#16 - Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010)

I aced my observation from yesterday! My assistant principal was excited by my test review session in three parts, each of which was a different activity that I could do with my students to prepare, but in a not-boring way.

On to the film!

I remember hearing about this documentary when it came out earlier this year, to some great reviews, but I had forgotten about it until talking to my friend Dan earlier today.  This is a perfect suggestion, because I was just noticing how I had no documentaries on my list so far, and there's still so many I haven't seen, from the innovative to the more recent.

Today's foray into the world of film is this crazy documentary called Exit Through the Gift Shop which seems to be a documentary about street art, but there's a broader sense of this as being not exactly a documentary about street art but a documentary about Thierry, a man who filmed street artists under the guise of making this documentary about street art, but whose real passion was the act of filming, and street art is the medium around which this happens.

The "filmographer's" inability to stop filming has turned into obsession and he desires most to meet and film notorious (at least, since I know nothing about street art, I take the film's word for it that he is, indeed, notorious in that world) street artist "Banksy."

What it pretty ironic about the documentary is that the main character ends up being the person who wanted to do nothing but film.  The rest is a little hard to explain, but this is definitely a must-see for its general nuttiness.  It is, in its best moments, a brilliant character study with a most interesting turn-of-the-tables.

By the way, I love Banksy's wry sense of humor.  He made me laugh several times (especially at the end when talking about Thierry, for those of you who have seen it).

Score: 9/10