Victoria (2015)

Dir: Sebastian Schipper

Victoria (Laia Costa) is a young Spanish woman who grew up in Madrid but for the last three months has been living and working in Berlin, Germany. After a night of dancing she leaves the club and meets with four young men who were denied entry to the club due to a lack of funds. The men, Sonne (Frederick Lau), Boxer (Franz Rogowski), Blinker (Burak Yigit) and birthday boy Fuss Max Mauff) flirt with Victoria. Victoria speaks very little German but is fluent in English, which the men can speak to varying degrees. Making a connection with Sonne, Victoria agrees to spend some time with them. After partying on the street and a rooftop drinking beer (Beck's !?!?!) stolen from a shop, Victoria walks to the cafe she works at to prep before opening for the day. Sonne accompanies her and their attraction for one another grows.

Later, the other men arrive at the cafe with a passed out Fuss. Boxer is extremely agitated as the gangster that protected him in prison has called in the favour and needs Boxer and his three friends for a job that has to happen now. With Fuss out of commission, Boxer talks Sonne into convincing Victoria to be the fourth, the wheel man. Victoria agrees.

VICTORIA, a German shot on video film, is one continuous take. One non-stop shot, no cutting.

I'm not sure why a film maker like director Sebastian Schipper chose to make a film with only the one take, especially when the film lasts well over two hours, unless it was to show off his and the crew's ability to accomplish it. There are a few minor flubs along the way but the method of film making really works. I, the viewer, was up close with the characters, almost like I was part of the group. Documentary like but more of an immediate feeling as if I was there at the time the events unfolded. The disadvantages to the one shot technique is that all the locations must be within a short distance of one another which leads the characters to make questionable, perhaps implausible, decisions. There are times when the actors are obviously holding open a door for the cameraman and other crew to enter. I overlooked those technical issues and continued to be swept away by the drama.

The actors, especially Laia Costa and Frederick Lau, do a fantastic job of bringing their characters to life. Considering there wasn't a full script and much of the dialogue was ad-libbed, it is impressive that the characters are fully formed. Even if the events of the night, and the consequences of the events, do not make much sense in the context of two hours.

*** out of ****