A magnificent piece of film making
BY: David Marsh
07.04.2016
Victoria from writer director Sebastian Schipper is a magnificent piece of film making both for its technical achievement but also its atmospheric and character focussed storytelling. The film opens with a cacophony of sensory stimulation, an entrancing and visceral pulsating electronica soundtrack, strobe lighting effects and distant chattering voices; an edgy but familiar scene of the modern Berlin nightlife. Shot in real time, in one take, we find ourselves thrust into a series of highs and lows and everything else in between; the camera almost never leaving the side of our protagonist for the entirety of the films running time. Victoria is a Spanish national living and working in Berlin. At the end of a night out clubbing, she meets a group of local lads who are struggling through their drunken antics to gain access to the same nightclub she is leaving. The most talkative of the group, Sonne, notices Victoria and they strike up a conversation. While at first this encounter seems tense, we soon realise they are being friendly enough, and the group continue to celebrate one of the gangs birthday on a nearby rooftop. At the heart of the story is the relationship between Victoria and Sonne. The improvised nature of the script allows for a much freer flowing kind of dialogue, and due to the nature of the camera work, the conversations feel more personal. The complexity of the relationships between the group are also explored, as events unfold, friendships and loyalties are stretched, and decision making blurs the lines of right and wrong. There is definitely a vibe of the anti-hero here present, none of the group are inherently bad but circumstance has led them to this point. In this sense, Victoria is a fascinating study of fate, chance and loyalty. Berlin, just as much a character itself, is shot in a whirlwind of activity, the shallow depths of field blurring out any discernible or generic identifiers. Moreover the city is about atmosphere, and Victoria has heaps. As the frantic intoxicating feeling of the early morning events come to a head a brief moment of pause. The emblazoned slogan on Victoria's baseball cap says it all; #Haze.
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