Day 64- Movie 54. Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010)

I still don't fully know what to make of this film. Exit Through the Gift Shop is a documentary that has been getting rave reviews from critics, and has recently nabbed an Academy Award nomination for best documentary. It's a fascinating, complex movie that examines the art world. It challenges the mainstream view of art, while also challenging our assumptions about documentaries. The big question is- "Is any of this actually real?" I find it interesting that a "fake" documentary could bring home an Oscar. Or is it fake? Can a documentary about a fake person be a real documentary? My head is hurting just thinking about this.

The film is really divided into two halves. The first half is about a documentary filmmaker (Thierry Guetta) and his desire to film the street art movement. This is very interesting, as it pulls back the curtain on a little-known form of art. While it often seemed like graffiti to me, it is apparently this huge art movement with some very dedicated artists devoting their lives to it. It is information, interesting, and entertaining. The first half of the film culminates with Guetta trying to meet Banksy, the enigmatic and perhaps most famous of all the street artists.

The second half of the film flips the camera on Guetta and his effort to become a famous, respected street artist himself. This is the part of the film that becomes very, very ambiguous. I won't go into too much detail, but you can't help but wonder if anything you're watching is real. Is Guetta who he appears to be, or is he simply a character created for the movie? The longer the movie goes on, the more outlandish he becomes. Eventually, the movie reveals itself to be a look at the modern art world, complete with pretty powerful commentary on the typical art buyers.

I don't know much about art myself. I know what I like, and what I don't. I simply don't get most modern art. It looks like crap to me. I'm obviously not sophisticated or informed, but for me, I don't like it much. This film really poses this question- What makes "art" "art"? Is it because famous people say they like it? Because others are willing to pay millions for it? With all the quirks and eccentricities of modern art, how do we know when something is good, and when something is crap? It all gets very confusing, and this movie addresses that problem.

Now, movies focused with commentary on modern art probably don't sound like much fun. However, Exit Through the Gift Shop manages to make this a funny, entertaining, thought-provoking journey. It gives us some larger-than-life characters and trains the camera on them. It is a fascinating film that really holds the audience's attention. It challenges some preconceived notions, and asks some hard questions of the art world. I enjoyed the film very much, and would give it a very respectable 7.5/10.

Who has seen this movie? What's your take on it- is it a real, authentic documentary? Is the second half staged? Does it even matter?