Robinson in Ruins
© Patrick Keiller
Synopsis
Robinson in Ruins is an account of a journey by a wandering, erratic scholar, through landscapes in the south of England. Its fictional narration begins: 'When a man called Robinson was released from Edgcott open prison, he made his way to the nearest city, and looked for somewhere to haunt'.
Robinson ‘believed he could communicate with a network of non-human intelligences determined to preserve the possibility of life’s survival on the planet’ and ‘was equipped with an ancient ciné camera, with which he made images of his everyday surroundings’. He surveyed the centre of the island on which he was shipwrecked: 'The location,' he wrote, 'of a Great Malady, that I shall dispel, in the manner of Turner, by making picturesque views, on journeys to sites of scientific and historic interest.'
The film consists of these views. The cinematography began in January 2008 and continued until November, just after the peak of that year’s global banking crisis. The film’s unplanned journey ‘rediscovers’ several locations associated with capitalism’s development since the 16th century and resistance to it. Vanessa Redgrave’s narration includes references to the deepening economic crisis, climate change and mass-extinction, but manages to reach an optimistic conclusion.
Details
- Year
- 2011
- Type of film
- Features
- Running Time
- 101 mins
- Format
- 35mm
- Director
- Patrick Keiller
- Producer
- Keith Griffiths
- Co-Producer
- Keith Griffiths
- Editor
- Patrick Keiller, Larry Sider, Chu-Li Shewring
- Screenwriter
- Patrick Keiller
- Director of Photography
- Patrick Keiller
- Sound
- Patrick Keiller, Larry Sider, Chu-Li Shewring
- Principal Cast
- Vanessa Redgrave (narrator)
Production status
Complete
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Last updated 1st March 2011
