Exit Through the Gift Shop

by Mike Kamrowski 

"I don't think Terry played by the rules, in some ways. But then, there aren't supposed to be any rules..." -Banksy

As the 83rd Annual Academy Awards closes in on the world of cinema, there has been a lot of talk about a select few films. Black Swan, 127 Hours and True Grit are just some of the big names around the water cooler, but a film that most movie-goers probably missed, a documentary directed by a certain secretive street-artist, is gaining a lot of buzz... and that's not a bad thing. Hell, it's not even surprising.

I'll admit, the only reason I watched this movie was because I happened upon it one drunken evening of Netflix browsing and the title caught my attention. When I read the description, I couldn't have been more excited.

The flick I'm talking about is Exit Through the Gift Shop, a strange documentary/almost bio-pic about the even stranger world of street-art. Directed by renowned British street-artist/graffiti artist/political activist Banksy, this documentary focuses on the world of street-art and the individuals that helped bring it to the world's attention (as if it wasn't noticable enough already) by way of their amazing work. The man in question is a major focus in the film, with other famous artists (Shepard Fairey and Space Invader, among countless others) supplying the supporting cast.

Banksy and Gift Shop have been getting a lot of media attention in the past few weeks, primarily from his recent string of work in the LA area leading up to the Academy Awards and the "controversial" decision by the Awards show heads to ban Banksy from accepting the Best Documentary Award (should he win) in any from of disguise. For a guy who has lived in the spotlight but never revealed his true identity, this could cause a problem. *Academy president Tom Shreak has since changed his mind on the Banksy ban, but still... *

It's tough to not be a fan of Banksy's artwork. From his sculptures to his prints and everything in between (and there's a lot in that "in between" void), each is interesting in its own right. Everyone can take away a different interpertation from looking at his work (although most have a pretty straight forward message), even if it's just "Wow... that's pretty fucking cool."

The documentary, while about Banksy and his counterparts, is mainly the story of a man named Thierry Guetta. Thierry, a one time clothing dealer turned amateur videographer, comes off as a strange French hanger-on (we'll get to this in a bit)... or maybe he's just overly curious?

Thierry is introduced to the invention of the video camera and becomes completely obsessive with it (like a celebrity stalker), recording every instance in his life. Literally. We see later in the film just how much he filmed when he reveals his countless boxes filled with old tapes of random (and sometimes not so random and actually useful) shit.

Thierry and his lens became involved in the world of street-art after a chance encounter with his cousin (?), an infamous street-artist known as Space Invader. Through Invader, Thierry was introduced to the rising graffiti/street-art scene and never looked back- filming these individuals and their work became his life.

While many of the artists were skeptical of Thierry at first (what these guys were doing wasn't exactly legal), they grew to accept him in their elite circle; his claims of wanting to make a documentary about street-art helped seal this acceptance. Kind of...

If this was a Hollywood movie, Thierry would playing the role of the bumbling sidekick who can never seem to do anything right. He doesn't really understand the idea of being incognito (example: he turns his camera light on at night... while he's with the graffiti artists... who are defacing public property...), he's out of shape and can't really keep up with his younger counterparts, he ALWAYS HAS HIS CAMERA ON. A good one-word definition of this early Thierry character would be "relentless".

All that aside, he seems like a genuinely good guy who would do anything to help a street-artist out, especially if it meant he might get the chance to meet and film the elusive Banksy, which he eventually does thanks to Fairey.

Banksy and Thierry hook up and start a strange friendship, almost too weird to be fake (I only say this because there has been a lot of talk that the documentary is fake/the documentary is a prank by Banksy to move into the realm of cinema/Thierry is actually Banksy/the documentary is a big "fuck you" to up-tight art critics and dealers, the list goes on- if you want more theories, hit up Googs).

I don't want to get into too much more about the plot, but I will say this: the film does a complete 180 about three-fourths of the way through. The end of the film focuses mostly on Thierry and how he wants his own fame in the community he loves so dear. The beginning of the movie is innocent enough, but the last thirty or so minutes shows different intentions by the maker. After Banksy's wildly popular Barely Legal LA show and Thierry shows him the first disastrous cut of his "street-art documentary" that everyone had been hassling him about (were talking over a decade of this guy filming street-art with nothing to show for it), Banksy tells Thierry to take a break from filming and go and make his own art.

Banksy, who says he used to encourage everyone he met to make art, sings a different tune at the end of the film. "I don't really do that so much anymore," the elusive artist explains.

Thierry basically goes ape-shit, decides to run with Banksy's suggestion and make art, take it one step further and host his own art show (a la Barely Legal) and ceaselessly promote himself at all costs. He ends up making a fortune and his alter-ego, Mr. Brainwash, becomes a dominant name in the world of street-art (despite the fact that I've never even heard of it until I watched this movie two weeks ago).

The flicks tag-line The incredible true story of how the world's greatest Street Art movie was never made... is pretty spot on once you watch the entire film.

I think this film tried to say that street-art has garnered a mainstream label, so some think that this film, while showing how incredible and thought provoking street-art can be, is a satire on the entire "street-art in pop culture" movement. Thierry shows how processed and meaningless street-art can be with his "assembly-line" studio and horde of minions pumping out his insane ideas in the form of screen prints and sculptures. Interesting enough, we never actually see Thierry create any art- he spray paints "Life is Beautiful" on a brick wall to end the film, but that's it. I guess it can be argued that his years of intensely filming everything was art, and he did paste some giant stencils of himself around LA, but let's be honest here- he didn't fucking do anything.

Thierry literally learned from the best and when he decided to take off and make his own "street-art", as "commercial" as it is, he didn't have to do much except copy and paste. His years of following famous street-artists around made him yearn for the lime-light, and his desire for fame really showed when he put on his first show. I can see why some of his former friends "have beef" with him.

I think this film was so captivating and entertaining for a few reasons. 1.) Fuckin Banksy made it. It's going to be awesome if it has the B-mans stamp of approval. 2.) It showed how, I don't know, corrupted Thierry became by his venture? He started off curious and naive and ended a money hungry attention whore. Definitely a nice rise and fall story. 3.) The film showed the "behind the scenes" world of graffiti and street-art, something most people have no idea about. Banksy or not, this would have been a pretty cool flick.

My suggestion is, if you haven't had the chance to watch this thing yet, get it on that as soon as possible- you won't be disappointed. If you don't plan on seeing it, don't worry. Banksy will make sure you do.