Film

London (1994)

Director: Patrick Keiller

Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

This lies in that fertile territory between fiction and documentary. Everything you see is actually there, but as Scofield's anonymous Narrator takes us through his 'journal' of 1992, what we hear goes way beyond the mere facts to embrace meditative reflection, political satire, erudite literary anecdote, mythification and offbeat humour. The 'story' is structured round three journeys undertaken by the Narrator and his friend/ex-lover Robinson (also unseen) to research the source of English Romanticism. But as the pair attempt to get a grip on the city's history, contemporary events distract them from their planned route and their focus on the past. Both a fascinating study of a culture in decline, and a scathing commentary on the effects of more than a decade of Conservatism, the film touches on figures as diverse as Baudelaire, John Major and the Chippendales. One of the most original British features in a long time.

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