The technical achievement involved in making a 138 minute film in just a single take must be commended right off the bat here. Particularly after seeing the film, with its multiple locations plus many actors and extras criss-crossing Berlin on foot and by car. I may have mentioned in previous reviews that I am a sucker for single take scenes and films. The could be a valid accusation that it is gimmicky - speaking for Sebastian Schipper’s Victoria in particular, at worst it is a hook to get a potential audience interested in seeing the film, but this storytelling device suited and aided this film perfectly. The story would have played out in real time anyway, so with this technique, it puts you as an audience member more firmly into the action – even when your mind breaks the fourth wall for you, you can still marvel that the actors have been playing this all out for the exact amount of time that you have been watching them.
The film's dialogue is heavily improvised too – so much so that the original screenplay was only twelve pages long and the writers were only given a ‘Story by’ credit. This, no doubt rehearsed, dialogue helped bring a more natural feel to the characters and story. It would be interestng to see the other two attempts they had at shooting the film (the one used was their second attempt, by the way).
But what is the story, you cry? Well, Victoria is, predictably, our lead - a Spanish, non-German speaker living in Berlin for a few months, played excellently by Laia Costa. The film begins with the camera searching her out in a crowded dance floor as she is happily lost in the music. She soon leaves, suddenly looking self-conscious, and ends up meeting a group of four rowdy young men, recently turned away from the club, who she ends up spending the next couple of hours with.
The story, and the way in which it was told was great, and the characters were certainly interesting. It is difficult to explain the film’s main problems in detail without giving plot points away, but my main frustration with the film was the character’s overall unlikability and their stupidity when it came to decision making. Sure, people in real life make the most monstrously stupid decisions (David Cameron is our Prime Minister for crying out loud) but it just depressed and angered me within this film; and it was unnecessary. It did not need to play out like that to hit the points that they wanted it to.
But, hey, this has been well reviewed across the board, so most people do not see this as a hurdle to loving the film. The character of Victoria was shown to be lost and lonely in a city and country she was not from, but it was still difficult to relate to her actions or her attraction to one of the guys, Sonne.
Victoria has an excellently executed concept that engrossed me within the events perfectly, but the way in which they unfolded proved to be a genuine obstacle to making this a great film, rather than a good one.
Victoria will be showing at Broadway Cinema until Thursday 14 April 2016.
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