Terribly Happy to Exit Through the Gift Shop

EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP is another example of "life is stranger than fiction." This film documentary starts out as the story of an eccentric obsessed video-taker who decides he needs to film street (graffiti) "artists" but he does nothing with his film except store it in giant bins. By the end the film becomes turned around to become a film about the value of art itself, and the fickleness of the value of "modern-art." There's a lot of funny lines and humorous sight gags as various street artists including the amusing initial videographer discuss the legitimacy of their efforts. The surprising turn of events are truly astounding. What starts as a jittery, hand held, amateurish film becomes quite slick and engrossing and funny as it progresses, and in spite of some pathetic and flabbergasting developments, it is entertainingly optimistic. GRADE---B+


Screened last spring at SIFF is the odd-ball Danish film called TERRIBLY HAPPY, which plays like a mild version of TWIN PEAKS by way of Stephen King and plotted with film noir cliches, with enough tension to keep you on your toes. When the new cop comes to the small town, he seems to be baited by characters who want to seduce him, deceive him and keep him as one of their pets. He soon becomes involved with the wife of an apparent wife and child abuser, but no one else in town seems to want to verify this information. There's obviously something weird about this town. The film is watchable and doesn't bore, but by the end I found myself in a shoulder shrug about the cop's future. GRADE----B-