Audio By Carbonatix
In 1980, fresh filmmaker Charlie Ahearn was approached by graffiti artist Fred Braithwaite to see if he wanted to make a movie about the hip-hop scene in New York City through the music, dance and art that was erupting from every corner of the metropolis. Ahearn jumped at the chance to work with Braithwaite (better known as Fab 5 Freddy), and the result was Wild Style, a chronicle of that historic cultural revolution.
The film was scripted with a loose plot about a graffiti artist named Zoro and his encounters with an uptown journalist covering the scene, but it shines for the real goings-on and spirit that Ahearn captured in the NYC of the ’80s, giving the film a half-narrative/half-documentary feel that creates the most authentic portrait of the hip-hop scene ever captured. To avoid pesky rights issues, Ahearn worked with the pioneers of hip-hop, including Fab 5 Freddy, Grandmaster Flash, Busy Bee, Lady Pink, the Cold Crush Brothers and many more.
The film screens tonight at 7:30 p.m. as part of Shiner Soundtrack, a series of notable music-themed films, at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema; Wild Style might just be the first in the series to get audiences up on their feet. Alamo creative manager Steve Bessette wants you to get in on the ground floor of this visual and aural document: “I’m pumped to show it, because it’s not only important to film history, but also for showcasing early hip-hop. It’s foundational in many forms.”
See Wild Style at the Alamo, 7301 South Santa Fe Drive in Littleton; tickets are $10.75 and can be purchased in advance at drafthouse.com/denver/littleton.
Mon., Jan. 19, 7:30 p.m., 2015
