Film, for me, is frequently a spiritual experience. Banksy's Exit Through The Gift Shop, however, is one i HAVE to talk about, so i'll start by talking about The Social Network. This recent film - the Facebook film - from Aaron Sorkin and David Fincher, has had huge notoriety, is Oscar tipped, and has been spoken of by critics as one of THE films of our time. What's important to note here is that these comments are made not because of the exceptional jobs done by the writer and director - their work, usually full of flair and exhilarating showmanship, is very solid but uncharacteristically understated. No, the comments are made for the same reason the film-makers kept a lid on their instincts to perform: because The Social Network is bigger than a film, it's a document of an era - albeit one blended with fiction and speculation. The Social Network very cleverly melds an intimate story about a friendship with a much broader story of massive changes in its social context largely determined by that friendship: the digital and technological revolution; a world where legislation lags behind rapid electronic changes; one where kids are becoming evermore present on rich lists; and one where the film's audience's social lives, and means of relationship, have most likely been significantly impacted by such a simple thing as a Facebook wall page.
Now, to Exit Through The Gift Shop. This is a tiny film and it's not crafted with anywhere near the same expertise and skill as The Social Network. Heck, it's not even made by film-makers, it's made by street artists (if you're feeling gracious) or by drop-outs and vandals (if you're feeling pompous). However, it is just as much a document of our time. It doesn't deal with technology and social interaction though, it deals with the evolution / revolutions in art (or not) and our culture's capitalistic desire to turn everything into a commercial commodity.
As i was watching, everything in me was thrumming, my head, my heart and my spirit - and all the areas of overlap too! It's a documentary film about film, indeed about the making of a documentary film that didn't exist (riddle me that if you can). It's about art, and grief, and beauty, and freedom, and subversion, and power, and power coming from perceived power, and exploitation, and standing up to our 'right to consume', and standing up to the influence of corporations on the way our PUBLIC spaces look and the ways we use them. It is brilliant, it made me yearn for truth and freedom and love in a way that i'm most familiar with as being 'of God'.
A second thing it shares with The Social Network is that it centres around a friendship. The possibility even remains that, for all its strengths, the film itself could be an act of petty vengeance - or even a hoax. Who can tell? If you've ever been party to a conversation about modern art where you or the person you're speaking with have used the cliche "...a bit Emperor's new clothes..." then this is a film you have to see!
Of course, for all the hype of this post, the film is just about vandalism and other criminal activity by people who should really get a job. Funny though.
