Exit through the Gift Shop

2010 documentary

Rating: 16/20

Plot: A used clothing store owner with a habit of filming every moment of his life gets involved with some graffiti artists in L.A. He films them while letting them think he's going to make a documentary that he never intends to make. But he really wants to meet the enigmatic street art star Banksy. They finally meet, and Guetta gets a rare opportunity to follow around the secretive artist. He does make the documentary, but it's so bizarrely terrible, that Banksy decides to redo it all himself, sending Guetta back to the States to start his own art career.

What starts out as a pretty intimate look at an art form that I didn't realize was a legitimate art form mixed with a biographical glimpse at a wacky French vintage clothing store owner and amateur winds up being a very entertaining assault on some of the hypocrisies and absurdities of the art world. And that little twist, pretty much where the focus changes from graffiti art to Thierry's own stab at making it as an artist, is refreshingly entertaining and very revealing. Don't get me wrong--I enjoyed the stuff about the artists, too, and a lot of the shots of them at work are really fascinating. The footage during the opening credits is really cool, showing what these guys have to go through for their craft including a Jackie Chan-esque escape from the po-po. The art itself is awesome, too. Then, the mysterious Banksy shows up, and with his painted elephants and his particular brand of renegade art, and this thing grows new skin. Initially, I thought I'd be annoyed by Banksy, probably because I thought he'd remind me of my middle school students. But his creativity and sense of humor quickly won me over, and how can you not respect a guy who manages to make Disneyland seem like a menacing place. I thought it was funny when the narrator kept alluding to a Disneyland interrogation room while showing shots of the "It's a Small World" ride. I also thought it was hilarious when, following Banksy's look at Theirry's insane attempt at documentary filmmaking (the results which were almost too insane to be true), the artist said, "Umm. It's when I realized that maybe Thierry wasn't a filmmaker and was maybe just a guy with mental problems who happened to have a camera." And then you get Thierry's overnight transmogrification into a pop artist. One wonders where the hell he got the money to become Mr. Brainwash ("Everything that I do. . .somewhere. . .brainwash your face.") but things sure wackify once that happens. Whether a meticulously planned and elaborate hoax or a legitimate documentary doesn't matter. This gets its points across so cleverly and in such an entertaining way that you won't even mind it's getting a point across. Very intriguing stuff.

9 comments:

l@rstonovich said...

I'm pretty sure Mr. Brainwash was a whole made up character so Banksy could make a documentary of street art.

Shane said...

Yeah, that was my feeling, too. And as a hoax, it sure was impressively planned and executed.

cory said...

That was a perfect assessment. As it goes on, the film reveals more and more layers and becomes more fun, interesting, and almost a little profound. It made me think differently about street art (some is amazing, especially the painting on the wall in Jerusalem), and the art world. I'm glad you liked it. A 17.

Doc replacement: one of my favorites: "Bowling For Columbine".

Shane said...

I've seen 'Columbine'...I'll maybe get it on the blog some time anyway.

I know this is against the rules, but I'm going to go ahead and make my documentary replacement 'Harlan County, U.S.A.'...I know I'm technically not supposed to do that, but I know you like that movie and I'm surprised you haven't picked it.

If there's something else (since I've seen 'Bowling'...only M.M. movie I've not caught is the health care one), let me know...

Shane said...

And I don't remember if I mentioned this or not, but I was really impressed with a lot of the street art. Maybe I'm guilty of making generalizations about those artists, but I was surprised at how much I liked a lot of what they were doing. And I even admired some of the spraypainted stuff on a train that stopped me the other day, including somebody's opinion that ZZ Top rules...

cory said...

I agree. Some of it was brilliant, and a lot of it had pointed social commentary.

Feel free to go with "Harlan...". It would have been 2 or 3 docs down the road, but if you want to see it now, that's great.

I was not a huge fan of "Sicko". It is too meandering, and doesn't pack the emotional punch of his best work. It would get a 14 or 15 from me.

rio blanco racing said...

just watched this. i liked it a lot. 18. as far as liking or not liking graffiti art. fairly has little talent. and some great graffiti artist are unrecognised. for some reason the movie didnt mention Kaws(maybe becuase he is bigger than banksy).

rio blanco racing said...

if anyone is interested netflix has 3 movies that you can stream that actually are about street art

Shane said...

Wow...an 18? That's 4 points higher than the standard documentary rating!

Have you seen the 3 documentaries you mentioned? Are they worth the time? Because as you know, I only watch the very best. 'The Room,' for example...