Exit Through the Gift Shop

Exit Through the Gift Shop is a sort of quasi-documentary. It's half about human nature and oddity and half about the world of street artists. Both halves are sort of fascinating and quite entertaining. Thierry Guetta is a filmmaker, except that he is inept at actually making film, but rather shoots thousands of hours of tape that he never looks at again. He films everything from his family eating to people in the street. One day, Thierry meets Space Invader, who is a street artist who assembles tiles of space invader creatures from old rubics cubes. Here, Thierry finds his calling, and for something like eight years he shoots and captures the world of the street artists. From Space Invader, Thierry learns the art, the craft, and the danger of street art. In years to come, Thierry joins many other street artists, capturing them all, but looking endlessly for the elusive Banksy (the sort of king of street art). The footage is pretty fascinating, and the art is kind of beautiful in a grungy sort of way. Thierry is considered to be a little retarded by the street artists, but he promises to one day turn his footage into a documentary about street art. However, Thierry sucks at making movies, and Banksy takes over the film. This is that film, and I have barely even mentioned the weirdness and spontaneity of Thierry. This is a fascinating documentary, and shows that they can be grossly entertaining and reflective of human nature. It's the best documentary of 2010.
Exit Through the Gift Shop: ★★★★