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''Most people thought that director Sebastian Schipper was mad, when he proposed the film. One German sales agent revealed that they passed on the film, because they just didn’t believe he could pull it off.''</p>
<p>Victoria (2015) is a real-time movie, one night at dawn in Berlin, and filmed in one shot, but really one shot. There is no lie, there is no deception, what we see, it's also whats recorded, from several times, without hidden cuts at convenient moments like the Hitchcock ''Rope'' or ''Birdman''.<br>
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<strong>SYNOPSIS & ANALYSIS</strong><br>
<img src="https://steemitimages.com/0x0/https://i.imgsafe.org/3a/3a10548ccb.jpeg" width="800" height="354"/><em>“One City. One Night. One Take.”</em></p>
<p>The basic story is reduced to "a girl who returns home at night", but she does not have any special power, and she is not even on the home court. She is Victoria, a girl from Madrid who lives in Berlin for only a few months, works in a café and does not speak German.<br>
We meet her clubbing in one of the major city's many hotspots—an underground dance hall. On her way out, likely to another club, Victoria meets a quartet of guys, and they naturally take notice of this vibrant, beautiful young lady. Berliners, visibly drunk, invite her to join them, and for a moment, as viewers, we are convinced of inevitable danger. However, the carelessness and playfulness of Victoria, which we know in those seconds that is completely alone in her unknown city, takes away any fear and entices us back into the atmosphere of good fun.<br>
Small criminals ie. local boys become hosts of a magical Berlin that stretches beneath their private roof (that is, the havens where their joint gatherings take place), all of which are youthful energy and pleasant vibrations.</p>
<p>Sonne (Frederick Lau) strikes up a flirtation, and the first half of “Victoria” actually plays more like one of Richard Linklater’s “Before” movies than one might expect. Victoria and Sonne do a lot of walking and talking, Sebastian Schipper and cinematography Sturla Brandth Grovlen’s camera circling around this likable pair. Their conversations feel heartfelt and genuine, particularly one in a closed café at right around the hour mark.And that’s where “Victoria” turns a corner. One of the guys in Sonne’s group ends up getting drunk enough to essentially become useless, and we learn that these guys have some unexpected plans for the evening. Rather surprisingly, “Victoria” becomes a heist film as our quiet protagonist has to become a getaway driver. Schipper’s camera movements get more hectic, the film gets more impatient, and it essentially turns into an action film. (1)<br>
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<p><strong>STORY ABOUT THE SHOOTING OF THE FILM</strong> (Independent UK interview)<br>
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''So how did Schipper pull off a feat that had Lee, one of the world’s great directors, shaking his head in disbelief? “We rehearsed and we shot three long takes,” says the German. “We shot the entire film three times. It was super intense, because we only had a 12 page treatment, and no dialogue.” The actors would improvise lines on the move.There was a contingency plan if things went wrong. “That was the thing about the project, if we had to make cuts, we always said that we would reveal them. But thankfully every scene was better the third time.” They also shot in the middle of the night, at 4am, to reduce the chance of the public walking in front of the camera.</p>
<p>“I always said, we have to have a product in the end,” continues the director. “It was really expensive to do each take. If it didn’t work, maybe we would have tried to get more financing, but of course you have got to prove it, and I’m not sure, if the third take had been like the first two, I don’t know if we could have used it as proof.”</p>
<p>After each attempt, scenes would be cut and different ideas mooted. The key to the production was having three sound crews: “There was always one booming a scene, another waiting at the next location and one at the location after. I was really happy we boomed the entire film, because we had to have good sound.</p>
<p>"Many times that is the sign of quality. The picture, we make compromises, but our ears, they are very, very smart. They like to be entertained, they like to hear stuff.”And of course, there was that one element, we can all do with: “Honestly, we were really lucky. There were moments we were close to this not working out.” (2)<br>
https://youtu.be/Kp8wcV3GjW0<br>
<em>(1) Brian Tallerico, Rober Ebert<br>
(2) Kaleem Aftab, Independent, 13 march 2016</em></p>
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