New Town Utopia

Anyone coming to this intriguing documentary should be aware that it has a big agenda: it's very much from a socialist viewpoint, and most of its contributors are from an artistic background.

There's nothing necessarily wrong with this of course, but it does mean that we don't get a complete portrait of Basildon or of its origins. Its origins were in the post-war era, and all we get of the thinking behind it is Jim Broadbent voicing MP Lewis Silkin's speeches of the time - he was partly responsible for town planning in the 1945 Labour government. There are no architects interviewed, virtually no one of a pro-free market disposition and barely any 'ordinary' families, who constitute the majority of Basildon's population.

Mrs Thatcher comes under attack, predictably. Council house sales are blamed for destroying community cohesion and disadvantaging the poor. There are various problems with this outlook: firstly, the people in those now ex-council houses continued to live there, by and large, so why would that change the neighbourhood? If not enough council houses were built after that, that was a separate problem, not the fault of council house sales (something that empowered people and made them feel a greater sense of personal responsibility). The film does not look at other reasons why communities might have fragmented and have 'kids not playing in the streets any more', which could include: warmer, more comfortable houses; greater technology that in many cases - the internet, the iPhone, videogames - encourage people to stay inside more; high immigration (although Basildon has largely escaped this phenomenon - indeed, the town has been a recipient of some of the 'white flight' from London); more travelling, which comes with greater wealth.

Some of the people interviewed have good points, some are moaning minnies (as Mrs T might have said). A few are real gloom buckets, but your words can sound especially gloomy when played alongside mournful music and shots of run down shopping centres and factories (again, there are no other suggestions for why this has happened, how the internet has made us do more of our shopping online, or how globalisation has seen some factory work go abroad, because markets there are greatly developing).

Many artists have an unrealistic idea of their importance in the real world; that is illustrated here. Art is vitally important, of course - it helps us realise we are not alone in our human suffering - but aspects of commerce are far more important in most people's daily lives.

It is capitalism that makes it vastly more likely that there will be a more vibrant arts scene, because as wealth grows (which it tends to do under capitalism) people have more money, and usually more time, to spend on leisure activities, things that are not 'essential' for everyday survival. It is socialist societies that have far less in the way of culture and colourful art. I imagine those living in Soviet tower blocks for most of their existence would look with envy to places like Basildon. Artists are far more likely to thrive in a capitalist land rather than a socialist one, but many seem not to realise that.

New Town Utopia does feature some good photography - parts of it are reminiscent of Patrick Keiller's 'Robinson' trilogy - and I have no doubt that, like Keiller's films, it will gain a period charm in the future. But like Keiller's work it is also somewhat narrow-minded, overly leftist in its diagnosis of Britain's problems, and too pessimistic.

Still, it's a thought-provoking watch.

The planned community is no new concept, rather New Town Utopia focuses on one of the 10 new settlements planned in the UK in the years following WW2, and one of the most notorious, Basildon in Essex. Clement Attlee's Labour government that took power in 1945 carried the aspirations to build a better future out of the ruins, to create new spaces out of the tightly packed, bomb-wrecked and polluted Victorian terraces of the big cities, to give the working class better housing, access to employment, leisure and clean air, and opportunities for the children that became who are now referred to as the 'boomer' generation. 70 years on from Basildon's designation as New Town, this film looks back at a town that started so well but along with fellow new town Harlow, is considered now one of the less desirable places in Essex in which to live.

I was inspired to watch New Town Utopia after reading 'Just Can't Get Enough: The Making of Depeche Mode' by Simon Spence, an account of Basildon's most famous sons focusing especially on their early years in the town. DM are the same age as many of those interviewed here, which includes their friend and contemporary synth musician, Robert Marlow, as well as others involved in the artistic and political scene in the town. The film is somewhat political, in that it focuses on the hypothesis that Basildon was a socialist labour-voting paradise up until 1979, where the east end of London successfully re-created their tight-knit communities, with secure and plentiful employment, much in the way of social and community activity, and modern, futuristic architecture. 1979 saw Thatcher's Conservative government became the Basildonians choice, giving residents the right to buy their council housing, started a divide of what was a harmoniously uniform population, cut the budget for community facilities deemed luxuries, and a steep rise in unemployment, as the factories could not employ both their parents and their children, now that they were leaving school. Basildon developed a reputation as the kind of place where to catch someone's eye walking into a pub, or to walk home in trendy clothing would be to invite violence upon yourself; a look at the local news now would give the impression that the town contains all of London's social problems that Basildon was supposed to be an relief from.

This is a beautifully shot documentary but with a tinge of sadness, giving the viewer a feel of seeing a childhood home of happy memories gone into steep decline. We feel the disillusion of those in the arts and music scene that remained in Basildon, though I rather missed other voices, those of a younger generation or those that did proudly vote for Thatcher in the 80s, though it's questionable who would be satisfied with how Basildon developed over these last 40 years. Despite the neglect and signs of age, there is still a beauty to be seen in the spacious, green neighbourhoods, and there is clearly something about Basildon that has given the interviewees reason to want to remain in the town and do what they can to enrichen the lives of the residents through music and art.

Not the story of New Towns as I expected, more a film focusing on the birth, growing and ageing of Basildon, and like an ode to a hometown, one that points out plenty of faults, but one made with much love.

I love how these corporations continue to feed a socialist comcept yet wont support it because theyre not vested. They give the impression of equality and as soon as the worker exhibits what hes made to feel he had, power, they leave the immediately. One day they'll figure out communism was supposed to be a system ran by the proletariat, not the share holders! A beautiful idea that shows a tragic reccurance.

A truly real film that has a host of people who were actually there during the days when Basildon's reputation as an award-winning London over spill town was fading and its creativity flourished. I should know, I was there too. Not overtly political, it doesn't need to be. The failings of the 'Alcatraz' estate and the town centre now faded to charity shop drabness speak volumes. The nostalgia comes from people in the centre and on the fringes of the flourishing music and art scene in the town, many of whom have stayed in or near the town (I didn't, the Norfolk coast and countryside drew me away). Triumph out of adversity? Surviving by any means necessary? Maybe a bit of both makes Basildon and it's people special. This film reflects that and I enjoyed every minute. I thoroughly recommend it to you.

I came to New Town Utopia after reading Peter Bradshaw's 4-star review in The Guardian. It's a beautifully shot, sad but also at times inspirational film about the power of the creative spirit and the sad story of our towns... I'm going to watch it again now...