2015 Films: #37. Victoria

An iTunes rental on February 27th that I watched on a flight from Phoenix to Chicago. This is a German film written and directed by Sebastian Schipper  that was shot in one long take. The picture stars Laia Costa as the title character, a 20 something from Madrid living in Berlin who has a job in a cafe but doesn't speak German and doesn't know anyone. Victoria is out clubbing and when she leaves the club she runs into Sonne, Boxer, Blinker and Fuss as they're denied entry into the club. Sonne talks her up and they end up taking her on a tour of Berlin. On a rooftop Victoria informs the group that she has to go open up the cafe and Sonne sees her back.

At the cafe its revealed that Victoria was a classically trained pianist but dropped out of school because of the pressure. You can see that it still bothers her. Eventually, the gang picks up Sonne and Boxer is real anxious to go do a "job." The"job" requires 4 people but Fuss is too hammered to function, so they enlist Victoria, much to the dislike of Sonne (you can see where this is going and it's not going to be unicorns and rainbows).

Victoria drives the group (in a stolen vehicle mind you) to meet up with a local crime lord to whom Boxer owes a favor. It turns out this favor, is actually a heist. Boxer took protection from the crime lord in prison and now the bill is due. The group is to rob a bank of 50,000 euros. After a very brief walk-thru of the job, the gang heads out. While putting the getaway vehicle in position, it stalls and Victoria freaks out. When they return to the vehicle Boxer starts it up and they speed off.

They park the vehicle and filled with a rush a adrenaline from the success of the heist, what do you think these criminal masterminds do now? Lay low? WRONG! They park the car near the club, go in, start throwing the heist money around and get out of control. They get kicked out of the club and they realize that Fuss is still in the vehicle. Low and behold the cops have found the abandon get away car and they give chase when the gang comes into view. Let's just say that it doesn't end well for a few members of the gang. The film ends with Victoria walking through the empty streets having eluded the police.

This was not the greatest film of all time but technically it was stunning to see everything happen in one take. No editing or anything. Just as is. The film suffers from running too long, it clocks in at 138 minutes but this is a result of the one take so it was as long as it needed to be (the same hold true for any issues with the plot, that's where the shot took everyone). This picture is listed as a thriller but nothing remotely thrilling happens until an hour into the film. Once they start the heist portion of the film, the tension starts to ratchet up. Though a German film, there's a lot of English dialogue. Very good acting from the cast. This is a film that's worth seeing, especially if your into the the technical aspect of film making.