'Robinson believed that, if he looked at it hard enough, he could cause the surface of the city to reveal to him the molecular basis of historical events, and, in this way, he hoped to see into the future'.
London (1994) is a sometimes informative, sometimes whimsical, sometime banal account of a man who, in the company of his ex-lover, Robinson, undertakes a series of long, circuitous walks around the metropolis.
A simple, undynamic film, it basically consists of wry narration laid over a series of subjective single shots, but the skilful, mesmeric conjunction of words and images creates a synergy of meaning, i.e. as with the quote of at the top of this piece, a certain surface profundity is achieved which doesn't always bear up under closer examination.
The London of thirty years ago looks relatively vacant in comparison to now, with lots of empty streets, derelict buildings and patches of wasteland adjacent to prime locations. This London has a palpable sense of haggard history that is as much about decay and decline as progress and growth, and is still predominantly a place where people live and work rather than the retail and heritage theme park large parts of it seem to have become.
Written and directed by former architect Patrick Keiller, the first film in the Robinson trilogy has proved to be hugely influential, not least in how it provides a fine example of psychogeography without getting into the boring small print.
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