Review: Exit Through the Gift Shop

If you have to see one documentary this year, see Restrepo. If you have to see two, see Restrepo and Banksy's Exit Through the Gift Shop.  Who is Banksy?  I don't know - no one knows - and that's exactly the appeal.  Banksy's specialty is graffiti, or street art, and his work is illegal, controversial, and provocative, often with a political message.  Here are some examples:

My favorites are his works on the West Bank barrier:

Surprisingly enough, the subject of Gift Shop is not Banksy but the man behind the camera, Thierry Guetta, an amateur film maker who spent decades filming graffiti artists. A minor detail he fails to tell these guys is he has no idea how to put a film together. Banksy realizes the value of the thousands of hours of footage, so he decides to make the movie himself, sending Guetta off to try his own graffiti.  Well to everyone's surprise, Guetta hits it big and gains a lot of notoriety - whether it's due to the art itself or the fact he managed to get in when the trend was peaking is left for the audience to decide.  All we know is Guetta was launched into the scene and in the matter of months managed to cash out big time.

Some hilarious quotes:

Thierry Guetta: I don't know how to play chess, but to me, life is like a game of chess.


Banksy: Warhol repeated iconic images until they became meaningless, but there was still something iconic about them. Thierry really makes them meaningless.
  
Thierry Guetta: That's why I call myself Mr. Brainwash. It's because everything that I do... somewhere... it brainwash your face! 


Steve Lazarides: I think the joke is on... I don't know who the joke's on - really. I don't even know if there is a joke.

I would say the joke is on us.