You might expect that the feature film debut from the enigmatic street art prankster and provocateur Banksy to be playful, anarchic and smart. But more than this, it’s a witty commentary on the commodification of an egalitarian art form and it may just be one of the most ambitious, quasi-Situationist hoaxes ever perpetrated. Taken at face value, the film is the story of Thierry Guetta, a French shop owner who compulsively documented key members of the street art movement, Space Invader, Shepard Fairey and Banksy himself, in action. So enamoured was he of this world, that Guetta created his own street art persona, Mr Brainwash, who became an overnight phenomenon. The cynical might suggest, however, that Mr Brainwash was in fact a satirical creation by Banksy himself. Either way, this is a supremely entertaining movie.
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk
