Exit Through The Gift Shop

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I’m not a regular viewer of documentaries but I do enjoy them. It’s just that in the same way as non-fiction books, the actual story has to interest me or there’s really no point. I decided to watch this documentary, Exit Through The Gift Shop, without any real knowledge of the subject except that it was about art. As a lover of anything artistic, this obviously peaked my interest.
The movie is the story of Thierry Guetta, a director turned artist, under the name, Mr. Brainwash. His fascination with street art leads him to meet many famous street artists like Banksy, who directed this film, and Shepard Fairey. His obsession turns him toward attempting the art and gaining a lot of success.
Thierry’s success raises a bunch of questions about art. Most films concentrated on street art would probably focus on the question of whether street art is considered real art or not. While this question is addressed through many art collectors who have Banksy pieces in the same way they would Picassos or Warhols, the more important question is what it takes to be an artist. Thierry has a very successful show after barely any time in the art world and his quick success, that the film argues is based off nothing more than hype, shows how easy it is to be successful. But does this success lead to true artistry?
The question can be lead to even the direction of the film. The movie has hype surrounding it because Banksy is directing it, however the majority of camera work for at least the first half of the film is done by Thierry and his vision is mostly seen on screen. He’s shown as the talented director. Yet it’s Banksy that has the vision to carry out the film and edit it all together and give it hype. That strategy raises the question of whether it’s about the skill or the vision.
Thierry’s art is based purely on a vision as he creates none of it himself however, street artists do tend to borrow from other’s ideas heavily. Thierry’s true talent is in directing however his success is in his visual art.
The film raises all these heavy questions about art while being entertaining and fast-paced to prevent the viewer from ever getting bored of it. It’s the kind of topical, thought-provoking, interesting and unique documentary that audiences should continue to encourage.
9/10