Victoria

...Is most impressive for its concept, the logistics needed to carry it out, and its sustained performances without a single cut. It hopes to involve the viewer as a participant in the story by following one girl's experiences over the course of two-and-a-quarter hours. It begins shortly before dawn, playing out in real time in one long, uninterrupted take from beginning to end.

The first hour or so sets up the characters as Victoria (Laia Costa), a recent immigrant to Berlin from her native Spain, meets four rather grungy local men while dancing and drinking in a flashy nightclub. They convince her to come with them as they wander aimlessly around the city, and then must go off to an appointment with a local gangster who wants them to pull off a robbery he's planned.

Unfortunately, the film really plods its way through much of the first hour, but of course the single-take concept eliminates the possibility for editing the dull parts. Ideally the script should have been pruned to establish the basics and then get into the main plot much sooner. Luckily the last hour and a half picks up both pace and tension dramatically once Victoria commits to accompanying these rather shiftless hoods to their meeting as their driver. It soon becomes quite gripping and much more involving with the plot's quick turns of events and limited point-of-view.

One of the best 2015 releases (the best of those I've seen at least), Victoria is a complete surprise - a little-known team hits it out of the park ... by a few miles. Much has been said about the one-take "gimmick" - trust me, whoever calls this a gimmick can not have seen Victoria. The way the camera moves, breathes and lives with the protagonists (ultra-realistic play here and perfect casting) is simply outstanding. It's a small, actually a stupid crime story; the protagonists are all drunk and/or high (and not too bright in the beginning, except the titular Victoria) - a bit like a Coen story, but where the Coens prefer an ironic, satirical approach - always keeping that little distance between watcher and screen - Victoria draws us right in from minute one and only lets go in the last 15 seconds. You can't lean back and smile about the crazy, idiotic antics of those wannabe small-time gangsters, no, you're right in there with them and have to suffer through every bad decision with them. And on the other hand, it's also a tender getting-in-love story (of a kind) - and the same applies: As much as you'd like to shout at Victoria: "Step back, girl! This guy and his friends are BAD NEWS!! Don't get involved!!!" - you can't do that, because, you know, the neighbors might hear ... you have to live and suffer through those more than 2 hours with them.

This is what movie-making is all about.

Victoria, I am sad to say, is largely overrated despite the truly mesmerising cinematography. Since the incredible one-take film became widely known, most of the critical consensus agrees that is a fantastic film. I found it only decent. Whilst there are moments of genuine breathless tension, the crime elements are superb, and the ending is good, it seems too often like it is trying to be - and I am loath to use this word - 'artsy'. The script was apparently only 12 pages long (that's about 11 minutes of film per script page) which means almost all of the dialogue is improvised. Which is neat, but does not make for compelling viewing, as the characters apart from the titular protagonist (another positive would be Laia Costa's stupendous performance) just don't have enough depth to be interesting. Were it not for the unique cinematographic excellence this would be nothing more than an average thriller with some decent moments that tried too hard to rise above its station.

But talking of the cinematography...take a bow Sturla Brandth Grøvlen, you magnificent genius. This bests all the works of Emmanuel Lubezki and Roger Deakins, and is simply the best feat of cinematography I've ever seen. Flawlessly transitioning from building to street to car to club to the intensity of a foot race and shoot out, all with the precision and careful craftsmanship of any great film. In fact, after only 15 minutes you're barely noticing it any more. After a while, you may realise that you've literally followed these characters all the way from that club and the mind boggles. It's arguably worth watching just to witness this spectacular achievement - you'll most likely find an entrancing and ambitious effort that has a film tacked on to it with ideas a little above its station and a tendency to be too showy at times. 62/100

As a Belgian, i watched today this movie. I have to say, i had huge expectations about this movie. Thanks to the trailer that i liked, and because i like similar experimental movies. After that i watched the movie, i have to say, i am completely overwhelmed by the movie.

This is a strong movie with also a lot of emotion. The movie has some good experimental film techniques, and the choice of making the movie in one take is a very good choice. There is no moment where the movie became boring, and there is also no Hollywood like action. It is just well balanced. The story is also very good and emotional, thanks to the exceptional acting performances. The dialogs are also very realistic, and made me think about times when i go out. It is just so realistic.

This movie is also the kind of movie that keeps in your mind for days, even weeks. So watch this movie, and do a pleasure for yourself. You won't regret it.

Because this movie is a real masterpiece.

As a Berlin native (and around the same age as the protagonists) I really sunk into this movie. The endless club nights, the locations, the expats, the shitty drunk English conversations, even the childish nagging between Sonne, Boxer, Blinker and Fuss hit home. For me it was wonderful to see how "accurate" these characters were displayed, since I now at least one real person that fits each character.

Now, I'm not just giving this movie a pass for that alone. Amazingly, most of the dialogue was improvised, which is an achievement for itself, but also adds to the realism of the characters. And listen guys, the whole movie is ONE SINGLE SHOT! That's right. You will witness a +2 hour movie with countless changing locations and improvised dialogue. And I haven't even talked about the score. Nils Frahm knows what he is doing when changing techno with slow pace ambient.

While I agree that in between the pace of the movie is slow, it never took me out of the movie. The story, while being nothing special, lives through the characters and cinematic style.

If you have the chance to witness this movie in the theaters, I wholeheartedly recommend it.