''New Town Utopia'' is a 2018 documentary feature film about the British new town experiment. It is an alternative social history of the

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

town of

Basildon Basildon ( ) is a town in Borough of Basildon, the borough of the same name, in the county of Essex, England. It had a recorded population of 115,955 at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census. In 1931, the town had a population of 1,159. ...

, including interviews and performances from artists, poets and musicians of the town.

Plot

The poetic narrative of the film explores topics including: the flawed utopian ambition of post-war planning and design, social housing and the impact of Thatcher's right-to-buy policy; the neglect of creative and cultural facilities by national and local government; and the demonisation of working-class people by the British media.

Release

''New Town Utopia'' was released theatrically the UK on 4 May 2018. It was directed by British filmmaker Christopher Ian Smith and executive produced by Margaret Matheson ( ''Scum'', ''

Sid and Nancy ''Sid and Nancy'' (also known as ''Sid and Nancy: Love Kills'') is a 1986 British biographical film directed by Alex Cox, co-written with Abbe Wool, and starring Gary Oldman and Chloe Webb. The film portrays the life of Sid Vicious, bassist of ...

'', ''Sleep Furiously''). It features actor

Jim Broadbent James Broadbent (born 24 May 1949) is an English actor. A graduate of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in 1972, he came to prominence as a character actor for his many roles in film and television. He has received various accolades ...

( ''Iris'', ''

Topsy-Turvy ''Topsy-Turvy'' is a 1999 British musical period drama film written and directed by Mike Leigh, starring Jim Broadbent as W. S. Gilbert and Allan Corduner as Sir Arthur Sullivan, along with Timothy Spall, Lesley Manville and Ron Cook. T ...

'', ''

Moulin Rouge! ''Moulin Rouge!'' (, ) is a 2001 jukebox musical romantic drama film directed, produced, and co-written by Baz Luhrmann. It follows an English poet, Christian, who falls in love with the star of the Moulin Rouge, cabaret actress and courtesan ...

'') as the voice of Lewis Silkin MP. Hippy Joe Hymas of the band

Hayseed Dixie Hayseed Dixie is an American band formed in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2000. Their first album was '' A Hillbilly Tribute to AC/DC''. The band performs bluegrass cover versions of hard rock songs and also original songs of a mostly satirical or ab ...

also features.

Reception

It was well received by critics and audiences. It has Fresh rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, 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 ...

. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'''s

Peter Bradshaw Peter Nicholas Bradshaw (born 19 June 1962) is a British writer and film critic. He has been chief film critic at ''The Guardian'' since 1999, and is a contributing editor at ''Esquire'' magazine. Early life and education Bradshaw was educat ...

called it an "Unapologetically upbeat film in which utopianism is taken unexpectedly seriously. Absorbing and heartening." ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' review said it was "Consistently fascinating, unfolds like a warning from history'.

Cast

*Terry Bird *

Vincent O'Connell Vincent O'Connell is a British filmmaker and writer of films, theatre, television and radio drama. His films as director include the 1995 film ''Skin'', starring Ewen Bremner, written by Sarah Kane, and his 2000 film, ''Beyond the Boundary'', which ...

*Joe Morgan *Ralph Dartford *Sue Ryder Paget *Mike Parker *Kath Joyce-Banks *Shaun Badham *Vin Harrop *Penny Betteridge *Rob Marlow *Tim Williams *Pat Joyce *Stuart Brown *Phil Burdett *Richard Lee *Richard Hawkins *Marc Barnacle *Ölmo Lazarus *Steve Waters *Barry Hayes * ”Hippy” Joe Hymas

References

External links

* * {{IMDb title, tt3424722
New Town Utopia on Rotten Tomatoes
British documentary films 2018 documentary films 2018 films 2010s English-language films 2010s British films English-language documentary films