London/Robinson in Space

Description

Double-bill of director Patrick Keiller’s imaginative experimental films. ‘London’ (1993) is an exhaustive and fascinating depiction of the nation’s capital, presented as a literary journey through the city. Neither feature nor documentary, the film follows the unseen researcher Robinson and an off-screen narrator (Paul Scofield) as they meditate on the nature of London in a time which saw the re-election of John Major, the continuation of the IRA bombing campaign, the ERM crisis and the beginning of the fall of the House of Windsor. ‘Robinson in Space’ (1997) sees the duo journey around England, charged by an advertising company to investigate the ‘problem with England’, without being told what that problem might be. They begin at Reading, then move on to various ports, factories, and academic centres such as Eton, Oxford and Cambridge, their research throwing up some interesting conclusions on the way.