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The film received overwhelmingly positive reviews, holding 98% on Rotten Tomatoes, and was nominated for Best Documentary in the 2011 Academy Awards.[5][6] One consistent theme in the reviews was the authenticity of the film: Was the film just an elaborate ruse on Banksy's part, or did Guetta really evolve into Mr. Brainwash overnight? The Boston Globe movie reviewer Ty Burr found it to be quite entertaining and awarded it four stars. He dismissed the notion of the film being a "put on" saying "I’m not buying it; for one thing, this story’s too good, too weirdly rich, to be made up. For another, the movie’s gently amused scorn lands on everyone."[7] Roger Ebert gave it 3.5 stars out of 4, starting his review saying that "The widespread speculation that Exit Through the Gift Shop is a hoax only adds to its fascination."[8] However, in an interview with SuicideGirls[9] filmmakers Jaimie D'Cruz and Chris King denied that it was a hoax, and expressed their growing frustration with the speculation that it was: "For a while we all thought that was quite funny, but it went on for so long. It was a bit disappointing when it became basically accepted as fact, that it was all just a silly hoax ... I felt it was a shame that the whole thing was going to be dismissed like that really - because we knew it was true."[10]
The New York Times movie reviewer Jeannette Catsoulis wrote that the film could be a new subgenre, a "prankumentary".[11]
New York Film Critics Online bestowed its Best Documentary Award on the film in 2010. French journalist Marjolaine Gout gave it 4 stars out of 5, linking Mr. Brainwash and Jeff Koons and criticizing Thierry Guetta's art as toilet papering.[12]
So what do you think? Is the entire film fake, created by Banksy? Does Theirry even exist? Was the whole thing one giant joke played on us by an artist, asking us to re-examine what we accept as real? Are we "Old Owl Eyes," or are we a bunch a Gatsby's party goers, believing everything we see? Is there even a party?
(This much is fact: There was a Mr. Brainwash who sold a bunch of art at an art show in L.A. That is true and documented in the papers.)
Comment below for extra credit.
well i personally think that this film isnt fake but the people in the film could possibly fake. because brainwash didnt really create any art, he used people to do it for him. he should be thanking these people for doing art for him because this is why today he is rich. Theirry does exist, i think ive seen him in some films but wasnt really that famous. watching this movie, everyone has a different percpect of the movie whether its we think its fake or not. thierry i think he wants to be someone he cant be (artist) he uses his brain very well, because if he were to do art i dont think it would be called art. mostly everyone believes everything they see but they actually dont know the real story behind the whole thing , so i cant say this movie is fake or real until i know the real story behind it. Banksy i think he is fake, i mean how could he live without being unknown by his face i just think that impossible, because how would he be able to publish everything he has done, i know he has people to do that for him but i just still find it fake .
ReplyDeleteOverall Thierry was most successful at reinventing himself because nobody doubted who he was like they did Gatsby; Thierry was now formally known as Mr. Brainwash and everyone looked up to his as an authentic artist. He went from being a thrift shop owner and a documenter to a multi-million dollar artist who was extremely recognized all over world just because of his art show in Los Angles.
ReplyDeleteI do not think the film was fake. If it was fake I do not think anyone could have played Thierry’s part because he such a dimwit. By the end of the film he was talking like he had been an artist his whole life. No one could have said some of the things he said with a straight face. He just sounded so dumb. To hear some of the things he said was just flabbergasting because it didn’t make any sense. He was answering a question about the Campbell’s spray paint can and he said something along the lines of “It’s a popular painting and everyone loves it. You know, I’m here.” It made absolutely no sense. It seemed like Thierry really believed that he had been making art his whole life when he was talking to a reporter. He also believed he made documentaries. This film is real or the person who played Thierry is a really good liar.
ReplyDeleteI think some of the film is fake, Thierry is definately not an artist, but the people who made the art for him probably are, they did a well job too. Thierry, I personally think is a joke. I hope the whole movie is fake.
ReplyDeleteI think this film was pretty good and entertaining, except I didn’t buy the whole story that Mr. Brainwash was an artist. I do think the film is real even though some people might think everything is fake. I think that if it was fake they wouldn’t have nominated it for best documentary. I believe Thierry does exist, even though I don’t think he’s an artist. I think he should stop thinking he is and thank all the people that created the art and give credit to them. He has great ideas but it’s not worth everything he got like getting to be famous in little time and getting rich. The fact that people always think what they see is true but this I think people would be very blind if they ever think Thierry is an artist.
ReplyDeleteI believe that there is a Mr. Brainwash, and i believe that it is Theirry. I also believe that the film is real. There are always gonna be those crazy stories that no one wants to believe because they sound so crazy. This to me is one of them, Theirry being as dumb as he is stumbled across fame. It doesnt happen everyday but, there are people in life that it does happen to. In this case it happened to Thierry because he sucked so bad at film making that in order for Banksy to get Thierry away from him. He needed to have Thierry be ocupied with something, that something was the art show. Thierry took the art show way to far, like he does with everything just this time he got lucky.I think Banksy got lucky also because not only is he more well known but, the documentary that he wanted to make got done and became something great.
ReplyDeleteThierry is a artistic figure because he was once a poor man who became a millionaire by literely doibng nothing. He first started videotaping and later on had an art show with art that he didnt even create. Also his art show in LA is real because he is reconized from this art show. So that means this is all real.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the documentry is real. This documentry is filmed with legitiment artists. The things that are showed in this documentry are things that we see everyday. Even though Thierry is probably the stupidest person in the movie; it still shows every bit of truth. The truth is in Banksy's opinion of Thierry. Theirry believed that he was indeed an artist. The truth behind that is that he is a coniving little fart. This documentry shows how real Banksy is. Along with how fake Thierry is aswell.
ReplyDeleteMr. Brainwash is well known all over the world and we all would like to believe that he exists, and he does. But the whole façade behind Mr. Brainwash does not. He is not an astonishing artist or someone who should be a role model to other young artists like we like to think. But Mr. Brainwash has lived up to his name to the fullest extent; he brainwashed all of his fans to believe he was this extraordinary artist who just had a entirely different perspective on art. What he did was take artwork from other genuine artists and added his own twist; best part is, he didn’t even do any of the work to create the art. He had tons of people working around-the-clock to pull this art show together.
ReplyDeleteI personally found the film to be real because it had real footage of the events that were being talked about and if it was fake the footage would have seemed more altered. It is also real because if it was fake the people in the movie wouldnt be known by the general public.
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ReplyDeleteIs this film fake? There is no chance this film could be fake; no one would ever be able to play Thierry. No one could ever, even purposely look that stupid. If this movie is somehow fake, why would this actor even want to play Thierry they most of been terribly embarrassed. Thierry defiantly exists; it’s a documentary about his life. If the movies fake, then how could it even be a documentary.
ReplyDeleteI believe the whole film is real, why wouldn't it be I mean there are a lot of cocky terrible artists out there like Thierry and he certainly made a great real life film character with his hilarious attitude about art and pretty much everything in general. Banksy I believe was able to make a great film because of Thierry's hilarious personality and bad idea of art. He also showed their contrasting ideas of it as well, like how earlier in the film they show Banksy and other street artist's great works of art. Later in the film they show how Thierry's art show of tasteless Andy Warhol knockoff crap sold out. So I see no reason why any part of the film would be fake.
ReplyDeleteHow could the film not be true? I believe it’s possible for someone to get transformed into something over night like Thierry did also I do believe the movie is real because it seem like it would be too hard to fake a fake French accent as well as he did. I also believe though that Banksy wanted more spotlight on street art and thought Thierry would be a good character for a storyline. But I do believe none of the film is fake. It seems way too hard to fake a story like Banksys. It’s also stupid that people would think a movie like Banksys would be fake because there seemed like there was nothing fake about the movie. Until someone tells me otherwise I believe that “Exit thru the gift shop” is a fact based movie and not a hoax.
ReplyDeleteI've read the review made by the french journalist Marjolaine Gout (Great Paper by the way)it gave a great analyse on it and I think the movie is not an hoax but it provides a lot on the street art and the way people watch art.
ReplyDeleteLOVE THAT MOVIE ! I've also look at the review written by Marjolaine Gout on Ecranlarge.com. I didn't understood everything (I'm not fluent in french.). Can someone translate it ? From what I've read it's really interesting and it seems to present it from a movie & art point of view.
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