commentators also appreciated giving the modern viewer a peek at the decimated Lower East Side of 1980, saying "the real star of the film is the gritty milieu of a New York long gone", and that "New York Beat...conveys the vast gulf between Manhattan’s rich and the forgotten corners of the city, and the marginal existence of the artistic underground who tried to survive in between these worlds." References Further reading Edo Bertoglio (director). Downtown ’81. Written by Glenn O’Brien; produced by Glenn O'Brien and Patrick Montgomery. Post-production by Maripol. Executive Producer Michael Zilkha. Zeitgeist Films, 2000. 72 mins. Jeffery Deitch, Diego Cortez, and Glenn O’Brien. Jean-Michel Basquiat 1981: the Studio of the Street, Milan: Charta, 2007. Anthony Haden-Guest. "The Roving Eye" ArtNet review of Downtown 81 . External links Downtown 81 full movie on archive.org Films set in New York City American independent films 2000 films 1981 films Jean-Michel Basquiat 2000s English-language films 1980s English-language films 1980s American films 2000s American films