Victoria (2015) Movie Review
138 min
Genre: Crime,
Drama,
Thriller
Directed: Sebastian Schipper
Written: Sebastian Schipper, Olivia Neergaard-Holm, Eike Frederik Schulz
Stars: Laia Costa, Frederick Lau, Franz Rogowski, Burak Yigit, Max Mauff
Plot: A young Spanish woman who has newly moved to Berlin finds her flirtation with a local guy turn potentially deadly as their night out with his friends reveals a dangerous secret.
Plot: A young Spanish woman who has newly moved to Berlin finds her flirtation with a local guy turn potentially deadly as their night out with his friends reveals a dangerous secret.
I came to find out about this film from the the amazing soundtrack done by Nils Frahm. Curious I looked up the trailer to this film and was very impressed, it looked cool and interesting and worth checking out.
The movie follows Victoria, a girl at a night club dancing and getting trunk before work in the morning. As she leaves she is approached by a group of drunk men that begin hang out with her, she takes some interest with one of them who is constantly flirting with her. This leads to a quick friendship between them, but when one of them gets too drunk, she joins them on a crazy night that leads to and intense crime ride until the sun comes up.
While watching the movie i was very into it and it wasn't just me it was the cinematography. It was very immersive and engaging and I could figure out why? It wasn't until I looked up on IMDB that this film was shot entirely in one take! As soon as I found that it, the allusion was revealed. The movie was being shot in one take and I had no idea that it even was!
When something is completely hidden in plain sight in film making, that usually is a sign that they are doing some good. It's when the effect sticks out when it becomes distracting. They obviously were trying to focus most on trying to get this film to work in one take. This has been done before in other film, but nowhere near to this extent.
This film has over 20 locations in just over 2 hours all in one take. Most films that have one take are only in a sequence, or done in one room, or one single building. It's really impressive how well they were able to time it perfectly and keep it going with the actors and situations being in place for everything to work.
The acting was great, it felt real and natural and you can let some of the silliness slide because the characters are established as mostly drunk.
One thing I was noticing as the film was going was how much we as the audience felt like we were experiencing this with Victoria. It could be complemented with the one take but It really was the language difference that helped too. When we can follow the story with the main character it really helps the world become alive and more real.
I should also mention again the music. Nils Frahm made one of my favorite soundtracks of the year with this film and the way it was implemented in was fantastic. It's silent when it needs to be silent and takes over at the right moments. If there is a soundtrack you listen from the films from 2015 this should be one of them.
Victoria is quite an achievement in my book and is a entertaining and intense film to watch. There's one take, great acting, and a simple story. It was a unique experience that I've not had all year and should be something that any film fan should check out.
Rating:
