I went to see the Banksy film ‘Exit Through The Gift Shop’ last Thursday, in one of the most random locations (OK, the most) that I’ve ever watched a film in. It was in the tunnels underneath Waterloo station, halfway along a longer tunnel that was utterly covered in graffiti and through a non-descript door. Handily, a red carpet was painted onto the floor to guide you in…
There were a couple of pieces of art in the foyer bit, as well as a distorted ice-cream van selling the drinks and snacks. One bottle of red wine for two, cheers!
The cinema section was in one of the tunnels, with some raised seating, I guess for a total of about 130 people for each screening. It reminded me so much of some of the venues I went to over the last two summers in Edinburgh, where they convert just about every single space into a theatre or performance area.
It was a bit more professional that that, with banked (comfortable) seating, but every few minutes you could hear the rumble of trains overhead. It probably didn’t help that we were towards the back and thus close to the roof.
The venue was like this because it was a special preview event ahead of an eventual wider release in normal cinemas. As such, it seemed to be pretty dedicated Banksy fans in attendance, and a few journalists, who were making notes around me.
Anyways, the film: I was impressed, but not overwhelmed. The film is definitely in two parts, and the first one is the stronger by a long, long way.
First thing’s first: this film will not tell you who Banksy is. He’s on screen, but you don’t see his face, and his identity isn’t revealed at all. His voice is distorted, although the strong accent comes through. He’s constantly shot in the dark, almost in silhouette, and any other footage of him has his face blurred out.
Hell, I think the talking head/interview parts with him are probably a fake anyway, just Banksy messing with us once more.
Instead of Banksy, the film concentrates on a French guy called Thierry, who lives in Los Angeles, and videos absolutely everything around him. He eventually gets involved with the street art scene, and accompanies loads of different artists as they go out in the dead of night to put their art up on buildings, walls, roads, and whatnot.
Most of this footage is from the early ’00s, when people like Shepard Fairey (he of the Obama poster fame) were big on the scene, and being French he had good access to a guy called Invader, who does those Space Invader mosaics everywhere. But what Thierry really wanted was to get Banksy.
Without spoiling anything, of course he gets to meet him, and eventually gets accepted into Banksy’s inner circle, documenting his preparations and installations. This includes works in London, and then a load more in Los Angeles, culminating in Banksy’s big show there a few years ago.
One amusing aside: Banksy’s utter refusal to pronounce Thierry’s name in anything other than the classically English style of “Terry”. Very funny.
This is all within the first half of the film, and is definitely the most interesting. The artists themselves are engaging, and Thierry is utterly mesmerising, if a little mad. It’s great to hear him talk with such enthusiasm about the artists and their methods, and how he loved to just tag along (ha, “tag”!) with them on their escapades.
You’re not watching Thierry’s documentary (believe me, you don’t want to), but it is a pretty solid overview of the street art scene over the last decade, culminating in its crossover to the mainstream. I was thoroughly impressed.
Where things start to unravel though, is the second half. Cue the:
SPOILER ALERT!!! SPOILER ALERT!!! SPOILER ALERT!!! SPOILER ALERT!!! SPOILER ALERT!!!
I can’t really think of how to say why the second half is weaker without spoiling the plot somewhat. Yes, there is a plot, even though it’s a documentary. Dare I say mockumentary? Anyways, spoilers from here on out.
After making his (frankly terrible) film, and showing it to Banksy, Thierry starts to believe that he can become an artist in his own right, rather than just the documenter of it all. Starting small, with stickersof a stylised icon of himself, in the style of Shepard Fairey, he quickly graduates to much larger posters, and from there it’s onwards and upwards.
But rather than spending years and years on the streets, Thierry wants to jump straight to a huge installation and gallery, just like Banksy’s LA show. The documentary thus moves to following him, rather than vice-versa.
Becoming ever more megalomaniac, and believing in his own hype, somehow Thierry (now calling himself Mr Brainwash) manages to get LA Weekly to cover the opening of his show and build the anticipation.
Whilst still in preparation for the show, art buyers are calling him to pre-purchase, and he just plucks numbers out of the air ($18,000, $30,000) for each piece. Oh, and these pieces are pretty much factory-produced by a relative army of assistants.
What’s amazing about the art, is just how much of a rip-off of all these other street artists it is. Banksy, Fairey, and loads of others all comment on this during the documentary, and it really isn’t even derivative. It’s just the same fucking stuff.
Anyways, the hype machine rolls on, and soon there are huge queues ahead of the show’s opening. We then see loads of mini-interviews with attendees, saying that Mr Brainwash is amazing, the next best thing in art, and ya’know like totally original in what he’s saying about he world around us.
The film closes with Banksy bemoaning the fact that he’s created a monster, amazed at how Mr Brainwash can be so feted without any talent at all. He says that this caused him to make this film, from Thierry’s footage.
What I was left with, however, was the distinct sensation that it’s all one big joke, Mr Brainwash. Thierry only starts making art after he’s come into contact with Banksy, and got into his inner circle.
I left the cinema thinking that Mr Brainwash was a long-term project by Banksy, acting through the proxy of Thierry to show how the art world can be utterly vapid and a slave to publicity. This makes the whole second half of the film a mockumentary of sorts, as I mentioned above.
You can see how he’s picked out the gallery attendees who have said the most nonsensical things to camera, and have utterly bought into the hype. Banksy is mocking these people, is mocking the art establishment for paying such ridiculous sums for art, whoever it is by.
I appreciate what he’s trying to do, but it just didn’t grab me as much as the first half, the true documentary, did. That was genuinely interesting, with great characters and settings. The second half left a bad taste in the mouth regarding Thierry’s change in personality. Originally, he was a bumbling, clumsy, excitable, idiot, but by the end of the film he was just another art twat.
It wasn’t a journey that I particularly enjoyed.
END OF SPOILERS. END OF SPOILERS. END OF SPOILERS.
Overall, the film was worth seeing, if only for the first half and all of the behind-the-scenes looks at the street art field. The methods these artists employ to get their pieces out there, and some of the daring-do to get up on roofs and out of windows, are a joy to behold, as is Thierry’s incessant use of the question “Why?”.
If you subscribe to the idea of the art world being a bit pretentious and pointless, you’ll like the sentiment behind the second half of the film too. I do agree with it, but can’t help but feel that it could’ve been done better.
Go see it, it’s a solid film and a bit of a different documentary from the norm. Is it stunning? No, but it is good.
Just be glad this wasn’t Thierry’s original film, is all I’ll say.
