Victoria review: A remarkable technical acheievement in filmmaking. Thrilling, brutal and tension-packed.
Victoria review
German film Victoria is an enthralling ride of a movie that builds on the old Alfred Hitchcock ‘Rope’ concept where the classic was made up of just eleven single shots. This fantastic crime/ thriller takes things a step further, by rigging the production to capture the action in one long, continuous take with no cut-away at all.
Laia Costa plays the title role of Spanish tourist Victoria, who we first see dancing away on her own at a very sweaty underground Berlin nightclub. In a dazzling, epilepsy inducing opening few frames, director Sebastian Schipper introduces us to the main protagonist, whose world is about to change forever. On this eventful evening, obviously shot in real-time, Victoria meets a group of young German boys as she heads home on her bicycle, all of who seemingly want to continue the party. With no money, the boys, and Victoria, who speaks not a word of German (which gives the film its fair share of English dialogue), steal a few beers from the 24-hour liquor store from under the nose of its sleeping cashier, and head to the rooftops to consume them. With English-speaking leader Sionne (Frederick Lau) taking a shine to the young Victoria, the two then head off to her place of work, a cafe in the centre of the city. It is then when things start to change for the worse, as one of the group, Boxer, immediately comes knocking, stating that he has just a couple of hours to fulfil a promise to a local gangster, who protected him when he was in prison.
Victoria review
We saw the old Rope trick done to Oscar glory in Alejandro González Iñárritu’s epic Birdman this time last year, and while that film was technically brilliant, Schipper’s film goes that one step further by actually filming the action in one continuous take, rather than cheating by inserting a cheeky cloaked cut here and there (it’s true that it took three attempts to film the movie).
The first third of the film very much has a Before Sunrise feel to it, with time carefully taken to establish the personalities behind the main six characters, and in particularly, the dynamic chemistry between Victoria and Sionne, who chat about anything and everything as they get to know one another in a drink-fuelled stupor.
Schipper is very patient with proceedings, and lets his actors improvise their lines as they stumble across pre-set plot points to gradually move the story forward. The scenes in the cafe are particularly heartfelt, and extremely well acted by Costa and Lau.
Victoria review
The final two-thirds of the film step things up a gear once the group leave the cafe, and the genre shifts to something completely different altogether. Comparisons with films like Reservoir Dogs are sure to be made, but make no mistake, this is a highly original, super-charged ride where you don’t know which way the filmmakers are going to take us next.
While the picture could have done with 30 minutes or so shaved off of it, potetnially during the first hour-or-so by excluding one or two of the scenes in which Schipper introduces us to the characters, you can’t help but admire the theatrical, technical achievement of Victoria, a thrill ride that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Remarkable.
Victoria review by Paul Heath, October 2015.
Victoria screens at the BFI London Film Festival, 2015, and will be released in the spring of 2016.
