What happened when we built Utopia? New Town Utopia is feature documentary about the power of art, architecture, the state of the nation - and some rather angry puppets.What happened when we built Utopia? New Town Utopia is feature documentary about the power of art, architecture, the state of the nation - and some rather angry puppets.What happened when we built Utopia? New Town Utopia is feature documentary about the power of art, architecture, the state of the nation - and some rather angry puppets.
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- C.I. Smith(attached)
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Featured review
Our Towns Must Be Beautiful...
The planned community is no new concept, rather New Town Utopia focuses on one of the 10 new settlements planned in the UK in the years following WW2, and one of the most notorious, Basildon in Essex. Clement Attlee's Labour government that took power in 1945 carried the aspirations to build a better future out of the ruins, to create new spaces out of the tightly packed, bomb-wrecked and polluted Victorian terraces of the big cities, to give the working class better housing, access to employment, leisure and clean air, and opportunities for the children that became who are now referred to as the 'boomer' generation. 70 years on from Basildon's designation as New Town, this film looks back at a town that started so well but along with fellow new town Harlow, is considered now one of the less desirable places in Essex in which to live.
I was inspired to watch New Town Utopia after reading 'Just Can't Get Enough: The Making of Depeche Mode' by Simon Spence, an account of Basildon's most famous sons focusing especially on their early years in the town. DM are the same age as many of those interviewed here, which includes their friend and contemporary synth musician, Robert Marlow, as well as others involved in the artistic and political scene in the town. The film is somewhat political, in that it focuses on the hypothesis that Basildon was a socialist labour-voting paradise up until 1979, where the east end of London successfully re-created their tight-knit communities, with secure and plentiful employment, much in the way of social and community activity, and modern, futuristic architecture. 1979 saw Thatcher's Conservative government became the Basildonians choice, giving residents the right to buy their council housing, started a divide of what was a harmoniously uniform population, cut the budget for community facilities deemed luxuries, and a steep rise in unemployment, as the factories could not employ both their parents and their children, now that they were leaving school. Basildon developed a reputation as the kind of place where to catch someone's eye walking into a pub, or to walk home in trendy clothing would be to invite violence upon yourself; a look at the local news now would give the impression that the town contains all of London's social problems that Basildon was supposed to be an relief from.
This is a beautifully shot documentary but with a tinge of sadness, giving the viewer a feel of seeing a childhood home of happy memories gone into steep decline. We feel the disillusion of those in the arts and music scene that remained in Basildon, though I rather missed other voices, those of a younger generation or those that did proudly vote for Thatcher in the 80s, though it's questionable who would be satisfied with how Basildon developed over these last 40 years. Despite the neglect and signs of age, there is still a beauty to be seen in the spacious, green neighbourhoods, and there is clearly something about Basildon that has given the interviewees reason to want to remain in the town and do what they can to enrichen the lives of the residents through music and art.
Not the story of New Towns as I expected, more a film focusing on the birth, growing and ageing of Basildon, and like an ode to a hometown, one that points out plenty of faults, but one made with much love.
I was inspired to watch New Town Utopia after reading 'Just Can't Get Enough: The Making of Depeche Mode' by Simon Spence, an account of Basildon's most famous sons focusing especially on their early years in the town. DM are the same age as many of those interviewed here, which includes their friend and contemporary synth musician, Robert Marlow, as well as others involved in the artistic and political scene in the town. The film is somewhat political, in that it focuses on the hypothesis that Basildon was a socialist labour-voting paradise up until 1979, where the east end of London successfully re-created their tight-knit communities, with secure and plentiful employment, much in the way of social and community activity, and modern, futuristic architecture. 1979 saw Thatcher's Conservative government became the Basildonians choice, giving residents the right to buy their council housing, started a divide of what was a harmoniously uniform population, cut the budget for community facilities deemed luxuries, and a steep rise in unemployment, as the factories could not employ both their parents and their children, now that they were leaving school. Basildon developed a reputation as the kind of place where to catch someone's eye walking into a pub, or to walk home in trendy clothing would be to invite violence upon yourself; a look at the local news now would give the impression that the town contains all of London's social problems that Basildon was supposed to be an relief from.
This is a beautifully shot documentary but with a tinge of sadness, giving the viewer a feel of seeing a childhood home of happy memories gone into steep decline. We feel the disillusion of those in the arts and music scene that remained in Basildon, though I rather missed other voices, those of a younger generation or those that did proudly vote for Thatcher in the 80s, though it's questionable who would be satisfied with how Basildon developed over these last 40 years. Despite the neglect and signs of age, there is still a beauty to be seen in the spacious, green neighbourhoods, and there is clearly something about Basildon that has given the interviewees reason to want to remain in the town and do what they can to enrichen the lives of the residents through music and art.
Not the story of New Towns as I expected, more a film focusing on the birth, growing and ageing of Basildon, and like an ode to a hometown, one that points out plenty of faults, but one made with much love.
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- jim_skreech
- Nov 27, 2021
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- Gross worldwide
- $14,793
- Runtime1 hour 20 minutes
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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