Victoria Movie Review

Victoria (2015)

Victoria - Technically very neat.

Watch Victoria on Netflix
Written by: Sebastian Schipper & Olivia Neergaard-Holm & Eike Frederik Schulz (story)
Directed by: Sebastian Schipper
Starring:  Laia Costa, Frederick Lau, Franz Rogowski
Rated: --/R

My rating is simple, Watch It, It Depends, Skip it. Read my previous movie reviews!

Plot
A young Spanish woman in Berlin hangs out with a group of guys during one night.

Verdict
This has a big gimmick. The entire movie is a single continuous shot. The technical achievement is crazy, though I wish it was more cinematic. The story isn't bad, but can't escape the shadow of the single shot.
It depends.

Review
The screenplay was only twelves pages long as the majority of the dialog was improvised.
This entire movie is a single unbroken 130 minute cut. They attempted to film this three times, using the third take.

This has a bit of a slow start, but it gives you background. It answers the question of why Victoria mixed herself with these guys. She played the piano everyday for hours and then didn't make the cut. She's lost, trying to figure out who she is now that she isn't a pianist and make up for lost time. She's been sheltered and wants to experience the world. It's why she was dancing at the club alone in the first scene. It's atypical. Most people don't go to a club alone, but Victoria's friends are probably still playing piano.

She meets a group of  guys that don't seem completely bad, though she probably should have kept walking. They seemed fun, and she went with it despite realizing it may not be the best idea. She likes one of the guys, enjoying his interest in her. Again, this is something she hasn't experienced.
When they come back and ask her to drive, she knows it's shady but agrees.

It's a technical achievement that the camera guy is on point for two hours. He's as responsible for the story as anyone, if not more so. If he messed up one time, you've just ruined a two hour take.

At the same time this never escapes being just a hand held camera movie. That's what it is, not far removed from the faux documentary style. It's done well but I imagine cinema as grand and sweeping, not that it always has to be, but this movie primarily revolves around the energy that is the camera movement. The link with the camera and Victoria is the fluidity.

The dialog is very natural as most of it made up on the spot. There are a few German subtitles, but this is mostly in English. It's going for that slice of life type thing. You know something is going to happen when she hangs out with the guys. Once that kicks off the movie just keeps ramping in intensity. It's a series of bad decisions. They were told to go home and lay low after the robbery, but they don't. That gets them into trouble. You can't quite blame them as they are buzzed. They have an invincible feeling.
The movie depicts the euphoria they display after the robbery really well. It felt very real, almost hypnotic. This includes a sequence where the soundtrack occludes all other sound. It's effective.