User Reviews

i just came from a big Hollywood movie, the pink panther, and this little indy flick, the graffiti artist, just blows away Steve martin and his stupid ego movie. this is not an action flick, you have to get into the head of the main actor (ruben bansie-snellman) (shorten your name buddy), it really paints a picture of this young dude whose life is centered around spraying and tagging. he finally meets another young man into the same scene and falls in love with him. so the two get around to having sex, and then the kid with all the money just dumps the street boy. this is a very moving film, and it breaks your heart to see this kid out on the street again, getting busted again etc. congrats to the director, James Bolton, who also did Eban & Charley, a movie that focused on intergenerational love but not the mainstream hysterical manner which is "middle America's" take on it. For those people who didn't like this movie, go back to your couch and turn on the TV. I'm sure there is a Fox channel that has exactly what you are looking for.

Contains spoiling

I'm really into artistic movies. "The Graffiti Artist' is an interesting study about the empty life of a young sprayer who does nothing else all day than leaving his tag everywhere he goes. Okay, he also does a lot of shoplifting, and then he meets another sprayer, the two boys develop a relationship but realize that they don't fit together and they break up. "The Graffiti Artist' is a good movie, but my problem was that as a foreigner, I didn't understand half of the dialogues. That dialect the two boys speak – they don't speak much, but when they do, I really wonder why the hell I've spent seven years of my life learning English. Some single words let me guess what they were talking about – but the language problem caused me even more questions about the movie. Here are some of them: Nick and Jesse seem quite young – why do they already live alone? How can they afford a flat if they don't go to work? What was the reason why Jesse suddenly left? (He explained that to Nick – but his strange accent made it impossible to me understanding him.) So, in the end I can say I recommend this movie to people who like it artistic, who appreciate it when a director lets the pictures speak, and not the characters (and I'm really really thankful for that …) and to everybody who's interested in the graffiti milieu. Many people probably won't like the movie because it starts nowhere and ends nowhere, the only story it tells is the short relationship between Nick and Jesse, and that one is quite frustrating, partly because there's not much happening, but especially because the spectator sees it with Nick's eyes, who seems to have liked it lasting a little longer. Impatient people shouldn't watch "The Graffiti Artist', because there isn't much action. But when Nick sprays his paintings and permanently watches his back if nobody is coming, and when he is chased by the police, it becomes really exciting.

Rating: 6/10 (7 if I had watched it with subtitles)

I thought the film was pretty good. The art was fantastic and it gave you a twist that I didn't expect. The acting could of been better . The scene where Nick and Jessie were arguing on the street was really awful. It was not convincing in my opinion. I also didn't like the fact that nick didn't start speaking until 20 minutes in the film. The ending was another part that didn't make sense. Like what happened to Nick? No explanation what so ever.I like the fact that Nick was Mysterious you didn't know what to expect from him. I was really hooked when watching the film. There was so much feeling in a lot of the scenes with nick. I think teenagers would agree with me on that. Overall I thought it was pretty good but just needed a lot of work.

Normally i would dismiss this type of film as an arty farty snore feast, but the director has created a world with little dialogue and a questioning plot...i found myself questioning characters like no film before, and was awash with conflicting emotions of wanting to both mother Rapture (brilliantly played by Ruben Bonsie Shellman) and marry him!...the films soundtrack and visuals create an impressive doco drama canvas that perplexed me with it's subtle power...living in a city it's all street scape that is familiar yet distant, and Graffiti artist yielded a welcomed insight...after watching this brilliant film i found myself desperately wanting a hug and will always ponder the artist behind graffiti i encounter...please see.

I saw the graffiti artist during the Berlin Film Festival ´04 next to a plenty of other movies but this one staid on my mind. Like only few movies it really made me think, and this is probably the biggest compliment you can make. Don´t think this only a movie for people that like graffiti, although I loved the graffiti aspect as it shows it the way it deserves, as a real art form. This alone is a reason to see it, but the movie goes deeper, it dares to ask questions, questions that are valid to everybody, questions that should be asked more often. The movie gives you a rare seen undistorted image of an anonymous society and the need and importance for an individual to express itself. In this way Nick represents all our hopes and fears. On the one hand he does what everybody wants, he does what he loves without compromises, but on the other hand he has to pay an enormous price for it. He shows that a self-determined life is possible and refuses to adapt to common structures consistently, but therefore he is confronted in the hardest way with the coldness that marks our society so strong and that we fear so much. Maybe this movie tells the story of a teenager, but above all it deals with general problems, and I was fascinated of the intensity that is created. This I think depends on another big strength of the movie, the fact that it never looks down on his protagonists but treats them with the necessary respect all the time. Therefore go and look out for this movie, I promise you won´t regret. I also have to say I really enjoyed the fact that the movie was filmed with digital cameras. It really improved it and in addition to the great acting of the young protagonists it creates an extremely true, personal picture, never looking cheap. A absolute highlight!

How did this film get into the Berlin Film Festival? I understand it got into the Panorama section, but still.

This film featured:

1. No plot. 2. Horrible acting. 3. Atrocious videography. 4. Some of the worst graffiti ever captured on video.

The one clincher that accounts for most of its festival acceptances is the presence of that old standby: homosexuality. That's right, about the only thing that does happen in this film is that one graff artist makes out with another one and jerks him off. Then he feels weird about it and they have a boring old "breaking up" conversation that you might expect to hear from your first crush in middle school (featuring lines like "You kissed me first, dude."). Oh, and by the way, this is no Crying Game...you see the gay angle coming in the first ten minutes of the film. Aside from that it's mostly just bad tags, badly costumed "undercover" cops, some skateboarding, and a train ride.

If the subject matter is of interest to anyone I recommend looking around the web for some underground graff videos taken by real graffiti artists. There's plenty out there...and they are a hell of a lot more entertaining than this crap.

I just saw this movie on DVD; had to get it from the website as nobody seems to carry it..and it was definitely worth the wait of almost two & a half weeks. The film is very beautiful, flows as a dream would...very visually driven, the protagonists don't speak much but then they don't really have to, Nick, played by ruben bansie-snellman, doesn't portray the most 'charismatic' character ever, though that does seem to work for the character, Nick 'feels' genuine because he doesn't talk much or cares to engage anyone in conversation for conversation's sake. He's simply a young man trying to find his voice in the world, politically, socially, sexually. The film is a gem, I often felt like reaching out to Nick b/c I could relate to so many things his character portrayed...nice, different film.

I wasn't impressed with the Graffiti Artist, despite it's artsy (aka. low budget improvisation) appeal. There is little dialog and at least for me, I was disappointed that it didn't give more credit or promote the work of guerrilla artists such as these. Instead, it was a story that covers familiar territory. Two guys who basically do little more than tag buildings become friends, tagging partners, and eventually experiment with a relationship. They seem like opposites, rather uncomfortable together. Little is explained about their backgrounds and the things between the two young men happen at rapid speed (although, this I can understand because it's only 70 minutes or so). There's been countless numbers of similar plots and productions in recent years to the point that the sphere of independent film is starting to become just as saturated with this particular storytelling just as the mainstream has become saturated with this and more.

Much of the film may bore the viewer who needs immediate dialog and purpose. The primary figure of this story (at least extensively), performs his routines with nearly no dialog, no insight, and nothing else to carry the viewer. And, for a short film, I wished they could've gotten to the point a lot faster. That, aside from the typical plot annoyed me. Yet, there was something about a momentary glimpse into the daily habits of at least two graffiti artists, even if most of it was rather unoccupied time.

Recommended if you're tired of the mainstream crap and don't mind an indie picture and have some interested into this underground, urban art form. But, you really have to watch it for yourself, because this seems to be one with a more acquired taste. For more recent indie films centering on graffiti artists, check out Transit.

This movie truly didn't need dialogue. With a soundtrack by Kid Loco, and a story that is as surreal and beautiful-- the written dialog becomes a secondary in such a film. Nick aka "Rupture", the graffiti artist, is a loner. His artistic "tagging" gets him in trouble with the law where he finds himself moving from Portland to Seattle meeting up with Jesse aka "Flip." A relationship grows between them as they "tag" together and live together. They become intimate, Jesse becomes more uncomfortable with those feelings, takes flight back to Portland leaving a tragic Nick, high and dry. This movie is less about Nick and Jesse's relationship and more about the outstanding artist, Nick is, and what limits he will go to show it, even jail. Great dream-like movie that takes you into the life of an artist, a graffiti artist. I got to see it @ a Film Festival and cannot wait to see it again and again.

I give this movie 2 stars purely because of its slightly liberal plot line. Without going into too much detail.

The acting in this movie is terrible. Really terrible - wooden, shallow.

The graffiti on show is weak, so bloody weak that I can only wonder why they bothered to use graffiti artists at all. IT was obvious in the spraying scenes that they'd gotten other people in to do the 'work'. They might as well have let the actors do the painting and saved themselves a few cents.

I would avoid this film at all costs.

The kid loco soundtrack used to be something I listened to on my iPod, its going to be a while before I can go back there for fear of this movie coming back into my mind.

Avoid at all costs. Unless you are thinking to yourself "Wow, its been a while since I've seen a really sh*t movie...."

James Bolton ('Eban and Charley') is emerging as a filmmaker of considerable note. As writer, producer and director of THE GRAFFITI ARTIST he is introducing a new realm of American verismo that is beautiful to watch, touching in content, and a creatively conceived film from beginning to end.

Portland, present time. Nick (a young Dutch actor Ruben Bansie-Snellman whose magnetism on the camera recalls the early James Dean) is a teenager who lives the solitary life, committed to his passion of tagging via graffiti art under the tag name 'Rapture'. He keeps journals of his drawings, photographs of his graffiti, and stays alive by shoplifting his tools of spray cans and his vegetarian diet foods. Always on the look out for police who arrest taggers, Nick is a man against the world. He is arrested for his art. Upon release Nick, by happenstance one day, meets a fellow tagger Jesse (Pepper Fajans) with whom he finally speaks (to this point there has been no dialogue from Nick) and follows around, sharing art and tagging. Jesse apparently has some money from his mother and is able to provide Nick with food and shelter. The two travel to Seattle to tag, create some truly beautiful graffiti art, and slowly bond to the point that Jesse invites Nick into his bed. What follows is one of the more sensuous yet understated same-sex scenes on film.

By morning Jesse already has conflicts with the evening's tryst: Nick appears serenely satisfied yet anxious about Jesse's response. They continue to tag, creating a new, partnered tag name 'Elusive'. Jesse eventually distances himself from the guarded Nick and leaves to return to Portland. Nick tries to maintain his lifestyle but is now living in the streets and tagging in dangerous places that result in run-ins with the law.But primarily because he misses Jesse, the only other person with whom he has bonded, Nick returns to Portland, leaving tag messages signed 'Rapture' wherever he sees Jesse's signature 'Flip'. At last Nick finds Jesse, and learns that Jesse doesn't want to have anything to do with him. Alone again, Nick's return to his solitary life and the way he deals with his dream is the may the story ends.

Though there is almost no dialogue in this film, Director Bolton capitalizes on the magnetism of his actors' body language and especially eye language and the result is simply stunning. Ruben Bansie-Snellman owns the screen and creates a character so heartrendingly simple in his complexity that he pulls us into his strange world of Nick every moment. The music score by Kid Loco and the cinematography by Sarah Levy enhance the dark mood of this piece. THE GRAFFITI ARTIST allows us to see this world as one cruel to those who don't 'fit' and makes a quiet, powerful statement about the lone individual in a landscape foreign in every way except in art. Highly recommended. Grady Harp

Nick is a young graffiti artist that spends his days painting in the streets, stealing food and aerosol sprays, and escaping from the police. He has no home, no family, no responsibilities. His whole world is contained and expressed in the elusiveness of graffiti.

Nick has no choice but to eat frugally and sleep on the streets; and neither the constant threat of being captured by the police dissuades him of his ways. As a decentered subject he fits in the role of what Spivak calls the subaltern. The marginal and the subaltern, after all, share much traces in common, chief amongst them the peripheral reality in which they thrive.

When Nick meets Jesse, a boy who is also a graffiti artist, he discovers he may not be doomed to be alone all the time. As one can observe, Nick is the subaltern not only because of his marginalized and maligned passion for graffiti, but also because he lacks a sense of center, he is devoid of those social rules deemed indispensable by most people, he couldn't care less about the law or the symbolic order. Jesse, on the other hand, is still tempting the waters, he breaks the law by painting walls, but he also obeys the law by paying for everything he needs, whether it is artistic supplies or food. Jesse's behavior thus contradicts Nick's imperatives, but despite the differences, or perhaps because of them, the two kids get along fine.

Throughout the film James Bolton provides the viewer only with the most essential visual information, as a result, one can only try to elicit the motivations behind the characters. Why would Nick spend all his waking hours breaking the law and living in miserable conditions to paint a graffiti that will only get erased? What does he truly pursue? When he smiles for the first and only time it is when he shares that which he loves the most, painting, with the only person that has treated him kindly and respectfully. And it is out of respect that Nick restraints himself: he watches his young friend's naked body after he steps out of the shower but stays away from it.

However, one steamy night Jesse tells Nick that they can sleep in the same bed. Jesse gets closer to Nick, and while kissing him proceeds to place his hand under Nick's underwear. This is not only an intense moment in which Jesse masturbates and kisses Nick, but also a statement about the characters. It's Jesse who takes the initiative even though Nick had been interested in him since the beginning. Nonetheless, this reckless act will have serious consequences. Can the two boys remain friends after this experience? And more importantly, should they remain as friends or move onto something else entirely? Is rupture the only possibility? Perhaps Jesse embodies the symbolic castration that is the condition sine qua non to be fully inserted in the symbolic order. Nick, on the contrary, doesn't give a damn about society's demands. He paints because that's what he loves doing and he won't let anyone tell him how to live his life. One can almost feel the sadness and silent despair of the protagonist. What force drives him to keep on doing that which could bring about his downfall? Perhaps it is that as a subaltern he has nothing to lose, while Jesse couldn't possible take so many risks. The final minutes of the film are most revealing about the true nature of the character. Bolton manages to subdue the fierceness of this first homosexual encounter while emphasizing in the elusive beauty of graffiti. A truly notable film.

This movie is a gay love story disguised as a tale of graffiti and friendship. Not ONE review described this movie as a gay romance film, and that's the weight of the plot. I don't know if this was to trick people that would otherwise be uninterested to sit through it, expecting the film to be as it was marketed... The film is out of touch with graffiti culture, abuses and defames graffiti culture, and the acting is abysmal. Oh yeah, the graffiti sucks too. This movie was a clever way to hide the agenda of portraying young boys getting gay. Just look at the rest of the movies the director's been involved with, all contain the same subject matter. Boring as hell, not what I expected.

loved the film.

moving and interesting, and what it lacked in narrative it made up for with wonderful performance by snellman. not perfect, but a great thinking piece that i still ponder on. i agree with the previous comment, that it makes me think about the artist behind graffiti.

it was very reminicant of gus van sant's work in elephant, and i'd love to get my hands on the DVD to see the deleted scenes featuring snellman's sister. interesting to see what would happen introducing a third element.

see it.

I didn't understand the people who rated it over 5. I think it's a horrible film from any point of view. Plots, acting, art, dialog, music, whatsoever! I don't mind a low budget..However you have to get some point. Wandering, wondering..pointless..then two boys started kissing in bed. awful,,just awful. I love indie films, don't mind it is slow. However this movie disappointed me from any perspectives. Even the Graffito, not artistic.

I was wondering what kind of people would like it. I am a female in my 30's. Is it for teens who have some kind of the loneliness about life, or I just don't get it? What I gained then? Wasting time! Please go for some others.

it was a great movie. Pop Life has no clue what good graffiti is. those two had talent. don't talk mess about something you cant do. you know hard it is??

i tag, and it is hard to do stuff like that. good tags, the "videography" was great.

fit the movie perfectly. quit trying to sound smart.

it was an excellent movie. it didn't need a plot. it was just following his life.

i hate people like you, think your the next greatest film critic.

someone needs to deflate your ego.

Great "videography", great soundtrack, great art, great actors.

Great Movie In general

I enjoy gay-themed movies where the characters aren't stereotypically gay and that's what attracted me to this movie, that and the principal actor, which is the only reason I'm giving this movie one more star than it deserves (although not because of his acting in the film, let me tell you). A lot of people complain about the cinematography, but the camcorder feel of the movie added a certain "underground" quality to it for me and there are a couple of scenes, usually around sunset or sunrise and among trains that would make any movie screen blush.

But the acting is cardboard, the music is repetitive (I got through the latter half of the movie listening to a soundtrack from another film), you have to wait almost twenty minutes for any dialog and then it is awkward and amateur. The subject of graffiti could have made this movie great had it been gracefully exploited and had the art itself been more intriguing, but it isn't.

Worst of all, there is no climax; there wasn't really a plot to begin with. The movie just crawls back into its shell of silence and dies. A forgettable movie.

it takes a lot for me to make a comment on a film but this one is so deserving. having grown up in europe and lived in the us for the past 10 years, i have had to get by on the few American films which actually have something to say or offer something truly artful and this is one of the few of the last few years. i can't wait the graffiti artist comes to the new beverly or one of the other art house cinemas in LA so i can recommend it to my friends. i'm a painter, but did not know much about graffiti art before i watched this. having now spoken to some graffiti artists at a painting showcase in long beach, i realize how tru this film is to the subculture and also how the silences of the film fit in. perhaps that is why the one negative comment for this film exists. this guy just must not get anything but gay feel good comedies like that dreadful, waste of time latter days which is the only other film he commented on. so glowing that he must be the filmmaker or producer of that terrible "latter days" because i haven't seen a worse film this year. actually, i walked out after 25 min because i was losing IQ points.perhaps, now i do understand what must have happened to "steven". so now i've been compelled to comment on a film because it's brilliant and deserves to be seen and somebody has to let readers know the "truth," when another reviewer tries to send them astray. go see the graffiti artist when it comes to your city and see the future of film-making. thought provoking, political (this film is really about free speech, not just a kiss...hint: try to see things other than queer cinema) hopefully other directors will be inspired to try something new and quit trying to feed us senseless crap which is the bulk of American cinema. gus van sant compared this director to ingmar bergman and i can see the influence, but this is a truly unique and powerful voice and i can't wait for the next film by bolton.

Really... I can't believe it's being taken seriously... It was the most boring, lame, pointless garbage I've ever endured. A total waste of time and money. Where to start ? Terrible music, unconvincing, stilted acting, one-dimensional characters and narrative, boring and art.

Agony. I saw it at the Melbourne Queer Film Festival and was really shocked that it was accepted for screening. The look and feel was really cheap, pointless scenes like cooking and rolling a joint took f-o-r-e-v-e-r......... This is not how boys behave, queers behave, graffiti artists behave....

It wasn't romantic, it didn't 'ache', it missed every possibility to of redemption. Ah well.

"The Graffiti Artist" is a brilliant experiment and an amazing film. With a moving narration the director manages to tell the story not through action or dialogues, but rather through the discrete observation of the emotional intimacy of the protagonist, Nick, a young graffiti artist living in a silent, soft solitude, skating around the empty streets and nocturnal landscapes of Portland and Seattle, where his artistic immaginario comes to life. Through extremely brief dialogues and long silences the film investigates the loneliness of an adolescent in search of warmth and significance, describing his first sentimental education. That's why "The Graffiti Artist" can be seen as a romantic film, telling the intimate confusion inside Nick's heart which, unexpressed by words, finds its ultimate expression in the boy's artistic action. The cold camera photography, the wild character of digital shooting and the minimal soundtrack analyse an intimate world made of silent mornings with corn cobs-breakfasts and silent nights of grass joint smoking. Nick is impersonated by the talented Ruben Bansie-Snellman, through whose "wide shut eyes" the yearning melancholy of a lonely young boy comes out. Nicks meets Jesse (Pepper Fajans) for the first time in a skate park in Portland; as Nick and Jesse accidentally meet again in Seattle, Nick's face shows for the very first time a brief, pure smile. The joy of the direct self-expression above virgin walls and the will of leaving signs, evidences of their own existence is the bound between the two boys. This bound will be the motor of new creations, and the two of them will create a huge graffiti around the railway rest areas of Seattle. Though, Nick's lonely artistic actions through the streets of Portland and Seattle represent the most lyrical moments in the film. In the intense final Nick will survive a non-returned affection for Jesse and the experience of jail; as a survivor though, he will keep on skating through the abandoned industrial areas of Portland, sleeping in the streets, leaving through graffiti his message of free art, a sign of his own existence and of the freedom of his lonely spirit.

When I first heard of this movie,i wasn't really interested in seeing it, but i went to see it at the local theater, i was blown away with such a great movie. For some people you might not like it because the main Character Nick (Ruben Bansie-Snellman) doesn't say anything till the 25th minute of the film but it then starts to get real interesting after that. He See's this fellow tagger named Jessie (Pepper Fajans)in Seattle and they bond and become friends. The movie gives you a rare unseen image of how two people can become friends thru tagging. I found this movie to be set in such a great setting Portland, and Seattle. Great Actors. I would Highly Recommend this movie to anyone who is tired of seeing typical Hollywood movies.

Thanks

What a winner in niche cinema James Bolton has directed and written!

The story is simple enough to understand.... youth creating their own ideals and learning that life will hate you because of it.

Our loner skateboarding and graffiti artist, Nick, spends his days creating his art. He meets a like skateboarder graffiti artist Jesse. The two spend time together boarding and creating graffiti. In this strained relationship Nick thinks there is more to it than Jesse is willing to give. The two eventually go their separate ways.

Jesse is the realist and suggest Nick 'sell' his art. Here the message of this film becomes clear - Nick has decided that his art must be free, money would corrupt it. At this time Jesse is supporting Nick. Nick has no money.

In the end we see Nick having to sleep in the alleyways and continue to steal his food. His Art is his purpose and he would rather suffer rejection and poverty than compromise himself. His pain is his inspiration and he knows it.

If you remain true to your creative self society will reject you!

Graffiti artist is a film, which describe a special way of feeling... and maybe there aren't a lot who really understand the lyric. when nick - the graffiti artist - prowls through the cities of Portland and Seattle, you feel that he is searching for something or maybe for somebody. not accepting a world, where are many things you should do like working or other stuff. not really important. he try to be free... do his stuff.. graffiti, tags, hanging around etc. art for himself. maybe to show....hey.. I'm here, fighting against his loneliness. He meets Jesse and Nick thinks...hey...this is maybe somebody, who feels like me. Like graffiti, tags... free live..and maybe more? You see the first time a smile in Nicks face... maybe he'll reach his destiny? kind of hope into this strange world? very realistic, lyric and romantic film, where you can dream...