David Byrne’s American Utopia – American Utopia (2020)

Directed by: Spike Lee | 105 minutes | documentary, music | Starring: David Byrne, Karl Mansfield, Mauro Refosco, Stephane San Juan, Angie Swan, Bobby Wooten III, Tendayi Kuumba, Tim Keiper, Chris Giarmo, Jacqueline Acevedo, Gustavo Di Dalva, Daniel Freedman

Louis van Gaal was once a Summer guest, where he made short work of the romance of the movie ‘Titanic’ in a characteristic way. The incident came to your mind after the opening scene of the concert registration ‘David Byrne’s American Utopia’: soulful music, and a man in socks holding a replica of the human brain. Interesting combination.

The music of Byrne or Talking Heads has enormous depth, such as the love song ‘This Must Be The Place’ played here. Yet Byrne once again looks like an autistic engineer of the arts. ‘Who are these people?’ he says jokingly to the audience. He can perform, our out-of-the-box thinker on duty.

Of course, Byrne is not the only eccentric with great abilities in the annals of pop music. It can also be said of Bob Dylan, Patti Smith and Lou Reed that they were not born for regular interpersonal interactions. On a stage they can be themselves, and the viewer feels that.

‘The Pope don’t mean a thing to a dog’. Come on. Artists are the gods who lead us into a world without God. They talk to us through the fourth wall, which should not be broken. Then Byrne cs often turn out to be grumpy gentlemen or ladies with an ugly dog, and we are already that.

‘David Byrne’s American Utopia’ is pure performance art in a Broadway theatre, with postmodern brass band musicians, dancers and monologues. Byrne is dressed like a villain from a Cold War Bond film, conjuring one perfect song after another from his shirtsleeves, as well as a glowing slice of anti-racial activism. If this is not enjoyable?

Talking Heads fans can make their year with it. But what does Byrne want to offer the general public? Elegance in the form of work and personality, accurately portrayed. Essentially a concert registration, directed by Spike Lee – a recognized music lover, but not a specialist in the genre. You don’t have to, it’s a perfect labor of love.