America

Bomb It! movie review screener!

Chris rolls his eyes at me but obligingly spins the car around, heading back towards something I whined about missing during our serendipitous in-motion drive-by photo-op. It’s a shell of a building seemingly built out of graffiti, layer upon layer of splayed and swirly signature scribbles or tags, but in this remote sketchy part of the City, graffiti writers have enough time to create the more elaborate throw-ups and pieces, short for masterpieces. Some call graffiti art, some a lifestyle and savior, others say it’s revolting vandalism, and the brilliant documentary Bomb It! smoothly offers all opinions, passionate whether it be love or hate.

Graffiti defines rebellion, as most writers are proud to be street soldiers, typographic terrorists, comparing themselves to guerilla militia, rampaging war against gentrification and urbanization, which they are likely a direct descendant of. Graffiti artists denounce industrial progress, criticizing boxy skyscrapers as physical manifestation of oppressive societal schism; bombing (spraying multiple areas quickly) being the obvious revolution.

Bomb It! takes us all across the globe to reveal the similarities of every society, wealthy or impoverished, riotous or safe. NY and LA are gimmes, but there’s angst on the walls of Tokyo, too, admittedly a recent phenomenon in their realm of rules and respect. In tragic Capetown, ripped by Apartheid, a youthful bunch with corrugated tin sheds as their canvas try to give a deprived community something beautiful, and the townsfolk ecstatically agree. A São Paulo official agrees that the rapid skyline protrusion is obtrusive. Barcelona, a land rife with gorgeous abstract architecture is also home to some of the most gorgeous and abstract burners (murals) ever painted, accompanied by a mature casual aura one would expect from the native artists, still commanding that vigilante spirit and belief in art for the masses.

Graffiti mysteriously exemplifies identity, ephemeral yet permanent, simultaneously attaining notoriety and anonymity. Bombing gets you noticed, earns acclaim, albeit hidden in the shadows, hiding from the law. With the popularity of crossover graffiti artists, paved by legends Keith Haring, Basquiat, maybe even Upper Playground and Mark Ecko, the fine line between selling and sell out have evaded those with an entrepreneurial edge. But for most writers, profit eschews the very essence of graffiti, and they’d rather live and die on the edge rather than legitimize their designs.

For some, freedom of expression with an aerosol can is no less an intrinsically innate human response, comparing graffiti to Egyptian wall paintings. Bomb It! proffers the argument that public space belongs to the people, that democracy doesn’t exist without this simple recognition. If you have something to say, say it, or hmm, spray it, Bomb It!

See it! at the San Francisco Independent Film Festival on February 9 and 17, 2008

About the Author

Kris Kobayashi-Nelson says these directors/screenwriters rarely disappoint: Peter Greenaway, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Krzysztof Kieslowski, Gus van Sant. Gregg Araki. Kris claims that Jake Gyllenhaal, Cillian Murphy, Desmond Harrington and Casey Affleck are much more than pretty faces.