RIP, Tony Silver, director of Style Wars

February 2, 2008 12:09 PM

Tony Silver, the director of the groundbreaking hip-hop documentary Style Wars passed last night. He was a family friend of mine, and had been sick for several years with a irreversible brain condition. Style Wars is considered by some to be the best hip-hop film ever made, and by everyone to be the first. It was shot at the very start of the 1980s, when graffiti was still hip-hop's dominant form, and the idea of graffiti as art was brand new. I recommend checking out the deluxe DVD edition of the film Tony put together a few years ago after many years where it was only available as an expensive educational-only VHS, but you can also check out the 1hr 10m version on Google Video.
posted by YoungAmerican (15 comments total)

Don't link to friends' or family members' sites.
posted by grouse at 12:39 PM on February 2, 2008

Grouse, take it to metatalk, please. YA, I'm sorry for your loss. That was a great film.
posted by Doug at 12:48 PM on February 2, 2008

I felt Style Wars was the greatest hip-hop film ever made before I ever knew Tony. His wife is a good friend of my mother's. I mention the family connection only so that folks will know that this is real news, in the absence of a news link.
posted by YoungAmerican at 12:59 PM on February 2, 2008

I love Style Wars.

"That's some never forgive shit!"

My condolences to his family.
posted by Divine_Wino at 1:08 PM on February 2, 2008

YA, thanks for pointing this out. I'm sorry for his family's (and your family's) loss.

That movie is a great documentary of not only the graffiti and burgenoning hip hop scenes, but is also an interesting document of NYC in the early 80s.
posted by sleepy pete at 1:12 PM on February 2, 2008

"Is that art? I don't know, I'm not an art critic. But I can sure as hell tell you that that's a crime."

One of my favorite movies of all time. I recommend checking out the sequel for anyone who's a fan of the original. There are a lot of cool interviews with people who were featured in the first Style Wars.
I've never seen anything else by Tony Silver, but maybe now I will.
posted by Demogorgon at 1:39 PM on February 2, 2008

Thanks! I look forward to watching this.
posted by goo at 2:09 PM on February 2, 2008

Style Wars is one of my most beloved DVDs. I could watch the train montage for hours on end.

RIP Tony Silver.
posted by carsonb at 2:32 PM on February 2, 2008

I know what I'll be watching tonight. RIP, Tony.
posted by beaucoupkevin at 2:52 PM on February 2, 2008

Never saw it before, and having watched just the first 20 minutes now, its taking me back to the NYC I knew and loved, and miss quite a bit in these times.
Thanks for the link.

Private to grouse: whats in a name?
posted by Fupped Duck at 3:06 PM on February 2, 2008

I loved Style Wars. I think about it quite a lot. It's a great movie.

RIP.
posted by OmieWise at 3:19 PM on February 2, 2008

.
posted by cashman at 3:42 PM on February 2, 2008

Terrible news, great film, and sorry about the loss.

But the fpp is still bloggy newsfilter.

Anyhow...

.
posted by humannaire at 7:43 PM on February 2, 2008

That looks really good. Thanks for posting it, and sorry for your loss.
posted by ignignokt at 10:34 PM on February 2, 2008

It's also on Folkstreams (via deleted post from Miko). Great movie (and *awesome* site I missed the first time it was posted).
posted by mrgrimm at 10:00 AM on February 14, 2008