Exit Through the Gift Shop (Review)

What is “art”? What makes an “artist”? If you drive under a bridge somewhere on this Earth of ours and you happen to see a fair amount of graffiti, you probably don’t consider it a fine work of art. If you notice it at all, you probably see it as useless vandalism meant only as some kind of rebellion amongst these punk kids that should get off your lawn. However, they spent their entire night putting that image/phrase up on that bridge, and while you don’t have to like it, the film Exit Through the Gift Shop will certainly help you appreciate it. Directed by infamous (and anonymous) street artist Banksy, Exit Through the Gift Shop is a fascinating film that ponders the idea of what makes an artist. It begins with a filmmaker filming the artist, but by film’s end the roles are reversed.

Actually, Thierry Guetta is not a filmmaker, per se. He just happens to carry a video camera with him everywhere. When called upon to edit his grotesque amount of footage, he comes back with a 90-minute drug trip gone bad. He grows fascinated with the world of street art because his cousin is a famed street artist named Space Invader. He finds himself following Space Invader on many of his journeys into the night, at times even aiding the artist with his works of vandalism/art. Through his cousin he is able to follow many other street artists, including Shepard Fairey, who would eventually become famous for his Barack Obama “Hope” poster design.

Guetta spends many a night taping these artists, often he ends up being a form of lookout for them. Their art remains illegal, despite the fact they believe in what they’re doing. In a way, the fact that they could get caught at any moment drives them. After Guetta’s many adventures, he becomes determined to meet the one street artist that has eluded him: Banksy. The infamous and reclusive artist is responsible for some of the most iconic street art and graffiti the world has ever seen. In Exit Through the Gift Shop, is face is concealed and his voice distorted. Eventually Banksy allows Guetta to observe, and from that point on the film takes off.

Obviously, Exit Through the Gift Shop is presented as a documentary, but there is more than a great deal of speculation as to its veracity. First and foremost, Thierry Guetta is a glorious cartoon of a man, with a greatly exaggerated French accent and facial hair. Second of all, the second half of the film seems too strange to be true. Take, for example, an extended sequence that includes Guetta being detained and questioned in a Disneyland interrogation room. The film paints the Disneyland police as a form of Mickey Mouse Gestapo, and in that sense it’s a wonderfully hilarious sequence.

Even after that, when Banksy challenges Guetta to put on his own street art show. After this, Guetta creates his own alias: “Mr. Brainwash”. He then goes on to put on a large art show which he calls “Life is Beautiful”, and I will not reveal any further details. What I will say it all seems too strange to be true, and therein lies the doubt.

If the film is wholly factual, then Exit Through the Gift Shop is a marvelous account of how different people view art, and how an artist is formed. Guetta, ultimately, is a crazy man with a video camera. Banksy slaves all night to create a piece of art, while Guetta injures his foot and gives virtually no effort in the creation of his art shows. Banksy’s film is not a stirring defense of street art or the art world, but instead it looks at the way in which an artist is formed and how people view artists. Many see Banksy as a punk who needs a good spanking. Meanwhile, Thierry is treated as an artist.

However, I also agree this film is likely a grand act, and it’s all the more brilliant for it. Bansky proves with Exit Through the Gift Shop that he can have a great film career. In fact, he has been credited with creating a brilliant couch gag on a recent episode of The Simpsons. He is a grand satirist, and if nothing else Exit Through the Gift Ship makes you appreciate street art, even if one does not condone it. If this film is less than factual, I would still love it. This would mean Banksy has pulled off a great piece of art himself, and that is the man Thierry Guetta. Towards the end of the film, a colleague of Banksy says the following:

"I think the joke is on... I don’t know who the joke is on, really. I don’t even know if there is a joke."

Thus goes the film. Perhaps Exit Through the Gift Shop is, above all, one grand piece of graffiti that Banksy has put onscreen. If anyone’s been fooled, it’s the audience.

Rating:  (out of 4)