''American Utopia'' is a 2020 American

concert film A concert film, or concert movie, is a film that showcases a live performance from the perspective of a concert goer, the subject of which is an extended live performance or concert by either a musician or a stand-up comedian. Early history The ...

directed and produced by

Spike Lee Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, has produced more than 35 films since 1983. He made his directorial debut ...

, from a screenplay by

David Byrne David Byrne (; born 14 May 1952) is a Scottish-American singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, writer, music theorist, visual artist and filmmaker. He was a founding member and the principal songwriter, lead singer, and guitarist of ...

. The film is a live recording of a Broadway performance of the show adapted from the touring show that supported the album of the same name, featuring selections from that album, as well as songs from throughout Byrne's career. Byrne performs alongside eleven musicians, all performing with wireless or portable equipment. Frequent collaborator

Annie-B Parson Annie-B Parson is an American choreographer, dancer, and director based in Brooklyn, New York. Parson is notable for her work in dance/theater, post-modern dance, and art pop music. Parson is the Artistic Director of Brooklyn's Big Dance Theater ...

serves as choreographer. It had its world premiere at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival on September 10, 2020. The film received critical acclaim.

Cast

All provide percussion; all except Byrne provide backing vocals. *

– lead vocals, occasional guitar * Chris Giarmo – dancing, melodica * Tendayi Kuumba – dancing * Karl Mansfield – keyboards, musical director * Angie Swan – electric guitar * Bobby Wooten III – bass *

Mauro Refosco Mauro Refosco is a Brazilian percussionist. He is best known for working with singer David Byrne and as the former touring and session percussionist for the American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers. He is a member of the experimental supergrou ...

– drums, musical director * Tim Keiper – drums * Gustavo Di Dalva * Jacquelene Acevedo – drums * Daniel Freedman – drums * Stephane San Juan – drums

Songs

*"Here" (from ''

American Utopia ''American Utopia'' is the tenth studio album by Scottish-American rock musician David Byrne, released on March 9, 2018 through Todo Mundo and Nonesuch Records. The release is his first true solo studio album since 2004's ''Grown Backwards'', a ...

'') *"I Know Sometimes a Man Is Wrong" (from ''

Rei Momo ''Rei Momo'' is the debut solo album by David Byrne and second overall studio album (after the 1981 collaborative album ''My Life in the Bush of Ghosts (album), My Life in the Bush of Ghosts''), released on 3 October 1989. The album consists of d ...

'') *"Don't Worry About the Government" (from '' Talking Heads: 77'') *" Lazy" (from ''

Muzikizum ''Muzikizum'' is the debut studio album by X-Press 2. It was released on Skint Records in 2002. It features vocal contributions from David Byrne, Dieter Meier, and Steve Edwards. It peaked at number 15 on the UK Albums Chart. Critical recepti ...

'' by

X-Press 2 X-Press 2 are an English electronic dance music duo. The members are DJ Diesel (Darren House) and DJ Rocky (Darren Rock). Ashley Beedle left to pursue solo projects in 2009. They were DJ Award winners in 2002 and Ivor Novello winners in 20 ...

) *"

This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody) "This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)" is a song by new wave band Talking Heads. The closing track of its fifth studio album ''Speaking in Tongues'', it was released in November 1983 as the second and final studio single from the album; a live v ...

" (from ''

Speaking in Tongues Speaking in tongues, also known as glossolalia, is a practice in which people utter words or speech-like sounds, often thought by believers to be languages unknown to the speaker. One definition used by linguists is the fluid vocalizing of sp ...

'') *"

I Zimbra "I Zimbra" is a song by American new wave band Talking Heads, released as the second single from their 1979 album '' Fear of Music''. According to Sytze Steenstra in ''Song and Circumstance: The Work of David Byrne from Talking Heads to the Pres ...

" (from ''

Fear of Music ''Fear of Music'' is the third studio album by American rock band Talking Heads, released on August 3, 1979, by Sire Records. It was recorded at locations in New York City during April and May 1979 and was produced by Brian Eno and Talking Heads ...

'') *"Slippery People" (from ''Speaking in Tongues'') *"I Should Watch TV" (from ''

Love This Giant ''Love This Giant'' is a studio album made in collaboration between musicians David Byrne and St. Vincent (Annie Clark), released on 4AD and Todo Mundo on 10 September 10, 2012, in the United Kingdom and the following day in the United States. ...

'') *"Everybody's Coming to My House" (from ''American Utopia'') *" Once in a Lifetime" (from ''

Remain in Light ''Remain in Light'' is the fourth studio album by American rock band Talking Heads, released on October 8, 1980 by Sire Records. It was recorded at Compass Point Studios in the Bahamas and Sigma Sound Studios in Philadelphia during July and Augus ...

'') *"Glass, Concrete & Stone" (from ''

Grown Backwards ''Grown Backwards'' is the seventh studio album by musician David Byrne, released on March 16, 2004. Reception . In 2010, Byrne claimed in his book '' How Music Works'' it has sold 127,000 physical albums, 8,000 digital albums and 53,000 di ...

'') *" Toe Jam" (from ''

I Think We're Gonna Need a Bigger Boat ''I Think We're Gonna Need a Bigger Boat'' is the debut album of British electronic act The Brighton Port Authority. It was released on Southern Fried on 6 January 2009 exclusively on amazon.com, with a regular release on 3 February. The Bri ...

'' by

The Brighton Port Authority Norman Quentin Cook (born Quentin Leo Cook, 31 July 1963), also known by his stage name Fatboy Slim, is an English musician, DJ, and record producer who helped to popularise the big beat genre in the 1990s. In the 1980s, Cook was the bassist f ...

) *"

Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On) "Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On)" is the opening track of the Talking Heads 1980 album '' Remain in Light''. Background and composition The track has a prominent bassline and sets the funk tone of the album. A live rendition of the song w ...

" (from ''Remain in Light'') *"I Dance Like This" (from ''American Utopia'') *"Bullet" (from ''American Utopia'') *"Every Day Is a Miracle" (from ''American Utopia'') *" Blind" (from ''

Naked Nudity is the state of being in which a human is without clothing. The loss of body hair was one of the physical characteristics that marked the biological evolution of modern humans from their hominin ancestors. Adaptations related to h ...

'') *"

Burning Down the House "Burning Down the House" is a song by new wave band Talking Heads, released in July 1983 as the first single from their fifth studio album ''Speaking in Tongues''. Inspiration and composition "Burning Down the House" is a new wave and funk s ...

" (from ''Speaking in Tongues'') *"

Hell You Talmbout "Hell You Talmbout" is a 2015 protest song by Janelle Monáe and the members of her Wondaland artist collective, including Deep Cotton, George 2.0, Jidenna, Roman GianArthur, and St. Beauty. The word "talmbout" in the title is a contraction of ...

" (from ''

The Electric Lady ''The Electric Lady'' is the second studio album by American singer and songwriter Janelle Monáe, released on September 6, 2013, by Wondaland Arts Society, Bad Boy Records and Atlantic Records. It is the follow up to her critically acclaimed deb ...

'' by

Janelle Monáe Janelle Monáe Robinson (; born December 1, 1985) is an American singer, rapper and actress. She is signed to Atlantic Records, as well as to her own imprint, the Wondaland Arts Society. Monáe has received eight Grammy Award nominations. Mon� ...

) *"One Fine Day" (from ''

Everything That Happens Will Happen Today ''Everything That Happens Will Happen Today'' is the second collaborative studio album by David Byrne and Brian Eno, released on August 18, 2008, by Todo Mundo. Marking Byrne's eighth studio effort overall and Byrne a ...

'') *"

Road to Nowhere "Road to Nowhere" is a rock song written by David Byrne for the 1985 Talking Heads album ''Little Creatures''. It also appeared on '' Best of Talking Heads'', '' Sand in the Vaseline: Popular Favorites'', the ''Once in a Lifetime'' box set and t ...

" (from ''

Little Creatures ''Little Creatures'' is the sixth studio album by American rock band Talking Heads, released on June 10, 1985, by Sire Records. The album examines themes of Americana and incorporates elements of country music, with many songs featuring steel ...

'') *"Everybody's Coming to My House: Detroit" (End Credits)

Production

In June 2020, it was announced

had directed a filmed version of the Broadway performance ''

'' by

, with

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

distributing.

Release

The film had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 10, 2020. It screened at the

New York Film Festival The New York Film Festival (NYFF) is a film festival held every fall in New York City, presented by Film at Lincoln Center (FLC). Founded in 1963 by Richard Roud and Amos Vogel with the support of Lincoln Center president William Schuman, it is ...

on October 3, 2020, and the

BFI London Film Festival The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival founded in 1957 and held in the United Kingdom, running for two weeks in October with co-operation from the British Film Institute. It screens more than 300 films, documentaries and shor ...

on October 14, 2020. It was broadcast in the United States and Canada on

and made available for streaming through

HBO Max HBO Max is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in the United States on May 27, 2020, the service is built around the libraries of HBO, Warner Bros., Cartoon Netw ...

(U.S.) and Crave (Canada) on October 17, 2020.

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

distributes the film in all other countries. The film received a

limited theatrical release __FORCETOC__ Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few theaters across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...

in the United States throughout September 2021.

Reception

''American Utopia'' received critical acclaim. It holds approval rating on review aggregator website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, based on reviews, with an average of . The site's critical consensus reads, "Helmed in elegant and exhilarating style by Spike Lee, ''David Byrne's American Utopia'' is a concert film that doubles as a joyously cathartic celebration." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, the film holds a rating of 93 out of 100, based on 28 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Erik Adams of ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

'' devotes a lengthy review to ''American Utopia'' as "the right movie for 2020", noting how Byrne balances hope in a tumultuous world, writing, "The key to ''American Utopia''s resonance isn’t so much one of joy versus despair as it is connection versus isolation".

Accolades

References

External links

* {{Special Tony Award 2020 films American documentary films American rock music films Concert films Films set in a theatre Documentary films about Broadway theatre Films directed by Spike Lee Participant (company) films HBO Films films Universal Pictures films Special Tony Award recipients 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks films 2020s English-language films 2020s American films