Make Me Famous Review: 80s NYC remembered

In Make Me Famous, Brian Vincent’s tapestry of the NYC art scene from the 80s perseveres its unique reputation as an epicentre of creativity.

Deeper into the decade, the neighbourhood was plagued with heroin, suicides, and AIDS, all of which are mentioned with a chilly matter-of-factness. Brian Vincent’s film is a spider-diagram tapestry of characters, all of whom could be its focal point. It is Brezinski’s failures that give him a romantically tragic allure.

The film’s title derives from the notion that Brezinski craved fame, something which those around him spent less time concerned with. He would attend openings just to hand out invitations to his own, a major faux pas which, while endearingly remembered now, clearly rubbed some people up the wrong way at the time. He is said to have read books not because he enjoyed reading, but so he could talk about them as a way of climbing the social ladder. Make Me Famous is populated by artists, and they speak as artists do; Brezinski is described as a ‘poor tortured thing’ as if it was his USP. 

One of the film’s many tangents follows a curious thread about Brezinski’s death. At the time of recording, he was listed as still alive by the US Government. That his greatest legacy could be a question mark over his supposed demise is the least provocative part of the documentary, and it feels like a flight of fancy by people who crave ‘what if?’ He is better served by those who talk about him in detail, who recall an ambitious oddball with an alcohol problem. He once attended a gallery in which a bag of doughnuts was part of the collection, and so he ate one, despite it being preserved with chemicals for purposes of the display. He was purportedly mad at the exhibition, and this was his protest. 

With Make Me Famous, Vincent has pieced together the story of NYC in an erratic way that complements the buzz of the time. He’s blessed with significant archival footage, making it a worthy documentary at a time many are little more than visual podcasts. The words of his interviewees are complemented by images of Brezinski’s apartment, bringing to life this ramshackle environment that was a home and a studio and a gallery all at once. One interviewee mentions a breakdown by Village Voice critic Gary Indiana, and Vincent is lucky enough to have evidence of it. 

Chief among the interviewees is David McDermott, who by his own admission is cosplaying the role of landed gentry. His memory alone seems to contain every rift from the East Village. These asides, which make up a major chunk of the movie, bring the 1980s art scene to life. Painting was just one part of a community that contained feuds, affairs, dreamers and realists. Brezinski – or at least the memory of Brezinski – is placed among a sprawling cast, all the better to imagine him navigating an art scene that was constantly in flux. 

Early in Make Me Famous, it is said ‘Sex and the City ruined everything’. The New York City captured here is a historical artefact, its graffiti painted over and its neighbourhoods gentrified. Like Edward Brezinski, it was complicated, and it’s gone. Thank goodness Make Me Famous exists to keep little parts of it alive.

Make Me Famous is being screened select theaters in New York City and across the country. The next screening will be on December 15, 2024 at New Plaza Cinema, 35 West 67th Street (NYC): check the film’s official site for updates on future screenings!

Header: Photo of Edward Brezinski, 1979. © Marcus Leatherdale