We live in unimaginable times. And yet there were many who were able to foresee this future, this current new world, long before it happened. Among them singer/songwriter/artist and all around renaissance man David Byrne and the American national treasure that is Spike Lee. Because let’s face it, you may disagree with Lee on some things, or may require more time and several viewings for his films to properly get under your skin as they are meant to do, but you can’t deny his majestic vision, craft and cinematic power.
When ‘David Byrne’s American Utopia’ drops on HBO this October 17th, you really need to watch it. It is an exciting mixture of grandiose performances by 12 brilliant and culturally diverse artists dressed in basic grey suits, performing barefoot, armored with instruments and incredible talent who manage to hold the audience’s attention for a whole 105 minutes. And, at the end of it, you’ll feel like you went through the entire history of America, its constitution, our civil rights struggles, the current social and economic challenges, voting rights (and duties), climate change and more — and came out holding proudly the American flag. Because to those who declare in the media “the U.S. is dead” Lee and Byrne answer perfectly with ‘American Utopia’: Nope, it ain’t. America is just reinventing itself as it has done for hundreds of years. It was, is and always will be America the Great, the home of the brave, land of the free and the most imperfectly wonderful country in the world. And, like a beautiful, powerful, intelligent woman, its enemies are plenty but her vigor and resources are practically endless. If you hold an American passport, the world is still yours to explore and the more jealous naysayers you’ve collected, the more truthful my statement becomes.
I speak from personal experience of course.
From the moment the film kicks off, with the logo of the original sold-out Broadway show which played at the Hudson Theater from October of 2019 to February of 2020, as a viewer you know you’re in for an experience like no other. “Utopia” is spelled upside down and through his show, and Lee’s film, Byrne shows us a world where nothing is what it seems and everything is about the power of humanity. A simple stroke of lighting even changes the colors of the stage and costumes, and our perspective in the process.
‘David Byrne’s American Utopia’ image by David Lee ©, courtesy of HBO
‘American Utopia’ was one of the last Broadway shows to be performed live in early 2020, before the Great White Way went into total lockdown, with little hope of those lights being turned back on in the foreseeable future. Theater, musical performances will be the last to recuperate from this tragedy and certainly many performers and their message will be lost. That’s why Lee’s capturing of this magical moment feels prophetic, as does Byrne’s lesson. We’ve all been barefoot and dressed in figurative grey, living in spaces that feel small and boxed in since March of this year, let’s face it. And seeing a group of a dozen performers make such color and joie de vivre out of these pandemic uniforms and space personally gave me a lot of hope. Lee’s cameras are positioned overhead, to the sides, up front and center, handled by as many camera operators as there are performers, and including renowned DoPs like Declan Quinn, of ‘Leaving Las Vegas’ and Sam Levy of ‘Lady Bird’. They are also shined directly onto the faces of the performers and I had to catch my breath a few times — from the surge of admiration I felt at how masterfully Lee and his crew captured the art of this performance. Now that it feels like it has been captured for posterity, that truth only adds more heartfelt sentiments to this already powerful show.
Throughout, Byrne leads his performers like a wise preacher, but someone more like Bob Dylan when he decided to turn to Christianity and began writing sermons, than an everyday Evangelist. If you need a refresher on that period in the Nobel prize winner’s life, there is a strange but good film starring Michael Shannon reading Dylan’s sermons and it’s called ‘Trouble No More’.
As a great religious leader, whose religion is clearly humanity, Byrne teaches, leads and remains in control for the entire film. He urges people to register to vote — during the performances of ‘American Utopia’ a table was set up in the lobby of the Hudson so people could do so after the show. He also points the finger to a racist America which killed its Black brothers and sisters long before our current president came into office. And despite the already present #BLM movement and its predecessors during those years, the same America that did nothing about it, death after senseless death. Set to Janelle Monáe’s “Hell You Talmbout'' and featuring the photos of victims of police brutality like George Floyd, Breanna Taylor but also Amadou Diallo and Trayvon Martin, it makes for a powerful, heartbreaking moment in the film.
Byrne also references the power of immigrants, like many of us he is a naturalized American himself (he came to the U.S. as a child with his parents, from Scotland) and quotes the great late James Baldwin with his haunting credo, “I believe we can still do with this country something that hasn’t been done before.” American Utopia indeed!
There are plenty more layers to discover in ‘American Utopia’ — not least of which is the fantastic use of David Byrne’s music, and singalong songs for the MTV generation to create a fully rounded story about life in America and beyond. In fact, if you watch a Broadway show simply for the music, there is plenty of that in ‘American Utopia’, starting with original songs from the album by the same name, to Talking Heads classics like “This Must Be the Place”, “Road to Nowhere” and “Once in a Lifetime”. And to listen to Byrne sing and speak throughout, in all his spellbinding charisma, makes the television event seem like an early Christmas and Hanukkah present.
But the final point that Lee makes, with the help of Byrne’s narrative, is one that left me in tears and made all the hairs on my arms stand on end. Towards the beginning of the film, Byrne talks about the song “Everybody’s Coming to my House” co-written with Brian Eno and how for him it’s always been a song about “wondering when all those people will leave.” Yet a youth choir in Detroit managed to make turn the song into one about inclusion, without changing a single lyric or note. We, as an audience, listen to his tale and the song, sung by Byrne and company, only to forget about it, overwhelmed with all the other wisdoms that we’re faced with. But at the very end, Lee reminds us, plays us the choir’s rendition and shows us the way to the future, even in the titles. It’s a moment that haunts me more than a week after viewing the film.
So, if you need hope, and a way to find the courage to go on, do watch ‘David Byrne’s American Utopia’ on HBO starting on October 17th and keep repeating the mantra “David Byrne for President and Spike Lee for Vice-President” with me. Inshallah, this American Utopia isn’t such a long way away. America is reinventing itself once again and artists and performers are the leaders and prophets of this movement. Tune into HBO or stream it on HBO Max, and don’t forget to register to vote to find out how.