Robinson in Ruins

Robinson in Ruins

2010 · 101 min · ★ 6.8 · Documentary

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.

Directed by Patrick Keiller

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Where to Watch

Streaming

Cast

Vanessa Redgrave Narrator

Make it a double feature

2h 59m together

Robinson in Ruins

Robinson in Space

Both from Patrick Keiller.

Robinson TrilogySee all →

London

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.

Robinson in Space

Robinson in Space · 1997

Robinson in Space

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.

More from Patrick KeillerSee all →

Stonebridge Park

Stonebridge Park · 1981

Stonebridge Park

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 Space

Robinson in Space · 1997

Robinson in Space

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.

London

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 Dwelling

The Dilapidated Dwelling · 2000

The Dilapidated Dwelling

MovieDocumentary

Documentary with fictional elements exploring issues around housing in the United Kingdom.

Valtos

MovieDramaDocumentary

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.

Norwood

Norwood · 1983

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 Clouds

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 Panorama

Nottingham Panorama · 2007

Nottingham Panorama

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.

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