifies the qualities of street photography. Her subjects were often individuals caught unawares or lightly posed in daily scenes of life. Maier shot in both black and white and color film. Maier seemed to revel in discreetly photographing her subjects and seems to reveal an affinity for the poor; possibly because like them, she struggled to get by. Demonstrating an awareness of politics and society, she addressed tough topics like the Watergate scandal through short films.

Audiences have the ability to see a range of different shots as Maier’s work has been interspersed throughout the documentary. The accompanying by a score of lilting, mysterious music that feels like it speaks to Maier’s character. Despite such beautiful works, the documentary highlights how she, at the time of the film’s release, had yet to be accepted by much of the art world. A number of artists became famous posthumously, yet Maloof faces push back as he tries to bring her the recognition she deserves. As a result of the way she sequestered her work the film and negatives remained incredibly well preserved. As the film ends, Maloof is still pressing on with the development of her film and spreading awareness about her talent.  

Overall, the film does a wonderful job of answering many of the questions raised concerning the secretive nature of her work. The technique of interspersing interviews with scanned works allows audiences to experience it for themselves. However, much like the circumstances around her work, Vivian Maier remains an enigma. Interviews throughout the film told conflicting stories of her character going so far as to reference abuse and neglect. Viewers are left with several questions, including, why did she never reveal her work? Why take so many pictures and preserve the work so well if you intended for them to fade into obscurity? The driving force behind this enormous body of work remains unknown. As a result, despite what the title suggests, Vivian Maier remains as stubbornly elusive in death as she was in life.

New York City sets the stage as now elderly Ushio and Noriko Shinohara reside in a dingy apartment. We are introduced to the more well-known Ushio Shinohara, who is creating an art piece in the hopes of selling it in an upcoming exhibition. His unique style of painting presents an exciting twist. Ushio puts on boxing gloves and punches paint onto the canvas from right to left. We learn that innovative styles such as action painting and his sculpture made Ushio among the best of the Japanese avant-garde. Since leaving Japan, he has found moderate success, having work shown in museums such as the MoMA and publications such as Art in America.

Energy and passion are very important to Ushio’s work. Instead of using a brush for calculated movement, he punches paint onto the canvas to fly freely where it will. He names an exhibition “ROAR!” because that is how he views his art. Loud and full of energy. He says “Art is a demon that drags you along. It’s not something that you can stop even if you should.” His desire to portray things as explosive and in-your-face makes his works much more riveting. However, having an unconventional style meant that often Ushio’s work went underappreciated. The Shinoharas experienced fame, but this did not translate to a lot of money.

The relationship between the two is very loving, but their poverty undeniably puts a strain on it. Even within the first few minutes, we see signs of unease between the two. They are constantly bickering, which seems to be consistent throughout their 40-year marriage. A fact that led to the creation of Cutie, a cartoon character created by Noriko. Cutie is representative of Noriko herself and is accompanied by her husband “Bullie” who represents Ushio. Noriko uses Cutie as a type of catharsis, a creative outlet to express frustration about her husband and her life in a new country.

Cutie reveals nearly everything about the couple’s past. From the first moment a 19-year-old Noriko met middle-aged Ushio, to the Ushio’s crippling alcoholism that nearly tore their family apart. The highs of being featured in galleries, and the lows of becoming poor and questioning pursuing art. Through all the good and bad though, the art demon drags the couple along and they continue to move forward.

Perhaps this documentary has two boxers to offer because even in her old age, Noriko has to fight to prove that she is an artist. Getting pregnant with her son forced Noriko to temporarily give up her art. This combined with the fact that she often forgoes her work to help assist Ushio, leads him to view his wife as an assistant and “the average one.” Throughout the documentary we see Noriko making creative efforts, completely independent of her husband. She even goes out of her way to provide her best work to an exhibitor interested in Ushio’s work. Noriko, though, comes out of this fight a winner as she is included in her husband’s art exhibit. Going so far as to alter the title according to her artistic vision. She is self-empowered and confident and uncompromising. You love to see it.

The final exhibition featuring both Ushio and Noriko perfectly shows two sides of the same coin. Ushio expresses passion in his work with the energy that he pours in, while Noriko does the same but with compassion and love. Throughout the documentary, we get to see how “love is a roar.”

Overall, I would highly recommend watching this documentary. Because of the themes and execution, Cutie and the Boxer would make an interesting watch even for those with no prior interest in art. It provides a very sincere look at the lives of these two artists, never shying away from the negative aspects of their lives. One of the most beautiful things about the documentary is that it shows how the Shinohara’s immigrant story was wrapped up in their art. As well as displaying how these artists were able to manifest the American dream for themselves through art.

Ushio and Noriko met when Noriko was visiting New York from Japan to study art. Ushio was 41 and Noriko was 19. Noriko stopped chasing her dreams of art to become Ushio’s assistant. She fell in love with him instantly and didn’t think about her future with him or her future with art. A couple months later Noriko becomes pregnant with Ushio’s child making them struggle even more. With Ushio in a big spiral of alcoholism and Noriko always worrying about money their son was raised poorly and became an alcoholic himself. However, Noriko and Ushio’s love were still unbreakable. When Ushio goes to Japan to sell his sculptures at lower prices Noriko is annoyed with him because she wants him to earn more. However, when he returns from Japan Noriko come running down the stairs showing she doesn’t hold a grudge and she will always love Ushio even though she’s not happy most of the time.

Throughout the movie Noriko is faced with the challenge of helping Ushio with his work and not working on her own. She also goes through the conflict of having to take care of their baby almost by herself and cook dinner and clean while Ushio works on his artwork that doesn’t sell. Their whole time together they live paycheck to paycheck struggling on rent and utilities while trying to sell pieces to get by month by month. The unstoppable struggle of the art industry drags them down all until Ushio turns 80. After Ushio’s 80^th birthday things start going right for them. Ushio gets more exposure while his wife has a coming of age and realizes who she realizes she is after creating Cutie and Bully, a cartoonish story type painting that is about Noriko and Ushio and how Ushio is mean to her and isn’t responsible for his actions. As Noriko is coming to these realizations, she becomes more straightforward and starts getting more exposure for herself.

Ushio meets an art dealer that wants to show his work in his gallery. Ushio sets up all of his work and Noriko ends up getting her work shown in another room in the same gallery. When Ushio is looking at Noriko’s work, he admits he’s jealous and asks about Cutie and Bullie and finds out its about him and Noriko. After that Noriko tells Ushio that she works better when he is not around, and he gets offended and leaves in a storm yelling “Goodbye!”. Ushio works on a big piece in his studio called the octopus and puts a lot of effort into it. Noriko comes around and he asks Noriko what she thinks about it. She straightforwardly said it is not good and walks away. Ushio becomes determined to make this piece better coming to the realization that his wife is going to achieve his dream before he gets to. He eventually makes the piece better to show his wife he is not a bad artist and he can do works by himself. This scene especially is very inspirational because he just wants to make his wife happy and doesn’t want her to look at him like a low life lazy artist, so he tries to prove himself to her with the thought that she is better than him in the back of his head.

Getting closer to the end of the movie there are cinematic shots of Noriko and Ushio painting and working on pieces with them talking about their experience in the art industry saying how the art industry is a struggle and there is always a lingering struggle in the art industry. The Cutie and Bullie paintings in the gallery are shown with hearts drawn around the section showing how Cutie has finally learned to tame the bull meaning Noriko has finally learned how to tame Ushio. The ending really surprised me because I didn’t expect for Noriko to be unhappy the whole relationship. I also didn’t expect to be such an emotional ending, it went from Noriko and Ushio struggling with money to having their work shown in a gallery with conflicts between the couple.

The movie portrays the realistic life of the two struggling artists, with both of them living in a smaller apartment and Ushio having a drinking problem. Noriko had to give up her dreams of being an artist temporarily after getting pregnant and having to raise their young son Alex. Noriko would portray her emotions through her art at this time. She would paint dreary scenes of her life, her anger with her path and how Ushio would put drinking before his family and self-care. During this time Noriko’s works showed Ushio leaving their family behind to go out with friends and drink all through a comic strip format style of painting. She would use real-life events and depict herself and her husband in a cartoon style to tell her story and the emotions that came along with it. These become the works that Noriko gets discovered for. While showing her works to her friend, Noriko is encouraged to show her works in an exhibit. Noriko does an exhibit with her husband Ushio, where Noriko puts her private life on show for everyone. This put Noriko’s name into the artist spotlight, and she becomes well known in art circles for her work. Instead of Noriko being known as the wife to a famous artist she was able to be known as an artist herself. This is reminiscent of other artist couples such as Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, with a young woman marrying an already established artist and eventually becoming a known artist on their own.

Another connection that can be drawn between the relationships of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, and Noriko and Ushio Shinohara are that the females’ works depicted emotional context, while the men portrayed little emotional context in the works. Ushio’s works had techniques that were considered revolutionary in an abstract sense. Ushio would set up a large blank canvas, put on a pair of boxing gloves, dip them in paint, and begin forcefully punching the canvas to create his works. 

Even though the film is about the relationship between Noriko and Ushio, the movie takes place mostly through the perspective of Noriko. This allows us to know the perspective of Noriko and her feelings while driving the plot forward. The movie uses her artworks as a way to move the story along and provide some emotional contexts to the scenes. This allowed those watching the movie to interpret the emotional context more easily without having to make the characters cartoonish in their exaggerations of emotion. The film does a good job of portraying the struggles that occur in the lives of artists. But also, the struggles that occur in the life of an everyday person. Despite these artists being well known, and their emotional struggles were well documented through their art, the story can still be related to many people today. Those struggling in their relationships, and those struggling to make a career out of something they love can look up to stories like these. Despite the couple having issues with alcoholism and living in poverty, the couple was able to look past their problems and work on them together, creating a strong relationship and working through all their issues. Noriko was able to learn to deal with Ushio’s drinking and eventually Ushio had to stop altogether (Which was a blessing to Noriko) The film also shows the struggles of doing what one loves despite the hardships that occur. Noriko always dreamed of being an artist and despite poverty and having to put her career on hold, Noriko was able to make it as an artist and became famous for what she does. This movie overall is a great movie with many life lessons to teach while also telling the life story of artists not known to the general population. I would recommend this movie to all people who are willing to experience something new and have an interest in art. I believe that the director did a great job directing the movie and telling the story accurately of Cutie and the Boxer while adding a flair that would inspire even Noriko Shinohara.

The documentary follows Basquiat’s history and development with his art and also touches on some important events and artists for the entire history of art. For example, the documentary starts off with the beginning of Basquiat’s journey, where he would spray paint around New York City with another artist as a duo called SAMO. While other spray paint artists would simply tag their names, SAMO would spray paint their name with a different message each time to express their thoughts and feelings about things such as culture and politics in the world. Even in the early stages of Basquiat’s career, it is obvious that he was searching for things that went against the grain of the current art culture. Basquiat, unlike all of the other spray paint artists, wanted to send a message to the people viewing his work, rather than just tag his name to claim that he was there. It is because of this that Basquiat and SAMO became well known locally and beyond. Basquiat, with no money, came up in the art world using whichever materials he could scavenge from the streets of New York City. This is yet another way that Basquiat made himself stand out. By using random objects and materials that he found on the streets, he was able to express himself even more. This also showed his true passion for the art of creation and imagination, rather than simply applying paint to canvas.

A decent portion of the documentary was dedicated to showing the influence that other earlier famous artists had on Basquiat’s work. The documentary shows Basquiat’s paintings next to paintings of earlier artists, such as Picasso, and they talk about how Basquiat drew from these earlier paintings for inspiration. Basquiat was inspired by these paintings, and would only use them as a reference, then let the idea flow through his mind, where he would then modify it and make it his own version of the painting by recreating it. Some early artists that were mentioned in the documentary that influenced Basquiat’s work include Pollock and Picasso. Both very famous household names and inspirational early artists for modern art.

Basquiat was also very inspired by his own life and surroundings. Once, as a young boy, Basquiat was involved in a car accident. His mother gave him an anatomy book to fill his time and pique his curiosity. This anatomy book, and the car accident itself, were evidently influential to Basquiat. Some paintings show cars crashing and some paintings, including his most famous works of art, include abstract paintings of skulls, faces, and heads that resemble the diagrams in the anatomy book that his mother gave him. Basquiat’s history also includes comic books and cartoon drawings. As a young kid in New York City, Basquiat was drawn to the world of cartoons and wanted to be a cartoonist when he grew up. This influence is extremely evident in his artwork. At first glance, the first thing many people think of when they see Basquiat’s artwork is that it is in fact cartoon-like, with scribbles and abstract figures that would not be considered realistic looking in any way. This child-like appeal is what I think Basquiat was going for though. While other artists focus on making realistic paintings of the world, Basquiat had a plan to stick with simplicity and let his mind wander as he creates each piece of artwork. He often writes letters, randomly placed and spaced out, which may or may not have a real meaning. Only Basquiat himself would know what he was trying to convey.

The documentary conveyed a similar feeling that Basquiat’s work does, with the jazz and early hip-hop vibes and music to accompany visuals and the filming and editing style that suits a Basquiat documentary perfectly. The documentary does a great job of taking the viewer through a journey of Basquiat’s life from start to finish and covering all of the key details that make Basquiat who he is.

Tamra Davis, the director, was very close to Basquiat and filmed him in his different studios during the peak of his career. These bits of footage offer the most honest view of Jean-Michel throughout the whole film. An honest, hardworking, driven artist who strived to push the boundaries of his work. The one-on-one interviews give you this glimpse into the mind of the genius. These interviews more than anything felt honest and comfortable and help the viewer start to understand the struggles and frustration of the artist. They feel very personal and helps you understand that despite being this incredible artist, he was flawed as well. Jean-Michel struggled with depression and addiction. This is evident in the interviews later in the movie where he is clearly in pain.

Another thing the film does incredibly well is pacing. The movie essentially profiles primarily his life between ages 20-27 before his death. With each introduction of a new part of his life, the filmmakers show work of his from around the same time. At the beginning you see his work is sparse and done on found materials. Once he gets money and space, he is able to paint at leisure in a real studio. The film does a great job of flashing in between showing snapshots of Jean-Michel’s life and showing the work he was producing around that time. These moments, though short, give the viewer the greatest understanding of what Basquiat was going through. The narration partnered with the images of his work helps you understand his rise to fame and how he struggled with that fame. This becomes even more important towards the end of his life. His depression and struggles with creating show in his last exhibitions. His techniques got more and more abstract and withdrawn the older he got. A really great perspective that the movie offers is the opinions and testimonies of famous art dealers and collectors. For viewers who do not understand Jean-Michel’s work from the start, these interviews help aid the viewer in understanding why Basquiat’s work is groundbreaking.  The art dealers explain in detail how Basquiat was more so than anything, emulating and paying homage to his favorite artists. He used techniques longstanding in contemporary art, focusing on pushing the boundaries of abstraction. He uses words to create messages by repeating them or crossing them out. It forces the viewer of the painting to almost find the story in the painting. Basquiat drew most of his inspirations from books, poems, and multimedia he viewed at the time.

One thing about the film I did not particularly care for was how they actually portrayed most of the art. Most of the paintings shown only appear for a few seconds at a time. Now I understand that it is a movie and there is the necessity to keep things moving, but I would have appreciated a few more in depth looks at his greatest works. Often times in the movie, the narrator would mention an extremely famous painting, the film would show it for a second and then move on. I just would have appreciated a little more focus on the paintings themselves. Despite being a biography and not an adaption like Frida, Radiant Child hits the same pitfalls. I felt the focus could have been centered closer to his artworks.

Nevertheless, Jean-Michel Basquiat: Radiant Child is an excellent film. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Tamra Davis, being a close personal friend of Basquiat’s, pays perfect homage to one of our era’s greatest painters. The film does a great job of juxtaposing his art and the way he is feeling at the time. The personal interviews and conversation with Jean-Michel really make the movie. He was a complex person but did not come off that way. Basquiat was extremely young and yet so mature. He was thrust into this worldwide fame at such a young age, and struggled with the ups and downs of this recognition. The only thing that could have really improved the movie would have been greater focus on the paintings. The film glosses over them too fast and makes them feel less significant than they really are. Radiant Child is an awesome documentary for anyone who wants to be introduced to modern art.

The interviews with various artists were really insightful and fascinating. Individual artists tell their own story of how they saw the poster making industry change as well as their contribution to it. They each had their own style which made them unique in their own way, adding more variety to the gig-poster making community. 

The first-ever poster show, ‘Flatstock’ in San Francisco which led to the formation of the American Poster Institute. The movie shows how that initiative brought together different artists from all over America and made them inspired by each other’s artwork as well as making them work harder and gave them a purpose.

The music in between some of the interviews kind of feels odd in the sense that there is an atmosphere of calm while the interviews are displayed and suddenly there is a chaotic vibe. The directors might have put the music in order to make the experience a bit personal so that the viewers know what band the artist was making the poster for. But they could have had a better execution for it.

The documentary also mentions how the change in technology changes the whole game in the poster making community with all the screen print and the various software which helps them make more geometric designs. It was interesting to see the screen print process. It can make one appreciate the underrated art forms and work like gig-posters, graphic designing.

The artists did a great job of describing the whole art and the process of each different posters. For instance, how the gig-posters which bridge together art and music came into play. Also, one of the greatest artists, who designed the posters for Star Wars and Harry Potter was interviewed which were really interesting to watch as we could have an insight into what goes in their head when they are making the poster and what kind of audience they are aiming for. For instance, the artists making the Star Wars poster had to be aware of the fact that they were not just aiming for an audience below the age of 16 but also adults who enjoyed science fiction. 

The documentary also shows how the artists keep up with their personal life. It was not portrayed in detail which made it kind of absurd to just put it in there amidst all the art talks but it did cover the directors’ motive to show, how the artist’s personal life inspires the art.

The movie does throw a lot of information within an hour and a half so it does get a bit difficult to keep up with it. Also, the number of artists and their different names might get a little overwhelming. But overall it is a good documentary for anyone who wants to know the history of gig-poster making community.

Unlike most documentaries, we as an audience actually get to see their entire daily life, which even includes Ushio stripping down to his underwear. Most of the audience going into the film expects to see how artwork is created and how other people perceive it. However, in this documentary we get to see the true problems of both Ushio and Noriko. During an art showing at his studio, it is brought up by Noriko that Ushio used to be an alcoholic. He used to drink every day and waste tons of money on his addiction, not only did it have an effect on him but also his young son, who later becomes an alcoholic just like his father. Noriko has felt regret from her decisions, she had to deal with most of Ushio’s problems and is not looked at as a true artist in Ushio’s eyes. From Ushio’s point of view Noriko is nothing more than his assistant who uses art as a hobby. However Noriko’s own works show all of her struggles with Ushio and with not being the free profound artist that she wishes. However, at the end of the film it is shown that Noriko truly does love Ushio for the man he is and that the complications that he has brought to her have made her the person she is today and the artist that she had become, which is something that she would do again and again.

During the film, Ushio is asked to go to different art showings and has potential buyers come and look at his work. It would seem that with all of this craze people have with his technique of art that he would be making tons of money, but this is not the case. The couple and their son live in a small apartment and are usually behind on rent. Although Ushio’s art is seen as cool and different, it is not exactly what typical American buyers want to purchase because it so different from the conventional ideas about art. However, the couple’s luck does change towards the second half of the movie. More people become interested in their art which allows them to present their work at a studio. Ushio is asked to display his art at first but Noriko persuades the man giving Ushio this opportunity to also take a second and look at her work. The man is very impressed and also invites Noriko to be a part of the art show. The people at the show loved both Ushio and Noriko’s work.

Towards the end, it is not shown whether or not their artwork is bought by people or not. I believe that the directors did this on purpose and have an overall moral to their story. No matter if they make tons of money or if they don’t make a penny, the directors want the audience to know that art is art. Artists create and show their work for the love of it. It shows their passions, morals, emotions, and many other aspects. Art is an expression of one’s self and how they view their idea of the world. This moral is shown at the last scene of the film when Ushio and Noriko are punching each other with paint but with full enjoyment and love towards one another.

The film begins with Jean-Michel Basquiat and an interview taking place with Tamra Davis. Their friend Becky Johnston was the one asking Basquiat the questions, at the same time the movie showed glimpses of Basquiat being at work on some of his portraits. Also, they talked about downtown Manhattan and expressed how everyone could do anything there that they wanted to express themselves. For example, you did not need a regular job to become to be an artist in Manhattan. With the interview still being placed throughout the film Jean explained how he did not have a lot of money and lived in the streets going place to place for living, but it was mentioned that he did it in a more intense style way than any other individual living on the streets. Basquiat’s style was one that would just draw a crowds attention in right away, because it is so eye catching with vibrant colors, and with how much expression he put into one piece of art that people would be confused with some of his markings but the audience would understand that those markings meant something to Basquiat. Also, Basquiat ran away from home at the age of seventeen and by the age of eighteen he was the most advanced that he could be with music and art because that was what he was most passionate in and he loved to express his life events and art and music is how he expressed himself. Also, he was the most advanced that he could be living on the streets and on his own forced independence and it made him the best artist that he could be. 

The approach of the film seemed to be very inspirational. I think this because Basquiat moved out at seventeen and had no parent supervision then and was on his own, not financially stable and struggled to get by but was a brilliant kid and made a living without anybody’s help but himself. He did not stress about much he just went with the flow and did not think very much he just did. Eventually down the road people took a big notice to his graffiti work and work that they saw of his on the street and they thought the artwork was amazing and Annina Nosei decided to give him a place to work in her gallery because they were that amazed with the style of his work. I thought his love for his work was just amazing, I do not think I have witnessed another artist love or care that much about artwork. During the film even in the studio that he was living it there was artwork Basquiat created all over. For example, Basquiat even felt the need to do artwork on front of the fridge. It was so inspiring to me that he loved his artwork that much, and not having a lot of money, Basquiat found parts off the street that he brought home and used them as supplies and would do artwork on them. 

Another feature that I enjoyed from this film is how much they brought up how much people loved Jean-Michel Basquiat’s work even though he had a tough background and bad experiences growing up. During Basquiat’s early years he was involved in a life-threatening accident and later on got caught up into drugs. No one took that into consideration and judged him and turned away from his work. They didn’t care they were shocked that someone with Basquiat’s background became so talented. Buyers chased after Jean looking for his work. Fans either loved Basquiat’s work or hated it and in this film, critics loved his work, work ethic, and passion for what he does. Also, it became another inspiration to children that no matter how rough of a lifestyle they must not ever let up on their dreams because anything can happen in life. Basquiat with being homeless at the age of seventeen with his decision and barely making it by and at the age of nineteen now a millionaire. It is just amazing and such an inspiration to not even the children but adults and other artists around.

In conclusion, Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child was a very inspirational and interesting film to watch. I really enjoyed watching this and learning about Basquiat. Before watching this film I was not really excited to watch it because I thought it was just going to be about Basquiat’s artwork, but I truly enjoyed watching this film because it portrayed more than just his artwork, and talked about his whole life background from his early years, to him because the famous artist that he is. Also, it described the type of person Jean was and how he became an amazing artist all on his own. Overall, I would give this movie a five star rating and definitely recommend to a friend and I would watch it again. 

The couple’s complex relationship unfolds through the artwork of Noriko in her art series titled “Cutie & Bullie”. Her work is based on her relationship with her husband who is almost 20 years older than her. They first met in New York City, she was an aspiring artist and he was an established artist in the city. For a large portion of the film, she describes herself as inferior to her husband, as if she is just his student. Ushio has a role in making her feel this way as well, describing her as his assistant and calling himself the genius. The dynamic between the couple keeps the audience guessing throughout the film. It is clear that Noriko loves Ushio but, she also clearly feels stuck and unhappy. She described the relationship as two flowers trying to bloom in the same pot.  

The couple’s artwork is visually polar opposites with Ushio creating bright and vibrant paintings and Noriko painting in primarily black and white. Ushio’s work seems to be more abstract and stylized especially in his painting in which he uses boxing gloves to punch the canvas. Noriko’s style is subtle and soft, with swooping, delicate brushstrokes that paint her emotion into each character drawn. They have been living in poverty for most of their lives, struggling to pay rent, raise a child, and Ushio’s alcohol addiction. This pain and suffering are evident in both of their art; Ushio’s sculpture and painting and Noriko’s comic-style series. It is fascinating to watch how the couple takes their pain and creates art from it. 

The film intercuts clips of the couple from when they were younger living in New York City. These clips help write the narrative and bring to life what Noriko illustrated in “Cutie & Bullie”. Her series is an examination of their entire relationship, from the moment they first met to every major event after that. She inspects the changes in their relationship, and how it has altered from bright, new love into comfortable, stagnant love. The sections of their relationship in the past that are interlaced in the film show us the same change in the relationship that Noriko saw as well. We see how Ushio’s alcoholism affected their family and forced Noriko to raise their child herself while living in poverty. Noriko’s use of black and white in her artwork highlights the emptiness that she feels, was drained out of her life through the relationship with Ushio. 

The film ends on a positive note with the couple having a duel exhibition at an art gallery. Ushio is the main focus of the exhibition but, Noriko gets an entire room to herself to show off her prized series. The whole film leads us to believe that Noriko believes that she would have been better off on her own but, after the exhibition, it is clear the duo depends on each other to be able to create the beautiful artwork that they are showing. Without the struggle of her life with Ushio she would have never created her series and without the strength and guidance of Noriko, Ushio would not have the support he needed to continue to create his art. 

The film is a beautiful examination of a tragic love story that is exemplified through two unique forms of art. Ushio’s vibrant paintings and complex cardboard sculptures highlight the exciting and wild side of the relationship while Noriko’s delicate paintings show the pain and suffering that existed. The duality of their artwork is an amalgamation of their entire relationship which reveals to the audience that although the relationship is difficult, the two depend on each other for motivation to continue doing what they love most. At any point in their lives, either one of them could have given up on their craft but both persevered and through their combined tenacity found a stage for their art to be appreciated.