EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP {LETTERBOX} (MOTION PICTURE)
Summary
This Academy Award-nominated documentary is about anonymous street artist Banksy and his unusual experience with amateur filmmaker-turned-art world sensation Thierry Guetta. The program opens with a montage of various street artists creating their work, often in secret and in the dead of night, while also managing to evade the authorities. English artist Banksy, with his face hidden and voice disguised, sits down and explains that he originally thought Guetta was making a documentary about him, but it turned out that Guetta was “a lot more interesting than [Banksy],” and the project changed. Guetta, as explained, is a French émigré living in Los Angeles with his family. He runs a hip vintage clothing store and has the unusual habit of filming nearly every moment of his life on a handheld camcorder. He describes it as an addiction “more than any drugs.” In 1999, while vacationing in France, Guetta learns that his cousin is an artist who posts tiny mosaics based on the pixilated creatures from the arcade video game “Space Invaders” around Paris. Calling himself “Invader,” he is part of a new movement of street art, in which people create paintings, sketches and other types of art in public places, often anonymously or under a pseudonym, due to the illegal nature of the style. Guetta begins filming Invader as he goes about posting his work, and Banksy points out that street art typically has a “short lifespan,” and so it is useful to have someone documenting its creation.
When Guetta returns to L.A., Invader accompanies him, and they meet Shepard Fairey, the famous artist who created the “OBEY” icon based on the image of André Roussimoff, a.k.a. wrestler André the Giant, as well as the Barack Obama “Hope” image. Guetta begins filming all of Invader and Fairey’s adventures, and when Invader returns to France, Guetta becomes Fairey’s right-hand man, often serving as a lookout and an “accomplice.” After nearly a year, however, Guetta is finally asked the purpose behind his endless recording, and he states that he is making a documentary about street art. Guetta meets many other L.A. street artists and films them, describing himself as a “ghost” presence, but soon learns that the most infamous artist of all, Banksy, is the most difficult to track down. Banksy, famous for his witty and subversive works that often serve as commentary on political and social issues, is notoriously private and keeps his true identity hidden. Nevertheless, Guetta says that he is determined to include him in the film...except that there is no film. Unbeknownst to the artists, Guetta reveals that he is merely throwing tape after tape into unmarked boxes with no intention of making anything of the footage. He explains that the trauma of his mother’s sudden death in his childhood affected his need to record every event of his life, but once the moment is captured, he never feels the need to watch it.
Banksy then gains further fame by creating several images on the Israeli West Bank wall, and the interest in his identity increases. He travels to L.A. and finds that he needs an assistant, and Guetta is recommended by a friend, and the two finally meet. Banksy is amused at his excitable demeanor and eccentric appearance, but Guetta soon makes himself “indispensable” to the artist, showing him all the best spots in L.A. for posting art and filming his work, though without showing his face. Soon Banksy invites Guetta back to London with him, and Banksy’s close friends and associates are disturbed by Guetta’s presence, particularly his camera. When Guetta returns to L.A., he is restless, saying that he is “like a bird” who cannot stay in one place too long, which frustrates his wife, Debora. Inspired by the artists, he takes a picture of himself holding a camera and has it turned into a sticker, which he then begins posting around town, emulating the style of Fairey and Banksy. He soon becomes consumed with his new habit, saying he “fell into the spiral.”
Elsewhere, Banksy prepares for his L.A. art show, called “Barely Legal.” The day before the show, however, he and Guetta head to Disneyland, where Banksy stealthily mounts an artistic display in response to the Guantánamo Bay prisoner abuse scandal: a dummy in a hood and orange jumpsuit, chained to a fence near one of the rides. Banksy evades capture, but Guetta is taken into custody by the park’s security, who thinks he is responsible. However, he manages to erase all of his photographs and tip off Banksy over the phone, and he is released due to lack of evidence. Banksy is impressed at his quick thinking and states that he now trusts him implicitly. The next day, “Barely Legal” opens and is a grand success, despite some controversy over his use of a live elephant, and the prices of Banksy’s and other street artists’ work begins to rise significantly. Banksy wants it known that street art is not just about making money, however, and implores Guetta to finally finish and release his film in order to tell “the real story.” Forced into a corner, Guetta finally gathers his footage and puts together a film, "Life Remote Control": a frenetic ninety-minute hodgepodge of random images and sounds that a horrified Banksy compares to rapidly flicking through hundreds of television channels. Now seeing that Guetta is no filmmaker, Banksy decides to make a film of his own about the experience, distracting Guetta by suggesting that he create art of his own and “have a little show.”
Guetta takes this suggestion to heart and, six months later, has become “Mr. Brainwash” and sold nearly everything he owns to finance a massive studio with a full staff. One of his employees says that Guetta is “inspired by other things;” it is revealed that his work primarily consists of iconic images and faces manipulated in PhotoShop or otherwise altered, more or less in the style of Andy Warhol. He decides to have an art show called “Life is Beautiful,” inspired by “Barely Legal,” and hires various other artists to create pieces based on his ideas. The work soon mounts up, however, and things are made more complicated when he breaks his foot in a fall. Promoter Roger Gastman attempts to help organize the event, although he quickly realizes that Guetta is clueless about the technical details of putting together such a show, instead preferring to focus on hype. Using sound bites from a reluctant Fairey and Banksy, Guetta promotes the show heavily and soon lands the cover of L.A. Weekly. On the day of the show, the staff grows frustrated as Guetta conducts interviews rather than helping to organize the display of his vast collection of art. A large crowd soon assembles, and despite the lack of organization, the show is a massive hit and stays open for several weeks longer than planned. Guetta sells nearly a million dollars worth of art, and his work is featured in many shows and sales around the world. Banksy and Fairey both voice their doubts about the validity of Guetta as an artist, pointing out his lack of long-term experience and the similarity of his work to many other artists’. They both acknowledge their part in helping to “create” Mr. Brainwash, and Banksy admits that he no longer tells “everyone” that they should create art, pondering that Guetta broke the unspoken “rules” of the art world. The film closes as title cards explain that Guetta continues to enjoy success as Mr. Brainwash, and that Banksy will never again assist with a documentary, having learned his lesson.
Details
- NETWORK: N/A
- DATE: November 30, 2009
- RUNNING TIME: 1:26:00
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 104726
- GENRE: Documentary
- SUBJECT HEADING: Modern art; Filmmaking
- SERIES RUN: N/A
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Holly Cushing … Executive Producer
- Zam Baring … Executive Producer
- James Gay-Rees … Executive Producer
- Jaimie D'Cruz … Producer
- Melody Howse … Assistant Producer
- Banksy … Director
- Geoff Barrow … Music by
- Rhys Ifans … Narrator
- Andrew Palmer … Consultant Producer
- Roger Gastman … Consultant Producer
- Banksy
- Shepard Fairey
- Thierry Guetta
- Debora Guetta
- Invader
- Barack Obama
- André Roussimoff
- Andy Warhol