Robin Hood Gardens (2022)
The now-demolished council estate Robin Hood Gardens often occupies opposing positions within the architectural imagination. Was Alison and Peter Smithson’s 1972 brutalist contribution to the London cityscape a misunderstood masterpiece or a well-intentioned failure? Fifty years on, filmmakers Thomas Beyer and Adrian Dorschner capture the building in all its glory right before the wrecking ball brings an end to the Smithson’s magnum opus. While the controversial East London council estate is honoured at the Venice Biennale, the film revisits the building's critics, champions and the inhabitants themselves, to determine the true legacy of this concrete utopia. Robin Hood Gardens is dead. Long live Robin Hood Gardens.
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if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.
The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.
It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.
The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.