Review of Victoria (2015) by Matt C — 13 Nov 2015

Yes, Victoria is that 136-minute movie that was shot all in one take, but even if it weren't constructed like this, it still would be pretty good. Obviously its gimmick is the most impressive thing about it, but it succeeds for reasons beyond that.

It has an interesting story that avoids the cliches of a typical lone woman being in danger, and it has sequences that are beautiful, tense, and slightly comical. It definitely has some pacing issues, but its filmmaking redeems it of its flaws.

Victoria is a super simple movie, given that it follows a young woman in Berlin as she runs into a group of four guys, flirting with one of them and becoming acquaintances with the rest. When she gets dragged into committing a bank robbery with them, though, things get more complicated.

Of course this is all in real time, but it's interesting how it doesn't feel like the screenplay is chasing its own tail to make its story logical given how it's set up. There were multiple times where I forgot that it was all one take despite knowing that prior to seeing it, proving the fact that it isn't simply a way to cover up lazy storytelling or bad acting.

The acting is actually very good, especially taking into account the fact that these actors couldn't completely regain their composure at any time and had to play everything out for over two hours, specifically Laia Costa as the titular character.

You see her grow given the circumstances around her--sometimes she's silly, sometimes she's distraught, sometimes she's proactive. All of this mostly redeems the film of its duration, which doesn't really feel all that necessary.

The events are all necessary, but the pacing makes some scenes drag on for a bit too long. I understand that that's a challenge when a movie is all one take, but that's a challenge that you sign up for when making a movie like this.

There was a moment about halfway through where I thought that the movie was ending, only to find out that there were fifty minutes left. Granted, it sucked me back in right away, but a story this simple didn't really need to be told for over two hours.

There was also one part where a character is playing piano, and it's pretty obvious that she's not actually playing anything given how the camera moves to another character's face for a while and how her fingers are pressing the keys too softly to make notes that strong.

Some of the dialogue was also a little hard to understand at times, but it didn't really affect my experience since I got the gist of what was happening the entire time. It was slightly distracting at times, but nothing that ruined my experience.

Despite Victoria's expected reliance on its gimmick to distract viewers from other potential flaws, the movie does indeed know how to tell its story and how to paint its characters. Its set pieces are varied and its tone flows well, and despite the pacing issues, I wouldn't say that I was ever bored.

It out-Birdman's Birdman and out-Rope's Rope, and actually has an engaging story to tell as well. It isn't perfect, but it's impressive. 8.2/10, really good, one thumb up, above average, etc.