Nancy
and I just saw a screening last night of Exit Through the Gift Shop (hosted by The Film Society of Lincoln Center and John Turturro, who 
explained that he was there for one of three
reasons: a) the makers of the film had
given him huge amounts of money to do it; b) he SO loved the film when he had seen it that he wanted to do whatever
possible to support it; or, c) Banksy had information
about him that John didn’t want to be made public, and that he was being
blackmailed). This film is FABULOUS! RUN out and see it this weekend!! Billed as, “The
LOS ANGELES : Arclight, Hollywood
Landmark
I don’t know
exactly what I was expecting to see—and I’m not exactly sure what I actually saw;
but the most unexpected part of the experience was how much fun the whole thing
was. There are things in this film that
are quite hilariously funny, and the whole thing is clever and engaging beyond
what I possibly could have expected; but the enjoyment level of this film was
totally over-the-top. It is also one of
the most creative cinematic undertakings I’ve seen in years.
On the surface,
it is a documentary—or a documentary about
a documentary, or a documentary about a documentary within a documentary. Thierry Guetta, a
French ex-patriot living in LA, who owns a used clothing shop and obsessively
videos everything that goes on in his peculiar life, begins to video and then
become progressively involved in the burgeoning world of Street Art. Under the guise of doing a documentary on the
Street Art movement, Guetta assembles thousands of
hours of video of all the major celebrities of that world—and especially Space Invader and, even more importantly, Shepard Fairey, one of the most famous of this ilk (and
the creator of the famous Obama poster).
The plot thickens as Guetta becomes obsessed
with the movement’s most famous but elusive representative, Banksy himself.
Naturally, he eventually connects up with Banksy, who has been appearing throughout the film being “interviewed” and giving
commentary as the film progresses—with his voice electronically disguised and
his faced hidden in the deep shadow of his hoodie. Events contrive to lead Banksy
to pressure Guetta actually to create the documentary
he has promised about the Street Art movement.
The finished product is so crazy and weird, that Banksy
is “forced” to take the project over and create the film himself, and it
becomes the film we are actually watching—which is essentially about Thierry Guetta. Guetta becomes a Street Artist in his own right—sorta’; he takes the Street Name, “Mr. Brainwash,” or just “MBW”; and he eventually has a mega-show in
LA. In his crazed focus on manipulating
the PR for the show, Guetta solicits endorsements
from the movement’s greats, Fairey and Banksy. Just to give
a taste of all this, Banksy’s endorsement, emblazoned
on huge banners around LA, is: “Mr. Brainwash is a force of nature. He’s a
phenomenon. And I don’t mean that in a good way.” Are you still with me…?
It is SO
hard to characterize what this film is…or even what actually is going on within
it; but that is definitely part of the fun.
What I thought I knew turns out to have been incorrect, and what I
thought was made up turns out to have been real…well…sorta’…or,
at least, I’m pretty sure… Banksy is legendary as a prankster and a
trickster; and, while it is completely reasonable to assume that we are being tricked by this movie, it
is quite difficult to have any certainty about just how and what the trickery
is—and it is wonderful fun being confused about what the pranks are and ways in
which they are being played. As Robin Williams once said, “Reality—what a concept!” Of three things I was quite certain,
however: 1) Exit Through the Gift Shop is an incredibly witty,
trenchant, and funny send-up of the art world;
2) I have never seen ANYTHING quite like Exit
Through the Gift Shop; and, 3) Banksy is an incredibly talented, wickedly
provocative, and profoundly funny creative genius! Apropos of this last point, I’ve done a bit
of looking about, and here are some relevant examples of his art (in addition
to the poster he did for the film (q.v., above).
The first (at left) is a piece of art with which Banksy has “tagged” some buildings in LA for the film’s premiere (“JetSetGraffiti.com posted this little welcome back to LA piece that Banksy did on the corner of 4th and LaBrea in the abandoned car dealership. Guess who’s coming….”).
And the second (at right; available online at http://www.banksy.co.uk/shop/index.html,
along with many other fantastic pieces you may wish to check out), is a
painting which I think is hilariously funny from the SHOP on Banksy’s
website (www.banksy.co.uk
), which characteristically notes of the items “on sale” in the “SHOP” that, “Products
not actually included, serving suggestion only. All images are made available
to download for personal amusement only, thanks.”
SO, the short
story: GO SEE THIS UNUSUAL, ENJOYABLE, CREATIVE FILM! I guarantee you have never seen anything like
it; and I believe you will be glad you went.
From its opening moments to its final dénouement, it is a pleasure. And it is full of endless little
treats—including, toward its end, the wonderful visual reference to Ronald Neame’s 1954 masterpiece about another wild-man artist in
London, The Horse’s
Mouth, starring and
written by Alec Guinness.
Here is the rest
of the schedule for openings in other cities for Exit Through
the Gift Shop:
23 APRIL
PHILADELPHIA : Ritz 5
SEATTLE : Harvard
Exit
BOSTON : Kendall
Square
30 APRIL
CHICAGO : Century
MINNEAPOLIS : Lagoon
WASHINGTON DC : E
Street
BALTIMORE : Harbor
ATLANTA : Midtown
Art
DENVER : Mayan
SAN DIEGO : Hillcrest
7 MAY
INDIANAPOLIS : Keystone
Arts
CANADA - TORONTO : Yonge
& Dundas
21
MAY
AUSTIN : Alamo Draft House, Lamar
“JOYOUS!
One of the most inspired,
adroit, hilarious
debut features ever!”
-Amy
Taubin, FILM COMMENT
“EXHILARATING
AND INVENTIVE.”
-David
Fear, TIME OUT
“A
sly satire of celebrity,
consumerism,
and the art world.”
-
“FUNNY
AS HELL!”
-
PRODUCERS DISTRIBUTION AGENCY PRESENTS
EXIT
THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP
PRODUCED BY JAIMIE D’CRUZ NARRATED BY RHYS
IFANS
EDITED BY CHRIS
KING AND TOM
FULFORD
O R I G I N A L M U S I C G E O F F B A R ROW
A D D I T I O N A L O R I G I N A L M U
S I C RO N I S I Z E
E X E C U T I V E P RO D U C E R S H O
L LY C U S H I N G Z A M B A R I N G J A M E S G AY- R E E
S
SOUND J I M C A R E Y A S S I STANT PRODUCER MELODY H OWSE
A S S I STA N T E D I TOR B E L L E B O RGEAUD
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