I'd heard of the film but must admit to watching it with no expectation whatsoever, so there's no point in me saying I wasn't disappointed as I had no expectation BUT I was immediately enchanted and absolutely hypnotised by this fantastic tale that weaves fact with fiction.
Banksy blurred and blacked-out next to a monkey head with no eyes under glass...superb! A yuppie pop attack that given half a chance a yuppie would probably buy as art or media...AND then Banksy's effected voice...oh my giddy aunt...I almost poohed my pants with laughter...AND WHAT DOES HE DO? He proceeds to play slightly dumb and remote allowing those that he is having a poke at to continue BEING dumb and remote. You, Banksy mate (not that it matters to you) gained my respect straight away! HERE is a genuine film that IS 'STREET ART'.
But the real star of the piece --- as created by Banksy --- is Thierry Guetta...F**king Genius! A superb caricature for the modern age...not only is he a Warhol baby BUT he seems to be the actual mistake that Warhol made during a dodgy can of soup in HIS fifteen minutes of madness! If he's really like he is portrayed then he's a passionate groupie at best without any artistic ability whatsoever...unless art has become project management (...AND to be honest I'm not sure whether Banksy is really making THAT point BUT hey I'm one measly member of the stupid masses...) Hell, it doesn't matter as Guetta does a good deal of his talking whilst overlooked by a portrait of the Laughing Cavalier...whose heady hairstyles he seems to emulate...so consciously or subconsciously he is laughing at us whilst laughing at the character he creates...everything is so manufactured that it is almost stencilled in a way that STREET ART never was BUT in a way that the mass market bullsh*t IS! What can I say but this is a portrayal of a distorted art market and the plain meaninglessness of pop-art? Now that everyone can have their fifteen minutes of fame I guess the thing to de-construct is fame itself...and that's what Banksy does here...and has been doing since he marked his first wall...I could go on but it'd waste your time with my idiocy and isn't that what this film is about?! Take a leaf out of Banksy's Beckett-like debut (not only has he Waited for Godot HE stencilled him)--- Think for yourself and create your own reality!
Definite must watch for everyone in my opinion.
