Exit Through the Gift Shop

An interesting disc popped into my postbox the other day.  Exit Through the Gift Shop has been one film I have been wanting to watch for a while.  I love Banksy, I love Street Art.  It so full of expression and feeling, each bit of art means something different to everyone.  And its readily available, you don't have to go to a museum to see it.


So, I got excited.  I wanted to see the real life of a graffiti/street artist.  Their motivations and their inspirations.  Political or emotional driving forces that create such thought provoking work.


The first half of the film was great.  Really interesting, particular the sections in Invader.  I love seeing the little Invader tiles in Paris and the only one I noticed in London (although there could be more and I haven't found them yet) was on the steps of the entrance to Piccadilly Circus tube station.  Although no longer there any more as the steps were reset a few years ago. 


The second half told a different story.  Focussing on the film maker himself.  Now I don't want to give the entire film away, but this section I found dull and uninteresting.  Mr MBW created horrible art, full of images that didn't make sense.  Mass produced bollocks with no sense of individuality or style.  Utter shit.


There is a lot of talk about whether this film was a hoax and the real point of the film was that we are under Banksy/MBW's spell, that it was all a rouse to get the viewer into believing that we are watching the real article when in fact it was all a lie.  We were never going to see into the lives of these reclusive street artists.  The part of the job is their anonymity. It was all a construct.


This is fine, but I was bored with the construct.  The best thing for me was the fabulous song over the opening and end credits.  Richard Hawley's wonderful voice on Tonight The Streets Are Ours.  It has a lovely Morrissey sound to it. 


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jGJavcSJTg