Directed by:
Sebastian SchipperCinematography:
Sturla Brandth GrøvlenComposer:
Nils FrahmCast:
Laia Costa, Frederick Lau, Franz Rogowski, Burak Yigit, Max Mauff, André Hennicke, Martin Goeres, Ernst Stötzner, Lena Klenke, Adolfo Assor, Philipp Kubitza (more)VOD (1)
Plots(1)
Berlin, 4am. Victoria, a young woman from Madrid, meets Sonne and his three mates outside a club. The local guys promise to show Victoria the real side of the city, but they owe someone a dangerous favour that requires repaying that evening. As Victoria's flirtation with Sonne deepens into something more he convinces her to come along for the ride. And as the night takes on an ever more menacing character, what started out as a good time quickly spirals out of control. (Madman Entertainment)
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Reviews (10)
The film definitely has a good pace and the characters are quite intense, plus it develops maybe a little differently than you expect at first glance. It's a ride, almost in real time, with an interesting camera and interesting editing. However, it didn't manage to engage me in a way that I would outright admire the film.
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This is a triumph of form over content. Hats off to the creativity and all the preparations that had to precede making this movie to make it all come together in one coherent continuous shot. Unfortunately, what makes this movie incredibly underwhelming is the behaviour of characters, who make the most stupid decisions possible just to give some direction to the melodrama. Plus, since the movie makes it so the audience is locked in with these idiots for a full one-hundred and forty minutes, the audience is then fully able to feel the effects of both their incomprehensible actions and the unnecessarily overlong running time more intensely.
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For a concept involving the authentic night-time doings of a few characters in ordinary locations of Berlin, 140 minutes is a lot. The first half of this film drags a bit in exceedingly trivial scenes and dialogue. But what happens later is all the more surprising and gripping, especially if you know nothing at all about the plot. The troubles come in hints, and we suspect and fear them because the protagonist doesn’t deserve them. This is a very well made, emotive and thoroughly intensifying “one-shot” film with good acting performances.
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The amazing dynamic and confident direction by Sebastian Schipper can sure be felt in this movie. When the film starts with the opening scene in the dance club, I was absolutely satisfied. It’s an exact description of the Berlin club scene including music that fits the situation. It’s a small thing, but I really care about the way electronic music is depicted in movies. The thing is that filmmakers often include illogical stuff in their dance club scenes and in that case any semblance of realism is immediately lost for me. Anyways, as much as I liked the music (not only the electronic music in the club, the whole soundtrack is pretty dope), the protagonist Victoria ruined the whole thing. I mean Laia Costa’s portrayal of the character is pretty believable, but you be the judges of this. Victoria is a young and talented girl who has been working as a waitress in Berlin for a couple of months. She lives day to day, she doesn’t have to worry about work too much, she just wants to have fun. She goes clubbing to this joint where all of the sudden she meets a group of people who at first made me think that they were going to drag her somewhere over to the Berlin Wall, rape her and discard her body on a pile of garbage. I mean some girls can be pretty naïve and dance club girls tend to be the most naïve of them all. But she manages to keep up with them. She enjoys an interesting night with them, finds out a couple of personal things about them – it would have messed me up to find out what she did… well and then they rope her into a robbery that they only suggest indirectly. But since she is a young and bored European chick, she decides to help these guys that she has only known for like three hours. The whole thing is so incredibly naïve that I don’t know where to start. But thanks to the phenomenal direction, I give the flick three stars. I would’ve given four, but only if Victoria wasn’t as dumb as a box of rocks.
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"I'm reluctant to rate it with the hackneyed phrase of "form overshadowed content", though it's pretty much the best way to describe it. In any case, the chosen format "in real time" is bold and ambitious, everything is in constant motion, it is made as one uninterrupted shot and through several different moods and genres it can be undeniably engaging, intense and as “Mann-style" captivating in many scenes as anything else. However, when something does happen (and it does more than it is appropriate), then the chosen form is on the contrary the cause of complete alienation and total exclusion from the movie, when you get so bored that you start noticing the smallest technical and production aspects, how they did a sloppy job in some scenes, and you will not pay that much attention to what is (not) happening on the screen. It's just the whole footage follows the sinusoid curve, for some time it is great, while some time it is out of place. Yet at the end of the day, what is the worst thing about this movie is a way too long, unjustified footage, especially the opening hour. As a result, I would be much more interested in watching a documentary showing how this movie was created including its pitfalls rather than watching the movie itself. Still, great job! We cannot deny that it is something that no one has ever tried before in such a scale. And more importantly, this movie is rather a success than a failure.
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Gallery (19)
Photo © Senator Film Verleih
![Victoria - Photos](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w663/files/images/film/photos/159/532/159532051_fa696c.jpg)
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