|
|
|
Exit Through the Gift Shop
R1 - America - Oscilloscope Laboratories Review written by and copyright: Anthony Arrigo (11th March 2011). |
|
The Film
 Where do you draw the line between street art and graffiti? Is there even such a line? Of the many creative mediums, art is perhaps the most subjective. What one person sees as amateurish trash, another might view as the next great thing in modern art. The only perspective that matters is in the eye of the beholder. Lately, street art has enjoyed great success in the mainstream thanks to the subversive efforts of the infamous artist known as Banksy. Little is know about the man behind the art – his identity remains unknown and he rarely makes public appearances; when he does, it’s often under the disguise of a monkey mask. Many people have attempted to reveal his true persona, but so far none have succeeded. His work has been glimpsed all over the world, from Disneyland all the way to the West Bank. His themes are often controversial, turning a spotlight on corrupt government and the apparent brainwashing of society at large. So, how did someone so notoriously camera-shy wind up making a documentary film? As with so many happy accidents in life, a serious of serendipitous events led him to become the trusted friend of Thierry Guetta, a man whose one constant in life was that he had a video camera glued to his hand at all times. And this chance encounter (or was it?) set the stage for what might possibly be the greatest trick ever pulled on the art community. When we first meet Thierry Guetta, he’s a Frenchman living in Southern California, reselling old clothes for a tidy profit and enjoying life with his wife & kids. One day, Thierry buys a video camera… and it never leaves his hands again. He films everything and everyone he interacts with on a daily basis. When he takes a trip to visit his cousin, known as Space Invader, in Europe, Thierry finds himself patrolling the streets late at night, filming his cousin spreading his own street art all over the city. Thierry meets some of Space Invader’s friends and, needing an excuse for filming their every move, starts to tell people he’s making a documentary about street art. In reality, his tapes are tossed into unlabeled cartons, never intended to be viewed again. One summer, however, a friend of his (Shepard Fairey, creator of the iconic Barack Obama “Hope” image) tells him that he’s in town with Banksy, already well-known at this point and considered a big get for Guetta. Fairey asks if he can show Banksy around Los Angeles; take him to some of the hot spots for making his art. He agrees, but only if he can film everything. Soon after, the two become trusted friends and confidants. Banksy learns of Guetta’s never-produced street art documentary and tells him to cut it together into a film, but the resulting film is a schizophrenic, unwatchable mess. So, Guetta leaves the footage with Banksy and goes home to L.A. with one simple instruction: create your own art. And in only a short amount of time, Guetta christens himself Mr. Brainwash and a new street art star is born. Or is this just one big elaborate hoax? That’s the big question posed by “Exit Through the Gift Shop” (2010), the directorial debut of Banksy and MBW (Mr. Brainwash a.k.a. Thierry Guetta). The time it takes MBW to go from observer to participant in the street art world is lightning quick. So fast, in fact, that you have to wonder if Banksy is sitting back, pulling the strings of this whole character of MBW, laughing at all the pretentious art scene hipsters willing to pay $25,000 for a photoshopped print of Leonard Nimoy wearing a Marilyn Monroe wig. The film tries its best to be ambiguous on this issue, but if you’re even the slightest bit familiar with Banksy’s art and social stance, then it’ll be plainly obvious that he’s masterminded this whole scheme. And it’s utterly brilliant. Look no further than the “art” of MBW gracing the cover of L.A. Weekly, or the massive turnout for his inaugural art show which, according to the film, raked in over $1 million in prints sold by the end of the first week. That’s another thing. The artwork that MBW produces is nothing more than photocopied images overlaid with contrasting designs. Sometimes a little color is thrown in for good measure, but nothing he creates is truly original. Everything is a pre-existing image that’s given his own personal artistic flourish, whatever that may be. But the real kicker is that people will pay such extravagant amounts to own one of his works. Hell, I used to do the same thing to magazine ads in middle school. Maybe I should dig those up from the depths of my garage storage and show the world that I was once the next hot thing. But I wouldn’t because that’s ridiculous and incredibly stupid. Banksy knows this, and that’s why the only logical conclusion anyone who watches this film can draw. He’s behind it all, and he’s laughing at everyone who buys into it. There are certain things that can’t be taken as farce in the film, though. Banksy’s art and the location of his pieces are all very real – and much of it is insightful, thought-provoking and prescient. You know you’re doing something right when unscrupulous art dealers will stake claim to a slab of concrete or a mangled phone booth simply to auction off something by the elusive Banksy. It also can’t be argued that Thierry Guetta is a real person. His actual occupation remains a mystery, but he’s certainly profiting off the success of his alter ego, MBW. And he was into filming underground art long before Banksy entered his world. But there was obviously something Banksy saw in him. Perhaps Guetta’s desire to become part of the world he documented made him the perfect patsy for Banksy to exploit as the latest genius in a scene that’s full of questionable talents. Surely, if the king of the scene endorsed you people would take notice, regardless of how talented you really are. In the end, “Exit Through the Gift Shop” leaves many questions unanswered, but I think the title of the film proves fitting. Enjoy what you’ve seen, and be sure to drop some money on the way out.
Video
The 1.78:1 anamorphic image works well for a film of this ilk, though the picture can be all over the place. All of the footage shot by Guetta was done so during different periods of time, with different cameras, so the quality of the image can vary wildly from one shot to the next. All of it looks reasonably crisp & sharp, though. Since this is a documentary shot “guerilla style” about an underground movement, a studio-worthy picture should not be expected, nor would it necessarily be welcomed. The interview footage looks to have been shot using HD cameras, and that footage is often when the film looks best. Colors don’t exactly pop off the screen as they might with a higher resolution, but they are appropriately vibrant and eye-catching.
Audio
There’s nothing particularly impressive about the English Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound track. This is a documentary film shot by a man who isn’t a professional filmmaker, so don’t expect much more than an adequate track. I will say that he did a good job of making sure the footage used in the film has a clear audio track with no signs of hisses, pops or crackling. Again, the interview segments sound best since those were likely recorded with modern microphones attached to the subjects. The score pipes in from the rears on a few occasions, but there’s really no reason to prefer this mix over the Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo track that’s also included. That track is perfectly suitable for this film; an immersive, artificial 5.1 channel track isn’t really required. Subtitles are available in English for the hearing impaired.
Extras
There’s not much, but just as with the film itself, we get an interesting hodgepodge of extra included here. I’d say a commentary track would’ve been a nice addition, but the narration and on-screen interviews almost act as one by themselves. A few deleted scenes are here, a couple of short films and one featurette rounds out the package. Of course, we also get some physical goodies that sweeten things up a bit. I’ll remark on them in the packaging section. A small selection of deleted scenes is available for the following: - “How Old Are You?” runs for 46 seconds. Thierry is questioned by the cops when his cousin puts up some street art in L.A. - “That Special Touch” runs for 58 seconds, MBW adds a little something to his prints to make them unique. - “Craig’s List” runs for 1 minute and 29 seconds, MBW finds a fast way to have his newly-acquired warehouse gutted. - “Planning Meeting” runs for 1 minute and 44 seconds, MBW plans out his first big show with his team. - “MBW Sound Effects” runs for 22 seconds, a quick compilation of some of MBW’s many bizarre sounds. “Life Remote Control (Lawyer’s Edit)” short film runs for 14 minutes and 52 seconds. As a title card explains, Thierry Guetta’s infamously unwatchable feature film has been trimmed down from 90 minutes to what we get here on the advice of their legal team. And, true to what Banksy said earlier, the film is a schizophrenic, frenetic mess that takes some serious resolve to sit through. “A Star is Born (MBW at Cans Festival)” featurette runs for 7 minutes and 6 seconds. Banksy invites some of the most notorious streets artists from all over the world, including Mr. Brainwash, to take part in his underground art show called the Cans Festival. This is where MBW gets his first real exposure. “B Movie (A Film about Banksy)” runs for 13 minutes and 29 seconds. This short film takes a look at the hype and controversy surrounding the infamously anonymous artist, featuring interviews with the man himself, his contemporaries and various celebrity figures. Much of the material was seen in the film, but there’s also some extra footage that was left out which makes this worth watching.
Packaging
As usual, Oscilloscope has packaged this DVD better than almost any studio out there. The fold-out, eco-conscious design features some beautiful artwork on its many panels. Included inside is a pair of starry glasses (in glorious 2D!) along with a couple of street art stickers and postcards featuring art by Mr. Brainwash and Banksy.
Overall
It’s a shame Banksy didn’t win the Oscar for this documentary. How awesome would it have been to see him take the stage wearing his trademark monkey mask? This is one of the best films to come out of 2010 – it’s full of humor, wit, incredible footage of street artists at work and features a twist that plays almost well enough to go unnoticed by many. Oscilloscope has put together a great package here, including a nice serving of bonus features in addition to some goodies that add to the overall appeal of the film.
|
|||||
|