Exit Through the Gift Shop

According to its promoters this unique and intriguing documentary is ‘the world’s first street art disaster movie’. Featuring tons of footage filmed as the artists worked alongside frequent explanations from a heavily disguised Banksy and an excellent narration by Rhys Ifans, Exit Through the Gift Shop offers a fascinating glimpse at the secretive world of street art.

Banksy introduces the film claiming that he was originally going to be its focus but during production became instead about someone far more interesting, and it is easy to see where he is coming from since the bizarre life of Frenchman Thierry Guetta is fascinating. Apparently starting out as a man obsessed with filming quite literally everything, he fell in love with street art and eventually became the artist Mr Brainwash. However, during this period Guetta filmed literally hundreds of hours of footage, which came to form the basis of this film.

To those unfamiliar with street art this will feel utterly bizarre; yet this film succeeds in being accessible even to those completely ignorant about the movement. By using Guetta as our guide we are able to learn how he entered this world and see exactly what happens and why the artists feel the need to do something that is actually incredibly dangerous, as is shown when Guetta is interrogated for over four hours by Disneyland security. All of this proves to be almost completely absorbing and it’s hard not to be fascinated by this bizarre world as well as by Guetta’s obsession. Yet the film never allows itself to become simply a debate about the merits of art and from its opening titles it maintains a humorous nature which is impossible not to find entertaining. However, as the film progresses, it gradually loses its initial energy as you become accustomed to the oddities of this strange world, a problem that becomes particularly serious when dealing with the commercialisation of the art form; it loses much of its charm as we hear the increasing criticism of Guetta’s artistic abilities.

Another oddity about this film is that even after it ends a series of mysteries remain, notably the question of who directed and who wrote it since there was no writer or director credit instead simply stating it was a Banksy film. Furthermore it has even been claimed that Thierry Guetta’s alter ego Mr Brainwash is simply a creation of Banksy which he is using to tackle the issue surrounding the increased consumer interest in his art form. Yet although these mysteries remain unanswered they succeed in adding a new sense of fascination and interest to the film rather than spoiling it.

Overall Exit Through the Gift Shop is flawed, and as Banksy admits at the beginning ‘is no Gone With the Wind’. Yet it certainly makes for highly entertaining and intriguing viewing, celebrating the power and joy of art and giving a unique insight into this secret world.

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