10 Greatest Films Within Films

9. Life Remote Control (Exit Through the Gift Shop)

thierryguetta

Banksy's first foray into filmmaking rattled crowds, and conventions, like a spray can. His collaboration, of sorts, with street artist Thierry Guetta resulted in an utterly incomprehensible visual assault. Over a thousand hours of footage were 'edited' down to produce this flickering ode to impatience. It's dizzying, disjointed and Banksy claims to hate every second. Under the alias Mr Brainwash, Guetta rips off everyone from Warhol to Banksy himself to make his millions- before disappearing back into the rabbit hole. The version found on the DVD extras originally ran to 90 minutes, before 'legal experts' reduced its duration by five-sixths. What remains is ostensibly a 'talking heads' documentary about street art, featuring the likes of Shepard Fairey and Malcolm McLaren, intercut with white noise and wildness. Surreal and strangely compelling, it's a shame it might all be a hoax.
 
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Contributor

Yorkshireman (hence the surname). Often spotted sacrificing sleep and sanity for the annual Leeds International Film Festival. For a sample of (fairly) recent film reviews, please visit whatsnottoblog.wordpress.com.