Style Wars

UPC: 082354000721

Studio: Plexifilm

MPAA Rating: NR   Contains:null

Summary: Calisthenic breakdancing and big, bold graffiti art were in top form and popularity in the U.S. in the early and mid-'80s, and this documentary extols the spirit and the talents of a variety of New York youngsters who were expert in either one or both of these challenging pastimes. Public reactions are wildly varied. On the one hand, the youth brave a police crackdown on graffiti and face barbed-wire fences and guard dogs in the railroad yards where they spray paint subway cars with oversized lettering. On the other hand, their art is shown in a municipal gallery and analyzed with the same seriousness as a Rembrandt or a Renoir. Whether viewers judge the graffiti an "eyesore" or a bit of post-modern expressionism, it is true that both the art and the dancing are incisively presented in this hour-long exploration. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Category: Culture & Society

Awards: Grand Prize: Documentary – Sundance Film Festival

Features: ccOver 23 minutes of original outtake footage
Feature commentary by director/producer Tony Silver and producer Henry Chalfant
Interview with Tony Silver and Henry Chalfant (2002)
Interview with Style Wars editors Victor Kanefsky and Sam Pollard (2002)
English subtitles for the hearing impaired
Digitally remastered 5.1 Dolby soundtrack featuring classic tracks from Grandmaster Flash, the Treacherous Three, Trouble Funk, the Fearless Four, Rammellzee vs. K-Rob, and more
32 artist galleries including new interviews, trains, and rare photos of: Blade, Cap, Cey, Crash, Crazy Legs, Daze, Dez, Dondi, Doze, Duro, Duster, Frosty Freeze, IZ the Wiz, Kase 2, Kel First, Ken Swift, Lee, Mare139, Min One, Noc 167, Paze (Erni), Pink, Quik, Rammellzee, Revolt, Sach, Seen TC5, Seen UA, Shy 147, Skeme, Tracy 168, and Zephyr
Tributes to Dondi and Shy 147
Guest interviews: Fab 5 Freddy, Goldie, Guru, DJ Red Alert, and photographer Martha Cooper
"Destroy All Lines" 30 min. loop of over 200 whole cars and burners
Featuring music from: Def Jux recording artists El-P, RJD2, and Aesop Rock, plus Mr. Wiggles, Kimson "Angola-Red" Albert, and Darryl Jenifer

Style Wars

Format: DVD

Release Date: 04/22/2003

Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Pre-1954 Standard

Audio: DD5.1 Dolby Digital 5.1, DD2 Dolby Digital Stereo

Runtime: 70 Minutes

Sides: 2

Number of Discs: 2

Language(s) English

Region: Universal Compatability

Chapters: Side #1 -- Disc 1
1. New York 1982 [2:12]
2. It's Called Bombing [1:20]
3. The Bench [1:02]
4. Going All City [2:43]
5. It Started in the Bronx & Harlem [1:40]
6. Under the City [2:10]
7. Dondi [:57]
8. Death Penalty [1:04]
9. A Beautiful Wall [4:03]
10. Doodling [1:42]
11. A Whole Miserable Subculture [1:57]
12. Getting Up: The Pioneers [3:44]
13. Vicious Style [3:11]
14. Fresh Extrateless Brothers [3:11]
15. Throwdown at USA [4:54]
16. How Big, How High [1:53]
17. The Buff [2:53]
18. People Are Amazed [1:57]
19. Blood Wars [6:39]
20. A New Movement [3:27]
21. The Professionals [1:48]
22. Negotiations [3:01]
23. Holding Back the Enemy [4:43]
24. When There Were Kings [3:22]
25. Rock You Out (End Credits) [:12]

Michael Buening

Shot between 1981 and 1983 and aired on PBS, Style Wars is remarkable as a relatively early filmed document of hip-hop culture at its source and an intelligent defense of an oft-maligned and misunderstood art form, graffiti. It is constructed as an investigative news piece with stentorian narrator Sam Schacht, presenting an equally weighed back and forth debate over whether graffiti is art or vandalism. But from an opening scene, when a young writer pouts while his mom harangues him over his hobby, it's clear where directors Henry Chalfant andTony Silver's sympathies lie. Cameraman Burleigh Wartes captures subway train murals at opportune locations, where the car-length paintings majestically unfurl for maximum impact. Editors Sam Pollard, Victor Kanefsky, and Mary Alfieri edit these sequences to the 4/4 beat of early rap music, one of the first attempts to develop a hip-hop-influenced cutting technique. Though not addressed directly, the documentary also helps refute a common myth about graffiti culture -- that it had an integral connection with break dancing and rapping and was mostly carried out by black and Hispanic kids. Some of the most interesting footage tracks writers on tagging runs -- jumping fences into train yards and navigating the city's underground tunnels. Though the passion and thrill of artistic discovery is palpable, one is left with the feeling that graffiti was, for the most part, a movement that flowered during a unique situation in New York's history. Style Wars captures this movement as it is just starting to wane, when mayor Ed Koch's crackdowns started having a serious effect and a general overall increase in New York City's quality of life demanded more effective cleanups. The growing media saturation is typified by the clueless and somewhat exploitative attention given by the Soho galleries crowd. Of further note are appearances by writers Dondi, Daze, and Cap One, and a performance by the Rock Steady Crew. ~ Michael Buening, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Sam Schacht  Actor 
Wayne Frost  Actor 
Tony Silver  Director 
Tony Silver  Producer 
Henry Chalfant  Producer 

Country: USA