This documentary follows the true story of Banksy, a well known street artist, whose art makes a revolution in San Francisco during his visit in 2010, as his art attracts the public.
Zbigniew Herbert's poetic prophecy of a rat becoming a unit of currency plays out in Colin M. Day's documentary Saving Banksy, which considers the tensions between street artists and their wealthy collectors.
Day's debut succeeds in part thanks to its modest scope, viewing the street-art phenomenon through an attempt to rescue one of its highly perishable creations for the public good ...
The interviews with street artists about the ethics of making art and taking art become the true subject... and a small, spirited conversation with graffiti artists and other passionate voices. The museum curators on view, not so much.
Characters ranging from the benighted to the unsavory to the perfectly slimy populate the film, alongside the only figures who really have anything of substance to say: the artists themselves.
The film grapples with the complicated issue of unsanctioned Banksy auctions, but it does so in a way that tends to oversimplify the motives of everyone involved.
Not a patch on its conceptually oriented precursor Exit Through the Gift Shop, so long as the subject of filmmaking is avoided, this should spark lively debate on the drive home.
