Exit Through the Gift Shop

Documentarians as storytellers often reveal an inquiring perspective on their view of the truth that exists within the world. A filmmakers’ purpose is to become so relatable to an audience that other concepts and human senses are camouflaged in such a manner that full attention is paid to the story unfolding. Banksy’s documentary film, Exit Through the Gift Shop portrays the story of Thierry Guetta, an obsessed videographer that follows graffiti artists around the world. By examining the story of Theirry Guetta, one can discover the overall impact of how a story comes to fruition when produced through different perspectives.

To begin with, one important fundamental principle of documentary is the established essence a subject and a deeper subject. The film Exit Through the Gift Shop opens with the director, Banksy, sitting in a graffiti painted room under blackface in order to maintain anonymity through the interview. At the two minute mark an off-screen interviewer asks Banksy “what the film was about” (Bansky). Banksy replies, “Well the film is the story of this guy who tried to make a documentary about me, but he was a lot more interesting than I am, so now the film is kind of about him” (Bansky). It is important to realize that Banksy’s answer intertwines in a contradicting manner what the subject and deeper subjects of this film are about because he is the director. Immediately questions about credibility and the importance of position/role in the film are brought to the forefront. Why is the director saying that he was once the subject? Why is this so crucial to the opening sequence of the film?

As the film moves forward, Theirry Guetta is shown filming Space Invader and other graffiti artists painting their work on various rooftops and billboards. Guetta interviews each artist as video footage is displayed sporadically on screen. At the eleven minute mark Banksy appears on screen and states, “I guess Theirry was in the right place at the right time” (Bansky). This is significant because Banksy previous referenced that the film was about someone other than himself from the very beginning. To clarify, as a viewer one is now aware that the story of this documentary originated with Banksy as the subject of the film. More compelling evidence is revealed at the twenty-nine minute mark as Theirry Guetta confesses that “Banksy was the only artist he had not yet been able to film” (Bansky). Additionally, this also answers the early demanding question of Banksy’s role as subject to the story itself.

The final question regarding the deeper subject of the film, Exit Through the Gift Shop is addressed interestingly enough at the arc. At the forty minute mark Theirry Guetta himself becomes the deeper subject of the film. Theirry states, “The way it started, I took picture of me holding a camera, and I asked somebody to illustrate it, and I liked it so I made a small sticker” (Bansky). In other words, a resolution to the opening sequence of the film has now taken place. Banksy is no longer the central focus of the film because the story has shifted towards Theirry Guetta.

Ultimately, Exit Through the Gift Shop poignantly crafts a story around Theirry’s perspective of graffiti art, and ironically morphs into other artists such as Banksy portraying Theirry’s new artistic birth. The brilliance of perspectives displayed in this creative story makes the hunted become the hunter as once foreshadowed in the opening minutes of the film.

Works Cited

Exit Through the Gift Shop . Dir. Bansky. Perf. Bansky. 2010.