film.every.day.

Anyone who underestimates the power of art to transform our lives needs to look no further than the White House. Shepard Fairey’s graphically striking image of Barack Obama helped move a man from candidate to consciousness, and changed the face of American politics forever. Fairey, like shadowy underground characters named Banksy and Invader, is a “street artist,” but the influence of his art goes far beyond the streets.

With the Sundance-lauded documentary Exit Through The Gift Shop, first-time director Banksy shines as bright a light as the dark world of street art would ever allow. But the question is, what exactly is that light illuminating?

Banksy is what some people call an “art terrorist.” His works are only graffiti in the most literal sense. I mean, what do you call the stenciled outline of a small child floating away under a handful of balloons on the Palestinian side of the Settlement Wall? Or an inflatable dummy wearing an orange prison jumpsuit placed next to one of the most popular rides at Disneyland?

But as interesting a subject as Banksy would be for a documentary, Exit Through The Gift Shop isn’t “about” him.

The driving force behind the film is somewhat-unhinged Frenchman Thierry Guetta. When first we meet him, he runs a second-hand clothing store, kind of, but his real “passion” is filming. He takes a camera with him everywhere, recording everything. On a trip overseas, he discovers that his cousin is actually a street artist named Invader, and documents his exploits. He gradually becomes accepted as part of the community, and eventually they come to depend on him both to capture their temporary art and to act as lookout for the cops. When Guetta embraces his inner “art terrorist,” he is transformed from a humble documentarian into Mr. Brainwash, an artist whose commercial desires far outstrip his actual talents. But if thousands of people line up to admire his work, and spend seven figures buying it up, what does that say about the very movement he started off documenting?

Sitting in the dark, the audience is left to wonder whether Banksy’s film, and Guetta himself, is just another piece of thought-provoking art meant to encourage us to examine the nature of art and commercialization in a culture driven by consumption.

Thankfully, all of this comes in a very entertaining and creatively-packaged film. You may not quite have all the answers when you leave a screening of Exit Through The Gift Shop, but the questions you’ll ask are interesting enough to keep you occupied long after.