Valtos

Valtos

1987 · 11 min · ★ 6.0 · Drama, Documentary

Valtos is a story told from thirty years hence, in the last moments of its narrator, who awoke one day in 1987 'with the knowledge that I had been duplicated during the night, and that I was an inferior replica of myself'. There follows a relentless, epic, pursuit of an absconding phantom - his 'original' - which ends in catastrophe at Valtos, a place at once ethereal and terrifying.

Directed by Patrick Keiller · Written by Patrick Keiller

Your Rating

Make it a double feature

32m together

Both from Patrick Keiller.

More from Patrick KeillerSee all →

Stonebridge ParkStonebridge Park · 1981
Stonebridge Park
7.51981
MovieThriller
A film in two parts. In the first part, the narrator describes the events that led to his impulsive decision to rob his former employer. The camera meanwhile walks about above the nearby road junction, surveying the distracted environment. In the second part, he recounts the anatomy of his panic following the crime, while the walking camera reconstructs his escape route. A final caption reports what happened after that.
Robinson in SpaceRobinson in Space · 1997
Robinson in Space
7.11997
MovieDocumentary
Robinson is commissioned to investigate the unspecified "problem of England." The narrator describes his seven excursions, with the unseen Robinson, around the country. They mainly concentrate on ports, power stations, prisons, and manufacturing plants, but they also bring in various literary connections, as well as a few conventional landscapes.
Robinson in RuinsRobinson in Ruins · 2010
Robinson in Ruins
6.82010
MovieDocumentary
The eagerly awaited sequel to Patrick Keiller's London and Robinson in Space is a beautifully photographed cinematic essay on our current environmental and economic predicament, narrated by Vanessa Redgrave. Timely, provocative and studded with surreal humour, Robinson in Ruins reveals hidden histories and surprising visions (from the opium poppy fields of Oxfordshire to what seems to be a talking post box), making us consider the world around us afresh.
LondonLondon · 1994
London
6.81994
MovieDocumentary
A psycho-geographic journey through London and its history, as undertaken by an unseen narrator and his companion, Robinson, at the time of the 1992 general election.
The Dilapidated DwellingThe Dilapidated Dwelling · 2000
The Dilapidated Dwelling
6.72000
MovieDocumentary
Documentary with fictional elements exploring issues around housing in the United Kingdom.
NorwoodNorwood · 1983
Norwood
1983
Movie
Norwood (1983) continued the 'story' of Stonebridge Park and the technique, in another London suburb. Short films of increasing technical sophistication climaxed in 1989 with The Clouds, a further topographical exploration combining another anxious fictional commentary with imagery derived from a journey across the north of England from Jodrell Bank to Whitby.
The CloudsThe Clouds · 1989
The Clouds
1989
MovieDocumentary
A black and white semi-narrative film, touching on moments in the narrator's life unavailable to his recollection, and a journey through the North of England on the prevailing wind.
Nottingham PanoramaNottingham Panorama · 2007
Nottingham Panorama
2007
Movie
Short film comparing a Mitchell and Kenyon film of Nottingham in 1902 to the present day. Made in connection to Keiller's installation The City of the Future at the Southbank in 2007.

More Like This

Calendar GirlsCalendar Girls · 2003
Calendar Girls
6.52003
MovieDramaComedy
Members of a Yorkshire branch of the Women's Institute cause controversy when they pose nude for a charity calendar.
Robin Hood: Prince of ThievesRobin Hood: Prince of Thieves · 1991
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
6.91991
MovieActionAdventure
Nobleman crusader Robin of Locksley breaks out of a Jerusalem prison with the help of Moorish fellow prisoner Azeem and travels back home to England. But upon arrival he discovers his dead father in the ruins of his family estate, killed by the vicious sheriff of Nottingham, Robin and Azeem join forces with outlaws Little John and Will Scarlett to save the kingdom from the sheriff's villainy.
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a DayMiss Pettigrew Lives for a Day · 2008
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
6.82008
MovieDramaComedy
London, England, on the eve of World War II. Guinevere Pettigrew, a strict governess who is unable to keep a job, is fired again. Lost in the hostile city, a series of fortunate circumstances lead her to meet Delysia LaFosse, a glamorous and dazzling American jazz singer whose life is a chaos ruled by indecision, a continuous battle between love and fame.
The Other Boleyn GirlThe Other Boleyn Girl · 2008
The Other Boleyn Girl
6.72008
MovieDramaRomance
A sumptuous and sensual tale of intrigue, romance and betrayal set against the backdrop of a defining moment in European history: two beautiful sisters, Anne and Mary Boleyn, driven by their family's blind ambition, compete for the love of the handsome and passionate King Henry VIII.
Brideshead RevisitedBrideshead Revisited · 2008
Brideshead Revisited
6.32008
MovieDramaRomance
Befriended by aristocrat Sebastian Flyte, Oxford student Charles Ryder finds that the power and privilege experienced by the family is seductive. On a visit to the ancestral home, Brideshead, he falls in love with his friend's sister, Julia. However, as his ties to the Flytes deepen, Ryder finds himself at odds with their strong Roman Catholicism.
2 or 3 Things I Know About Her2 or 3 Things I Know About Her · 1967
2 or 3 Things I Know About Her
6.21967
MovieComedyDrama
As the city of Paris and the French people grow in consumer culture, a housewife living in a high-rise apartment with her husband and two children takes to prostitution to help pay the bills.
Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the ApesGreystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes · 1984
Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes
6.41984
MovieAdventureDrama
A shipping disaster in the 19th Century has stranded a man and woman in the wilds of Africa. The lady is pregnant, and gives birth to a son in their tree house. Soon after, a family of apes stumble across the house and in the ensuing panic, both parents are killed. A female ape takes the tiny boy as a replacement for her own dead infant, and raises him as her son. Twenty years later, Captain Phillippe D'Arnot discovers the man who thinks he is an ape. Evidence in the tree house leads him to believe that he is the direct descendant of the Earl of Greystoke, and thus takes it upon himself to return the man to civilization.
When the Wind BlowsWhen the Wind Blows · 1986
When the Wind Blows
7.51986
MovieAnimationWar
With the help of government-issued pamphlets, an elderly British couple build a shelter and prepare for an impending nuclear attack, unaware that times and the nature of war have changed from their romantic memories of World War II.
The Wind That Shakes the BarleyThe Wind That Shakes the Barley · 2006
The Wind That Shakes the Barley
7.32006
MovieDramaWar
In 1920s Ireland young doctor Damien O'Donovan prepares to depart for a new job in a London hospital. As he says his goodbyes at a friend's farm, British Black and Tans arrive, and a young man is killed. Damien joins his brother Teddy in the Irish Republican Army, but political events are soon set in motion that tear the brothers apart.
The Remains of the DayThe Remains of the Day · 1993
The Remains of the Day
7.41993
MovieDramaRomance
A rule-bound head butler's world of manners and decorum in the household he maintains is tested by the arrival of a housekeeper who falls in love with him in post-WWI Britain. The possibility of romance and his master's cultivation of ties with the Nazi cause challenge his carefully maintained veneer of servitude.
This Is EnglandThis Is England · 2007
This Is England
7.52007
MovieDramaCrime
A story about a troubled boy growing up in England, set in 1983. He comes across a few skinheads on his way home from school, after a fight. They become his new best friends, even like family. Based on experiences of director Shane Meadows.

Rate this film

Your ratings make Midnight smarter