Exit Through The Gift Shop (Banksy, 2010): USA, UK

Reviewed by Veronica Vanglin. Viewed at Lobero theatre.

I am not a big graffiti fan but one can’t help falling in love with Banksy’s amazing art. Exit Through The Gift Shop made me open my eyes to the great opportunities that lays in front of us if we would just grab them.  Anyone can do anything. Even if they are a complete disaster (obviously), all they need is passion and ambition.

Banksy is a british street artist and his artwork has appeared all over London and other parts of the world. The majority thinks that he has real talent and when he opened an art show there where thousands of people who came to see his art, even famous hollywood actors like Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt came to show their appreciation. Despite his fame he managed to keep his identity secret. Media thinks his real name could be Robin or Robert Banks but no one has actual proof. He has self published several books with pictures of his work. He decided to direct Exit Through The Gift Shop after watching Thierry Guetta’s failed Life Remote Control about graffiti. Thierry Guetta had a passion for filming, and he walked around with his camera day and night. He never did anything with all the tapes though. They got stocked in boxes in his garage. He got pushed by the street artist that he had been following and filming to do the documentary that he been lying about doing. So he made Life Remote Control that Banksy describes as “A series of unwatchable trailers.”

In the documentary Exit Through The Gift Shop we follow the world’s best and most famous graffiti painters through the camera of French weirdo Thierry Guetta. He starts following his cousin Space Invader with his camera, and helps him to put up Space Invader mosaic all over town. From doing this almost every night he gets to know more people who are willing to take Thierry with them on their trip. So basically Thierry follows a bunch of different artist all over the world. He ends up meeting the legend of graffiti: Banksy.  He goes with Banksy to film him and after a while Banksy tells him to make a documentary about it and to go home and become a street artist himself. Guetta took the advice. He did Life Remote Control but he also named himself Mr. Bran Wash or MBW, and started putting up these huge stickers of himself, holding a camera, all over town. He didn’t stop there. He started this enormous art gallery and he had Banksy and all of the other big artist promote it for him. Everyone heard about the show. Media, artists, TV, regular people – everyone was there. Guetta didn’t stress out though. He started putting his paintings up 8 hours before the show started! It turned out to be a success but a success from nothing. He has an idea and then he has other people do the paintings for him. So much attention that should be aimed at real talent like Banksy.

I loved this documentary! It contains so much beautiful art work but also humor and it shows how you can succeed with anything if you have the will.

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Published:
02.11.11 / 7pm
Category:
Documentary, Films, Santa Barbara Film Festival 2011