Exit Through The Gift Shop Bluray

Posted In: Exit Through The Gift Shop

Olimpia Rauco says...

I went into this film not knowing exactly what to expect - for one thing I had very little interest in the topic of Street Art, but I'd read an article about Banksy in the WSJ a while back and the film was recommended by a couple of friends.I'm glad I gave it a chance, as Exit Through the Gift Shop is a brilliant, hilarious, entertaining, and thought provoking documentary, or mockumentary - I'm not sure which.The film style reminds me of This Is Spinal Tap [Blu-ray] and Where's Marlowe?, although it's better done and funnier than both.



The characters are unforgettable - Banksy, who's face and voice are disguised, serves as a narrator of sorts and is the true mastermind behind the entire experiment.Banksy is excellent, but the star of the show is Thierry Guetta, a Frenchman who sets out to make a documentary on Street Art.I do not believe in narrating the story in my reviews due to spoiling the plot, but suffice it to say that Thierry has an overabundance of energy and passion for his work and the art he pursues but he lacks the organization and formal training (i.e. proper editing, narration) to produce a refined final work.Thierry's character is a classic underdog - a clueless yet talented (in some respects) dreamer that the audience can't help but root for.When Banksy and Thierry finally meet, Banksy turns the tables and Thierry the documenter becomes the documented, with hilarious results.



Exit Through the Gift shop is extremely funny - laugh out loud funny, from beginning to end.But unlike most comedies, Exit Through the Gift Shop actually asks a thought provoking question - What is Art?I'm not quite sure how to formulate my answer at this point, and the film certainly demands a second viewing, but through Thierry and the challenge he's set upon Bansky does an incredible job of framing the question.



I mentioned at the beginning of this review I didn't have much interest in the subject matter of Street Art, and moreover when I saw the film I dragged with me a friend and his wife who had even less interest than I.They went in with sort of a "really Adam, what are you getting us into?" attitude (along with 4th who went much more willingly) ... at the end of the film the four of us looked at each other and simultaneously mouthed "wow".I haven't done any research on the film after the fact and honestly I can't tell you how much of this "documentary" is staged/preplanned/hoax and how much is real (my guess is something in the middle), but either way it was well worth the price of admission.



Exit Through the Gift Shop is excellent - hilarious, thought provoking, and most importantly it includes original and genuinely likable characters.Whether you're interested in Street Art or into the "indie" film scene or not, this one is worth buying, and I say that as someone who doesn't buy very many DVDs/Bluray in the age of netflix.



Five stars.

Posted on February 25, 2011

Osvaldo Hoeger says...

In "Exit through the Gift Shop," a documentary directed by Banksy, a man named Thierry Guetta becomes obsessed with street art so with his TV camera he takes thousands of hours of footage of the street "artists" putting their work everywhere they can find to plant the stuff. He starts filming in L.A. and fastens on the "master" Shepard Fairey, an extremely handsome young man, whose "Obey" and his Obama piece have become famous (there's a book of his work titled "Obey").

This street art is about one level up from graffiti, and, of course is done illegally, clandestinelyon public and private property. This documentary shows the leading figures of the genre in America, England, France, and other parts of the world.

Banksy, an English "artist" who was very elusive finally revealed himself to Thierry and allowed himself to be filmed. Banksy was one of the artists who morphed into a pop artist and had a big pop art show in L.A. called "Barely Legal" with a live elephant painted in vivid pink. His installation of a V shaped red English phone booth was clever and became iconic. In the film his voice is disguised, and he is shown in semi-darkness wearing a hood.

Thierry becomes a street artist himself, then morphs into a pop artist calling himself "Mr. Brainwash." He has a huge show called "Life is Beautiful" in L.A. and sells more than a million dollars worth of stuff the first day. Much of the art will remind you of Andy Warhol and is often derivative rather than highly original though some of it is clever and comic.

At the end of the film Banksy and Fairey comment on Thierry's work, and they regard his work as a rip-off. The film itself and Thierry as a pop artist may all be a Banksy hoax.

As a documentary it is cleverly done, funny at times, and a commentary on the strange world we live in where art has no intrinsic value. Some viewers of this film will be annoyed by these so-called street artists who keep depositing their "art" all over streets and buildings where it often constitutes litter and not the beautification of buildings but desecration. Graffiti in many major cities added to urban blight and decay.

It's a fascinating view of a world most of us know little about. The amazing thing is the way some of these artists have cashed in on their creations.

Posted on February 28, 2011

Milagros Petronio says...

This film isn't exactly about Banksy and it's a lot about Thierry (how did his wife ever stay married to him during his long obsession?!), but it's a lot of fun and there's some great street art.When you think about it, the title does say it all, when it comes to Mr. Brainwash's big show in LA.

Posted on March 1, 2011

Diamond Smitherman says...

Documentaries don't often thrill me - but this movie kept me more on the edge of my seat than most standard action films.I got to see one of Banksy's works while in Boston, and have since been very interested in the street art world.This movie does exactly what all documentaries should do - it gives you a first person immersion into a world that exists but most people don't even know is there.It's equal parts riveting and sad, but all together entertaining.You won't be able to look at a wall the same way again....and I mean that as a compliment.

Posted on March 3, 2011

Dwana Horovitz says...

The definition of art is constantly evolving, and the exploits of street-artists and graffiti painters have certainly stretched the envelope separating art from vandalism.For the sheer bravado of the principals featured in this film, it's worth seeing!

Posted on March 3, 2011

Roni Gettman says...

Well, after just watching the film let me say: this film is not very serious. In fact, as some people also declare in the net, it is a hoax indeed. Though the film is a good watch.

It reminded me of a brazilian tv show called "P

Posted on March 3, 2011

Corinna Fleig says...

This isn't a traditional documentary, and I'm honestly not sure how sincere it is. One of the other reviews of this piece (an incredibly long, rambling, painful review) documents what happens in the film, and is right to question its sincerity. Although the film seems to bemoan the downfall of "street art," I think instead it rightfully engages what it is and means to be an artist in a capitalist system. It's very funny, very introspective, and often very profound, and is only strengthened by the nagging suspicion that the anger at "selling out" isn't actually anger at all. It reminds me more of Banksy's early work, where he placed his own paintings in major galleries, than the kind of high-profile "sincere" work that characterizes most street artists that become well-known. And, of course, it's an effort FROM those same artists, self-referential and self-questioning, but always interesting. Well worth watching, and a great documentary for an art class on public or socially active art.

Posted on March 4, 2011

Kurtis Kilogan says...

Everyone knows that the distinction between fiction and non-fiction is a false dichotomy.They are two sides of the same coin and much of the most interesting recent cinema has attempted to address how and where they meet and intertwine.A camera in the room changes behavior, just what an actor ate for lunch affects their performance.It is time to do away with the old distinctions and embrace the new order.Though filmmakers on the margin have been doing this for sometime, Exit Through the Gift Shop has brought it right up to the fringe of the mainstream.Fact and fiction blend in Banksy's film about the art/street art world.The art world constructs and defines itself just as we construct and define our own realities and truths.

Down with the cinema of facts!Onward with the cinema of truth!

Posted on March 5, 2011

Lakenya Streight says...

"Exit Through the Gift Shop" is a documentary comedy of sorts about the unsuccessful making of a documentary about street art/graffiti. When French designer clothes shop owner, Thierry Guetta becomes obsessed with recording his everyday life on film, he finds a muse in capturing street artists at night creating their work. His passion results in tapes upon tapes upon tapes by the thousands of famous street artists like Space Invader, Shepard Fairey, and the fiercely anonymous Banksy with a global reputation for his work on the Palestinian West Bank among other projects.



What is graffiti? What is art? Does it depend solely on its location? Or just whether or not people judge it as good? I can't answer these questions alone, but personally if it were my building, I'd be pretty ticked unless it were amazing and helped attract business.



Thierry begins with his cousin who goes by the handle, Space Invader because he shapes pieces out of cubes to recreate images of characters from that video game and Pac-Man and places them everywhere. Through that relationship, Thierry comes into contact with Shepard Fairey who created the iconic image of Andre the Giant's face with the word "OBEY" underneath that has become recognizable in pop culture and is best known as the creator of the Barack Obama "Hope" poster. Street artists use a variety of techniques including props (a blow-up doll, a mutated phone booth), giant stickers, stencils to spray paint through, and of course the good ol' freestyle spray-painting method most of us are familiar with when we think of the trade. There is a spirit of creativity and passion mixed with stealth and plotting with look-outs to avoid the cops that makes the profession exciting to those involved. Repetition of similar images and signatures is what makes artists arise from utter obscurity to some sort of notoriety and sense of validity.



The film has short segments of interviews with Thierry and a mysterious hooded man in black with a voice-changer whom we eventually find out is Banksy. Banksy is Thierry's own white whale, the most difficult artist to track down that no one knows contact information for and the harder he is to find, the more he is needed for the footage collection. Banksy's spirit of doing it for the love of making a statement is preached heavily in the film despite his choice to put on an art show that attracted quite a bit of media coverage and money.



What is fascinating about this film is its surprise in direction. After all, it starts with family footage of Thierry, branches out into graffiti, and his aspirations to make a documentary about it. When the artists get to view Thierry's edited film, "Life by Remote Control", it looks like it could cause an epileptic seizure with all the hummingbird editing and acid color changes. Banksy who has a directing credit on this film gives Thierry some busy work so he can recover the footage and put it in a watchable format since Thierry is a lousy editor. The camera gets turned back on Thierry to watch as he pursues his own art career at the prodding of Banksy. What follows is very amusing as Thierry takes everything he learned through observing as a jumping off point to assemble his own army of artists to attempt to create something larger than any of his predecessors much to their surprise.



Thierry is a mystery. Thierry can come off as an idiot, he forms sentences in English in an awkwardly but entertaining way, and somehow manages accidentally to bring genius to his own promotions and art. He has such a scattered, disorganized personality and it makes him difficult to work with. For example, soon before the opening of his big show, some promoters show up to take care of some of the detail work to allow Thierry more time just to choose his pieces to put on the walls....which he STILL fails to start until 8 hours beforehand. This leads the promoter after interacting with him several times to conclude "he might be a little retarded" and just take over certain aspects and throwing things up to finish the job.



Hearing the other artists comment on Thierry's journey, they can't help but muster astonishment, jealousy, and a little bitterness at his clumsy becoming of an overnight sensation. Even though Banksy himself makes some snide remarks, he is the director of the film and benefits highly from its production. Could Thierry himself be a creation of Banksy's imagination for performance art purposes? Who knows? Whatever the case, the journey is funny, interesting, and entertaining.

Posted on March 7, 2011

Marline Olm says...

funny . provocative . shocking . hilarious . a real genuine modern day fairytale . it's a study of criminality and incompetence and friendship . put money , fame and vandalism in one bag . the end result...chaos . this movie is brutal ,revealing , funny ,shocking and most of all enthralling .

Posted on March 9, 2011