8/12/2023 0 Comments American utopia runtime![]() ![]() Aptly described by filmmaker Alex Ross Perry as “the first time that anything so stridently resembling raw footage has been packaged and assembled as a commercially available film,” Hopper/Welles is a slates-included portrait of Welles directing Hopper on the night he made that comment, shooting relatively simple black-and-white setups in a loose and improvisational manner devised specifically for Other Side. Orson Welles’ The Other Side of the Wind (2018), produced throughout the 70s then completed and released long after his death, features a very brief close-up of Dennis Hopper talking about how he’d like to get “John Wayne’s audience” into his movies. “Directed by Orson Welles.” US, 2020, 130 minutes. Image from Hopper/Welles, courtesy the filmmakers Hopper/Welles Now available with subscription on HBO Max. ![]() Although unexpected, Lee and Byrne are a rare creative match, and their collaboration is a joy to witness. Byrne performs songs from his 2018 album American Utopia alongside newly arranged Talking Heads hits, as well as a booming cover of Janelle Monáe’s protest song “Hell You Talmbout.” Lee’s camera, so often bold and intrusive in his other work, closely follows the rhythm set by Byrne and his barefoot, gray-suited band members as they move across the stage. The show itself is an exuberant celebration of unity in the face of common struggle, with little nostalgia to be found. How do you make a concert documentary about David Byrne without falling into the shadows cast by Stop Making Sense (1984) ? Spike Lee finds a way with American Utopia, which captures Byrne’s sparsely staged and invigoratingly choreographed Broadway performance of the same name from its 2019-2020 run at the Hudson Theatre. David Byrne’s American Utopiaĭirected by Spike Lee. The following reviews cover films played in the Currents and Spotlight programs. Our first report on the 2020 New York Film Festival covered the Main Slate program. ![]() Image from American Utopia, courtesy HBO ![]()
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