Banksy is a genius. I say this as both a loving fan of his artwork and his latest creation, an amazing in-depth parable about the birth and growth of the street art movement. While offering a wealth of material showcasing some truly breathtaking and never-before-seen art, the film also doubles as a personal look behind one of art’s greatest enigmatic pranksters as he plans, prepares and executes his work. It’s a metaphor for how Banksy perceives the street art movement and its place in a consumer-driven art collector’s universe.
Exit Through the Gift Shop is far from what you would expect in a traditional documentary. The film is uncredited by any director and instead offers up only a Banksy film. It also purposefully misdirects the audience about what the film’s trying to say about its subject matter: street art. In an odd way, this perfectly mirrors the same type of subversive messages that Banksy illustrates in his work. The film starts off with a cleverly designed Paramount logo that says ‘Paranoid,’ which is shot by a machine gun leaving bullet holes where the stars would normally be. This is followed by a montage of street artists leaving their marks on public property while escaping the guile of the police. It couldn’t fit the mood of the film any better.
Then an eerie setting: a dimly lit studio of an artist that could only belong to the infamous masked maestro Banksy. His simple act of sitting in a chair is exhilarating, knowing the obscure nature of his persona. His face is hidden by the shadows of a hooded sweatshirt while his voice is altered to sound like someone in protective custody. But before the film dives into the mysterious world of Banksy, it starts out focused on a completely different character who is arguably the true protagonist of the film, Thierry “Terry” Guetta.
Guetta is a neurotic Frenchman, who, after deciding to leave France to pursue the American dream, becomes absurdly obsessed with cameras and starts documenting every act in his daily life, however mundane. This leads him to document a chance encounter with his cousin, who was starting to tag the streets of France with his personal signature. Turns out Terry was documenting one part of the beginning of the the birth of a street art movement, and his cousin, who would become better known as Invader, was at the center of it.
This chance at fate gives meaning to a seemingly meaningless journey for Terry, as his camera obsession finally has a subject. It leads him to become immersed in a world rarely visited by the public, capturing hours upon hours of luminary street artists working their craft in the depth of night, constantly watching their backs for cops. Shepard Fairy, the street artist famous for tagging Andre the Giant stickers and creating the iconic HOPE portrait of President Obama, is one of the many artists featured early on and plays a pivotal role in introducing Terry to the one person he has yet to capture on camera, Banksy.
But by the time Banksy enters the picture, things are not as they seem. Suddenly the filmmaker becomes the unwitting subject of the very film he’s been trying to make. We realize Banksy is putting a spin on us, the audience, and subverting the very subject matter we thought the film was trying to enlighten us about. It is a moment of brilliance that will leave its cinematic mark alongside the great film pranks in history. In addition, it serves the purpose of the broader message of the film, which is not to forget that street art is meant to be seen in the streets for a reason.
Exit Through the Gift Shop is a pure shot of art-infused adrenaline tinged with sly, sarcastic humor to those misinformed about the cultural significance of street art. There are some truly riveting moments like a glimpse into empty boxes in Banksy’s studio filled with counterfeit money or an audacious Disneyland stunt gone wrong followed by a dramatic Orwellian encounter with Disney secret service. It is destined to become an instant cult classic for the rebel in all of us. As Banksy himself puts it, “It’s basically the story of how one man set out to the film the un-filmable. And failed.” That may be the case, but Exit Through the Gift Shop certainly succeeds in keeping you on the edge of your seat.
9 out of 10
Did you see Exit Through the Gift Shop? What do you think?