What Is Utopian Film? An Introductory Taxonomy

Abstract

What is a utopian film? Unlike the musical or the western, or the science fiction film, there is no accepted body of utopian films and no accepted definition. In fact, few films come to mind when the subject is raised. Accordingly I will not concentrate on defining the utopian genre (but see Shelton 1993), for definitions are made on the basis of an already existing body of work on the basis of which one could then determine the common features (semantic and syntactical) of the genre. Instead, by analogy with the project of the Society of Utopian Studies, which links scholars and researchers working in such diverse fields as literary studies, political science, history, and architecture, I will propose a number of ways and perspectives by which scholars might begin to discuss the issue of utopian film. Without specifically invoking a utopian film genre, I will begin this examination with Lyman Sargent’s “the three basic forms of utopianism”: “utopian literature, communitarianism and utopian social theory” (Sargent 1988: 3). More specifically, the literary utopia, which seems the most fruitful for an investigation of the possibilities of utopian film (and with which I shall begin), is defined as a “non-existent society described in considerable detail” (Sargent 1988: 4).