DVD Review: ‘Exit Through the Gift Shop’ Redefines Documentary

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CHICAGO – The brilliant “Exit Through the Gift Shop” may look like a documentary but it’s closer to a piece of performance art, a daring examination of the creative expression of street art that becomes an expression itself. How much of it is true? How much is scripted? Unlike other “controversial” 2010 documentaries “I’m Still Here” and “Catfish” it doesn’t matter this time because Banksy’s amazing film is a joy to behold either way.

DVD Rating: 4.5/5.0

“Exit Through the Gift Shop” is about an amateur filmmaker named Thierry Guetta, a larger-than-life personality who becomes obsessed with street art. He sets out to document the creations that often have very short lives (before the powers that be pull them down) and the people who create them with his always-recording camera. He is “lucky” enough to find his way into the inner circle of street art, eventually crossing paths with the mysterious Banksy, a legendary graffiti artist who we only see in shadow and who’s credited with directing the movie. As Thierry becomes a street artist himself and eventually exposes the fact that maybe not everyone deserves their fifteen minutes of fame, “Exit Through the Gift Shop” deconstructs the very concept of “popular street art.”

Exit Through the Gift Shop was released on DVD on December 14th, 2010
Photo credit: Oscilloscope

Banksy’s film can be read as a spectacular examination of how something like street art is almost instantly diminished by recording it (and releasing the identities of the people who made it and even attempting to dissect its meaning) but it can also just be enjoyed as one of the funniest documentaries ever made. “Exit Through the Gift Shop” is straight-up entertaining. Thierry Guetta is a too-good-to-be-true creation and the legendary art heroes that he captures are thoroughly mesmerizing. Part mockumentary, part documentary, part performance art, “Exit Through the Gift Shop” is all great.

Oscilloscope has packaged “Exit Through the Gift Shop” in another gorgeously-designed box with physical collectibles that include a pair of paper glasses, stickers, and art cards. The special features on the DVD itself are a little underwhelming but it makes sense when one considers the tightrope-act that is the film itself, one that doesn’t really work if you explain it. You can’t have Banksy doing a commentary track. The best special feature is a version of Guetta’s awful film “Life Remote Control (Lawyer’s Edit)”. Funny stuff.

This may be an awfully-short review for an awfully-great movie but the less said about “Exit Through the Gift Shop” the better. Just see it.

Special Features
o B-Movie: An Exclusive Short Film About the ‘Art’ of Banksy
o Deleted Scenes
o Life Remote Control (Lawyer’s Edit)

By BRIAN TALLERICO Content Director HollywoodChicago.com brian@hollywoodchicago.com