Film Review: EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP (2010)

Director: Banksy
Running time: 87 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 15

Genre: Documentary
UK Release date: 5^th March 2010

Watched on Sky+ Monday 15^th August 2011.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

This film by street artist Banksy tells the story of Thierry Guetta. As a young man Thierry would film anything, it was an obsession with him. He is a Frenchman who lives in L.A. and one day, on a visit to France, his cousin is making some street art. This fascinates Thierry and he begins to follow all kinds of street artists around L.A., Paris, anywhere he can find them, cataloguing their work and even helping out from time to time. And as he gets more and more into it, he becomes aware of an artist called Banksy, but Banksy is very elusive. Eventually they meet and Banksy lets Thierry film him at work, something those close to him are not too happy about. He is supposed to be making a documentary about street art, but, if the truth be known, he’s just filming… There is more to tell, but I don’t want to give too much away here.

Quite a fascinating film with Thierry as the central character. He does eventually become a street artist and more, but I’ll leave you to find out how that happens (assuming you’re inspired to watch the film after reading this). The majority of the footage was shot by Thierry on video, which gives a kind of grainy look to it, which I like. I was quite intrigued at the beginning and some of the art on show is quite extraordinary, but towards the end of the film I felt it was more about what Thierry did than about the art. Having said that, as a whole I quite enjoyed it. Banksy is from my home town so it’s always good to see a home-town boy come good. If you like street art, Banksy, or even if you’re just intrigued, it’s a worth-while watch… Recommended.

My Score: 7.5/10.

IMDb Score: 8.1/10 (based on 15,132 votes when this review was written).
http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt1587707/

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 96/100 (based on 101 reviews counted when this review was written).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/exit_through_the_gift_shop/

LINKS:
Official Site: http://www.banksyfilm.com/
Banksy’s Site: http://www.banksy.co.uk/
Trailer: