Telling something of the life story of Julius Cavero, T-Kid-170 works much more heartily as a treatise on the meaning and function of graffiti as an art form (albeit a mostly illegal one). Along the way you'll learn something of the Kid's technique, his relationship to life, and (duh, they made a movie about him) the fact that he's pretty much the most influential East Coast graffiti artist of the last few decades.

Director Carly Starr Brullo Niles got the pick of the litter, so to speak, with access to 30 years of archival footage and Cavero's home movies, in order to tell the artist's story so far. In the telling of the story, Niles works with equanimity to legitimize an art and story-telling form that the vast majority of the population considers at best mere vandalism, at worst a crime. It's hard to argue with the positive viewpoint while briefly listening to DJ/Producer Goldie (a huge Cavero fan) as he waxes rhapsodic about the terrible kid, or when Cavero joins an international crew to take Paris by storm. Yet Niles touches lightly on the underbelly too, with contemporary night-vision footage of T-Kid tagging new trains on the down-low.

Whether you buy into Cavero's improbably rough-hewn rags-to-respectability story is down to your ability to open your mind to new and different realities than your own. Cavero did what he could to avoid becoming just another street gang statistic, working unrelentingly on the thing that means the most to him. That he became a celebrity along the way is a testament to his work ethic. That The Nasty Terrible T-Kid 170: Julius Cavero represents an exhilarating watch that rumbles like a subway train to a too-quick ending is testament to the skills and good heart of Carly Starr Brullo Niles. Though a slight package, graffiti aficionados will find this recommended, but even your everyday movie fan would do well to Rent It.

The DVD

Video:
MVD Visual goes up on the wall with another worthy subject in a 4 x 3 ratio presentation that reflects the handycam origins of most of this footage. With that in mind, you're going to feel like much of the time you're watching old VHS tapes cribbed from your grandparents' attics. We're pretty lucky to be living in an era where even 30-40 years ago people were catching on to the home video craze, preserving history. Just don't expect all of it to look any better than a fuzzy/harsh bunch of information on a decaying magnetic tape.

Sound:
Digital Stereo Audio fares better than most of the images captured, although the sounds coming from those old tapes can be pretty distorted too. At the end of the day it's all audible and understandable, with contemporary recordings of Cavero sounding just fine.

Extras:
No extras are included.

Final Thoughts:
The Nasty Terrible T-Kid 170: Julius Cavero represents an exhilarating watch about one of graffiti's biggest heroes, that rumbles like a subway train to a too-quick (49 minutes) ending. Director Carly Starr Brullo Niles has a good heart and open mind, which she uses to help Cavero tell his rags-to-respectability story about expressing himself the only way he knew how. Though a slight package, graffiti aficionados will find this DVD recommended, but even your everyday movie fan would do well to Rent It.

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