Exit Through the Gift Shop

The film, “Exit Through the Gift Shop” is a rather difficult documentary to assess. Both because of its creator and its main content it is difficult to tell what the true purpose of the documentary is. One the one hand, it is not very difficult to perceive this film as an attack on Thierry Guetta from Banksy, because of Thierry’s rise from obscurity into stardom because of Banksy’s and all of the other “street artists” help, as well as because of Thierry’s merely doing street art for gaining fame like Banksy, his idol, and for amassing wealth. One the other hand, the film could just be recounting the life of Thierry and how he became a street artist. I find myself drawn more towards the thought of this as an attack on Thierry though, as this area is more emphasized, at least from my view. I trust the film, at least in the sense that I trust that the events that were portrayed were accurate, and that most of the interviews done with the artists were true and honest, despite the film being created by Banksy. The film’s strange composition feels awkward, and while some might see this as Banksy’s manipulating the film to turn the audience to his opinion, I see it more as an honest expression of Banksy being unfamiliar with a camera, showing how he is attempting to create a film, even if he is not a film maker. It’s like he said when he saw “Life Remote Control”, Thierry made a film, and he’s no expert.