Monday, 23 July 2012

What London might have been - Patrick Keiller's London



If you ever get sick and miss a day of Lecture from behind the screen, watch Patrick Keiller's  London. Neither documentary nor fiction, the film is more than either: a chronicle of a year in the life of England's capital through the eyes of director's imaginary protagonist, Robinson, and the unnamed and unseen narrator and relayer of his insights, voiced by Paul Scofield. Few particuar issues portrayed in the film seem to coincide with some problems addressed during the Lecture from behind the screen. Search for public spaces both lively and comforting, London's history as fragments of a never-achieved Utopia, protests, occupiers, tension arising from terrorist threat, royal pomp and ceremony, or, on a formalistic level - sound, images and music playing off each other, in both harmony and contradiction. Though Keiller's fortunetelling never came true, his monologue offers us an idea of what London might have been.



1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Seven journeys across England, inspired by Daniel Defoe's Tour - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XY2O16FmHxs

Post a Comment