David Byrne's American Utopia

This year's concert documentary AMERICAN UTOPIA is undiluted joy.  The raves were coming fast soon after its debut at the Toronto Film Festival in September and HBO shortly after.  Fully warranted.  I've been a fan of front man/mastermind David Byrne since the early '80s, when I discovered the polyrhythms of his band Talking Heads.  In 1985, I purchased the VHS of the Heads' STOP MAKING SENSE, directed by Jonathan Demme.  It became an instant favorite, an obsession that continues to present day.  It was and is the most perfect concert film I've seen.  Ninety minutes of right on choices from all concerned.  One in which even a narrative could be discerned.

American Utopia is Byrne's tenth solo album, his first in many years.  As he states during this film, shot at the Hudson Theater on Broadway in NYC last year, he'd grown up a bit by that time.  Desired to be kinder to his fellow man.  You probably know that he has steadfastly refused to join the other former Heads for a much coveted reunion.  He feels that such things are a step backward, mere nostalgia.  Byrne's current set does include many TH songs, but I digress.  If you believe the words of drummer Chris Frantz and bassist Tina Weymouth, Byrne was not the most accessible or gracious person, then or now.  On Frantz's Facebook page and in his book Remain In Love, Tom Tom Club, Tina, there's some thinly veiled bitterness.  I suppose it's all he said/she said, and whatever the truth I believe Byrne when he says he wants to be a better person.  He seems sincere.  Even if he isn't, he's still a genius.

Spike Lee lends his direction and as many have pointed out it, is unobtrusive and spare, though there are a few shots that directly reference the late Demme's film.   The unique stage design -  a void bordered by metallic curtains - is vintage Byrne.  He's never been much for props (excepting that famous Big Suit).  Here he and his musicians, who sport plain but elegant grey suits and go barefoot, are the only focus, "what you want to see, not things."  He creates a tribe onstage, free spirits with carefully lit and orchestrated moves as they play their portable instruments.  The theme is neural connection.  Byrne describes how we lose those billions of neurons as we age.  Use only the ones that suit our interests and survival.  He argues that we need to get many of them back.

I was surprised by how many Heads songs were performed -  "This Must be the Place", "Once in a Lifetime", "Burning Down the House"  and others.  Just hearing the first notes of them quickens the pulse of any fan.  Byrne's solo material is also reinterpreted in a fashion that must have been gangbusters to see/hear live, and Spike translates it all to cinematic excitement as well.   The director does put his unmistakable stamp on the film during "Hell You Talmbout", as the names and images of several deceased African Americans are displayed, some with their mother holding their pictures.  Always powerful, and always necessary to remind us of the horrific injustice that continues.

Is AMERICAN UTOPIA as good/better than STOP MAKING SENSE?  I could compare point by point, but I rather see it as maybe the same movie, one in which we see two stages of an artist.  One who has evolved into a wise(r) soul for wear.  Who can no longer merely be clever.  He has a voice, and his partnership with Lee makes all the more sense for it.  As my friend pointed out, Mr. Demme would have roundly approved of this project.