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A waste of 90 minutes of my life

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

Sometimes, in the middle of the desert, one encounters a green, luxurious, exuberant oasis, full of life and beauty. This is exactly my feeling after having viewed 'Victoria' in this summer cinematographic season which seems drier and duller and dummer than any other that I remember. After so many brainless action movies, and huge stars playing flat roles in boring comedies, here comes a film which is a wonderful combination of action and human feelings, of wonderful acting and cinematographic excellencies. Some of the reviews that I have read use the word 'masterpiece'. This is far from being an exaggeration.'Victoria', co-written and director by Sebastian Schipper who is better known as an actor, takes places in real-time, late at night and early in the morning, in Berlin, the German capital, in 2015. The feeling of reality is brightly transmitted to viewers by making the film with one shot, more than two hours of cinema filmed with hand-held camera, all the time close to the heroes of the film. Their lives change forever during these 140 minutes. It visibly took a huge effort to prepare the whole filming which takes us in different places, streets, shops, night clubs, building and roofs in Berlin. The result is spectacular.It's a movie about loneliness, friendship and love, about youth, searching a meaning in life and failing. The heroes are a young Spanish girl, ex-musician, living in the cosmopolitan capital of Germany without speaking German who meets a group of fringe youth from East Berlin. As the action develops the characters will know each other, will fall in love, will get into trouble, and their destinies will change. Acting is also superb, with the Spanish actress Laia Costa in the lead role, and the German actors Frederick Lau and Franz Rogowski. Far from being just a gimmick, the technical achievement of this film is fully justified and fits well the story and the action. Berlin at the hours of deep night and uncertain dawn looks more interesting than I have ever seen it since 'Der Himmel über Berlin'. This is German cinema at its best.

If you are one of those stay at home parents who can sit in their living room and watch life just wisp by then this is the film for you. However, if you are one of those people who expect a film to have an interesting plot, characters and overall look, this film has already failed you. Remember as a child when you and your friends would make short little clips and videos with fun stories and ideas. Far too young to be able to edit, you would end up with one long continuous shot without cuts but still plenty of charisma. Well, Victoria boosts the former and lacks the latter. Victoria, technically, I guess is pretty impressive with a 2 hour run time all in one shot which proves how far film has come digitally.v However, in doing this the director has to sacrifice a lot of useful story techniques such as flashbacks and stories which play out over a long period of time. This is the downfall of Victoria as it attempts to relate us to a character in the space of 2 hours which the majority of, from memory, is spent running around. It seems the film is perfect for the artsy fartsy film director who wishes to experience "real film" but for the everyday viewer it is more than alienating. With unrelatable characters, a lack of unique plot and a heavy reliance on a not so fancy film technique, Victoria is not worth a watch.

I am feeling the need to write something about this film. In terms of cinematography, there are three basic elements that make this feauture quite brilliant. First of all, the movie is at least two hours long, making it almost impossible to shoot with one take. Unbelievably, with numerous changing locations and the camera following the main characters all the time, director achieves it. He certainly creates a chilling and fiery atmosphere while we get to know Victoria, Sonne, Boxer, Blinker and Fuß. We are with them along their journey between everyday life and their dramatic "adventures" and that feeling emanates from camera on hand and long take troughout the whole film. It also results from the amazingly naturalistic way of their conversations -sometimes German, sometimes English- and their way of getting to know each other, their way of having fun walking in the streets of Berlin at night time. The realistic and improvisational dialogue between Victoria and her new German friends, creates the proper ground for the viewer to be absorbed by this massive story. Lastly, I strongly believe that these exact series of events -the first meeting, the connection and the unfair ending of this relationship- is something real, something that can happen, under certain circumstances. Victoria is a simple story about one night in Berlin and the day after. However, the way that this story becomes so real, so intense, so significant is because the plot is so well-put together. We let ourselves travel with Victoria, have fun and take the most difficult decisions about our -and her- survival.

THE film of 2015 and possibly of this decade. I urgently put this on my films to watch as soon as I discovered it and I'm really glad I stumbled upon it late one night perusing IMDb. Sebastian Schipper directs a monumental project of a film done in one take. One friggin' take. I understand this has been done before once or twice, but it is assuredly a rare feat. Victoria was recommended to me a few times, and I did not take long to track it down and finally watch it on Netflix. It left me in awe. I sat staring at the TV screen unable to move and silent minutes after the final moments were upon the screen. The film is tremendously raw, and because of the continuous take technique, the viewer feels like part of the crew. The real-time lapse is incredibly effective and becomes a tone- setter early on.The first 40 minutes is a bit of a slow-burn setting up the characters and getting the viewer attached to the lead, Victoria. If one does not know the plot, I can guarantee that they will be in for quite the shock as the slow-burn turns realistically frightening, as the viewer begins to wonder what this young woman will do with the situation presented to her. The most interesting part of the film is possibly the spontaneity of Victoria and what exactly draws her to these "real Berlin guys". Is she just a thrill- seeker? Is she simply loyal? Does she like Sonne? Her character unfurls greatly during intimate moments on her night out on the town, and we watch her change mightily as we see parts of the climax truly effect her and change her.The cast is all fantastic lead by a truly tremendous and no holds barred tour-de-force performance by the stunning Laia Costa. I would dare put her performance in the same category as what I consider the "Masterclass": Burt Lancaster in Elmer Gantry, Peter Sellers in Dr. Strangelove, Dennis Hopper in Blue Velvet, Colin Firth in Apartment Zero, Kate Winslet in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Daniel-Day Lewis in There Will Be Blood, and Joaquin Phoenix in The Master. The masterpiece of 2015 and possibly the masterpiece of this decade.