About

Robinson is the enigmatic protagonist of Patrick Keiller's fascinating visual essay about England in the 1990s. Commissioned by an advertising agency to investigate the 'problem of modern England', Robinson plans seven mini-expeditions of the country in an attempt to recreate Daniel Defoe's three-volume Tour through the Whole Island of Great Britain (1724-6). Although Robinson doesn't make it to Scotland or Wales, he uncovers insights into the economic, political and cultural life of various English towns and cities with his travelling companion, and the film's deadpan narrator (English actor Paul Scofield). From supermarkets to shipyards, Robinson in Space is not a tour guide, but a report on the state of the nation and its declining industrial landscape from a wry and insightful perspective.