mon 23/12/2024

DVD: London/Robinson in Space and Robinson in Ruins | reviews, news & interviews

DVD: London/Robinson in Space and Robinson in Ruins

DVD: London/Robinson in Space and Robinson in Ruins

Patrick Keiller looks askance at modern England in his witty but melancholy trilogy

No entry: A compromised urban landscape in Patrick Keiller's 'Robinson in Space'British Film Institute
The first part of Patrick Keiller’s trilogy, an attempt to address the "problem of London", begins just before the 1992 re-election of John Major. It’s a pseudo documentary ostensibly narrated by an acquaintance of one Robinson, a part-time art lecturer at the University of Barking. Nearly 20 years on, not much has changed – we’re in a place of bombings and bomb threats, with chaotic, privatised public transport. It’s a once civil society stretched to breaking point.

The first part of Patrick Keiller’s trilogy, an attempt to address the "problem of London", begins just before the 1992 re-election of John Major. It’s a pseudo documentary ostensibly narrated by an acquaintance of one Robinson, a part-time art lecturer at the University of Barking. Nearly 20 years on, not much has changed – we’re in a place of bombings and bomb threats, with chaotic, privatised public transport. It’s a once civil society stretched to breaking point.

Robinson in Space is a requiem for a nation where shopping centres bleed dry the communities they're meant to serve

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