London

Patrick Keiller's 1994 British film is constructed as a walk through a city. No one on screen speaks; a narrator recounts wandering London with a friend named Robinson and what the two of them saw. The film consists of static shots. Streets, shops and monuments are shown in motionless frames, over which the narrator adds reflections on literature, history and politics. Neither man ever appears. The ground of the narrative is the 1992 election and the Britain of that moment. Keiller reads the city as a condition of crisis; the tone is dry and the humour buried. Paul Scofield's narration is what the film is known for. Who it's for: those who like essay films and narratives about cities. Who it's not for: viewers waiting for an event; nothing happens across the film.