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Utopia

Started by Demolition Squid, October 24, 2013, 12:17:29 PM

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Demolition Squid



So I forget if I raved about this when it first appeared on the TV earlier this year, but my DVD arrived today and I'm rewatching the series so I thought I'd post up about it.

Utopia was a Channel 4 thriller released in 2013. It starts off with some grotesque murders, by people seeming to be after a comic book. The comic book is called 'The Utopia Xperiments', and is the work of a paranoid schizophrenic which has attracted a cult underground following.

As the plot unfolds, it becomes obvious there is a lot more to the book than there first seems. A shadowy para-governmental organization is working hard to recover the lost manuscript for the second part of it, and nobody knows why (at first). They are using and abusing the surveillance tech endemic to Britain to find it. They have infiltrated the government, and this is all somehow related to the purchase and distribution of a Russian flu vaccine...

Utopia showcases the potential abuses of power, including a truly hard-to-watch torture scene. It shows what it would be like to be an ordinary person unfairly accused of terrorism, what sort of measures could be used if a small faction within the state were determined to put a plan into action...

And most brilliantly of all, as the series unfolds and the reason why all of this madness has been unleashed becomes clear, it isn't just because 'government is evil' or 'authority is bad'. It isn't obvious, and I don't want to spoil the fantastic twists and turns (right up to the last episode) for people who haven't seen it... but every character has a reason for doing what they do, and that motivation is entirely believable within the broader context of the show.

I really can't recommend this series enough. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to be available in the United States, but if you have a region-free DVD player, the UK DVD is http://www.amazon.co.uk/Utopia-DVD-Alexandra-Roach/dp/B00APGRPBQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1382613419&sr=8-1&keywords=utopia
Vast and Roaring Nipplebeast from the Dawn of Soho

Faust

Excellent. Looking forward to watching that this evening.
Sleepless nights at the chateau

Cain

#2
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LMNO

It would be cool if it was on Netflix, but I strongly doubt it.

Faust

Quote from: LMNO, PhD (life continues) on October 24, 2013, 02:43:11 PM
It would be cool if it was on Netflix, but I strongly doubt it.

It's not but there's some good BBC stuff on it. Check out Luthor, and The fades.
Sleepless nights at the chateau

Cain

#5
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LMNO

I will check that when I get home.  Thanks!

Cain

#7
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LMNO

If I can find somewhere with good quality video and passable streaming, I'll give it a shot.

Demolition Squid

I finished rewatching the first half of the series just now.

I forgot just how great the colors and music are in this. Everything veers between this washed-out, drab color in the cities and interior shots (which is basically how I always imagine London, as though a lot of the color has been leeched out by the rain), and wild, oversaturated countryside which works brilliantly with the returning theme of the comic book.

And the sound. I really want to get hold of the soundtrack to this for writing to. Bizarre and discordant, but just jaunty and energetic enough to feel somehow... bombastic. It lends a surreal air to a lot of the exposition which, were it taken away, would make everything feel a heck of a lot more clumsy instead of the frantic, nightmare atmosphere they actually manage to evoke.

Oh hey, they did make a soundtrack album! Gonna order that now.

For a sample, the themetune: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2f6MfEzhvo
Vast and Roaring Nipplebeast from the Dawn of Soho

Faust

Finished the First season just now.

As you said, it's beautifully shot, every scene is absolutely gorgeous. The acting is decent and RB is fucking terrifying as the pursuing killer. Fucking hell it was hard to watch though, I was chewing my nails for the whole thing. It fits with the all pervasive conspiracy and bleak no hope for anyone themes but I needed to go make a cup of tea and have a good cry in between each episode.

I loved it right up to the last minute of the show, when I realised it wasn't going to resolve and was going to set up a second season.
I wonder where it will go from here.

The Comic in the show was stunning, I wasn't sure if it was Ben Templesmith (and others) who drew it but it sure looked like him.
What I'm wondering and this is a spoiler for those who haven't watched it....

... But I wonder if the virus was actually a sterilisation and not something connected to the eyeless nightmare creatures from the comic and Jessica's dream. I'll be interested in watching the second season, even if it's so goddam tense.
Sleepless nights at the chateau

Demolition Squid

See, I didn't think the series needed a sequel at all, and I was surprised they have commissioned one.

I'm going to watch the heck out of it anyway, even if just because it is likely to be beautiful to look at... but I don't feel like they need to expand on the first season's story at all. I'd probably prefer they fade to black on that one and start another story with similar themes.

They've also been saying -  'a second season of Utopia, set in that world' rather than definitely confirming a return of the same characters, so I might not be far off the mark there.

(Sorry for the super belated reply on this - I have been bizarrely busy the past week.)
Vast and Roaring Nipplebeast from the Dawn of Soho

Cain

Utopia's second season aired its first episode last night.

I've not yet caught up, but I do know it has something to do with the assassination of Airey Neave.  Lots of people are up in arms about this, because it "defames" the memory of Neave, but they're being just a little shrill.  Some quite respected people in the UK, such as Enoch Powell (ok, maybe not "respected" as such...establishment, perhaps) have suggested he was murdered by the Americans, and the Irish investigative journalist has suggested the security services were responsible, as Neave was preparing a massive shakeup in how they worked.

And even if the INLA were the responsible party...let's not forget there were quite a few British agents within their ranks.  So it's not entirely beyond the realm of possibility.

Faust

This is back? Excellent, something to look forward to watching Later.

People are being too sensitive it's a show based entirely on conspiracy theory, and it doesn't sound like the Airey Neave one is new.
Sleepless nights at the chateau

Cain

Nope, it's not.

I can understand why his family would be upset over such things...but not so much everyone else.  Personally, I would've created a fictional character who was obviously a stand-in for Neave but never stated as such, for the family's sake.  But then Utopia has never exactly shyed from controversy, has it?