It’s no surprise that Sebastian Schipper’s Victoria won the Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution in the camera category at Berlin 2015.
The film – a thriller about a bank heist – was shot in a single take. Two hours and 14 minutes. No cuts. Just one shot. Beginning at 4:30 am, the take involved moving through 22 locations, plus handling 150 extras and seven actors. By 6:54 am, the sun was up and the shoot done.
The story centres on Victoria (rising Catalan star Laia Costa) who is new to Berlin. While clubbing one night, she meets four Berliners, one of them a bit of a flirt (Frederick Lau), who promise to show her a good time. But it turns out that these guys owe someone a dangerous favor, resulting in a robbery – with an aftermath that gets messy.
Improvised from a 12-page outline, the film is written and directed by Germany’s Sebastian Schipper who has acted in such films as Run Lola Run. The cinematography is by Sturla Brandth Grøvlen.
The film is mostly in broken English and some German and Spanish with English subtitles.
