Robinson in Ruins is an account of a journey made by a wandering, erratic scholar, through landscapes in the south of England. Its fictional narration, written after the picture had been edited, begins: “When a man called Robinson was released from Edgcott open prison, he made his way to the nearest city, and looked for somewhere to haunt.” Robinson “was equipped with an ancient cine camera, with which he made images of his everyday surroundings”. The film consists of these views. The cinematography began in January 2008 and continued until November. Vanessa Redgrave’s narration includes references to the deepening economic crisis, climate change and mass-extinction, but manages to reach an optimistic conclusion.