Shades of Foxy Knoxy?
A young woman from Spain newly transplanted to Berlin falls for a local and his three buddies. Real Berliners. And then in the course of one tumultuous night – out of the blue – she gets caught up in a bank robbery. Everything in her life will then always be measured by before and after this extraordinary chain of events.
The part in particular where everything falls apart at the seams. The part where she is kidnapping a baby just stay out of jail.
Also shades of Russian Ark above. As with that film, this one consist of one continuous shot. Only Ark was 96 minutes long and Victoria is 134 minutes long. It took three attempts to pull it off. This is only the second European film to attempt it.
What makes the film mesmerizing is the way in which you drawn into it as though you were actually watching these people. Or as though you were even there with them. A slice of “real life” that topples over into a turn of events you would never have anticipated.
As such, it depicts so clearly how the snowball effect [or the butterfly effect] can unfold in human interactions.
It’s just that for most of us our days are pretty routine. The snowball rolls down the hill but the slope is not enough to really change much. But then suddenly one day you bump into someone…
Sonne [to Victoria]: You want to ride with us…ride with us…in my car?
…and you choose to go along. And he takes you into a whole other world. A world that [for better or for worse] would never have existed had you just ignored his overtures.
And then there is the part where you begin to wonder why would she choose to do what she did. After all, when she first happened upon them [in the wee hours of the morning] they were attempting to steal a car. What in the past had prompted her to be so…reckless?
And I thought that her explanation [of sorts] was amazing.
IMDb
[b]The original screenplay was very short (only 12 pages), since a large part of the dialogue was improvised. Because of this, the writers are credited for story and not for screenplay.
Despite its positive reviews, this movie was disqualified for an Academy Award nomination in the Best Foreign Language Film category due to its large amounts of English dialogue.
Just like the other famous one-take film Russian Ark, Victoria was to be filmed only three times. In the case of both films this succeeded with the third, and last, take.
In the scene right after the bank robbery Laia Costa actually forgot where to drive and takes the wrong turn. Everyone’s outburst of panic in the car is completely genuine as they were risking filming crew members and thus ruining the whole take. Even the director Sebastian Schipper, who was lying in the trunk of the car, started screaming directions in sheer panic. His screaming was later removed during audio editing. The car actually ended up driving past crew members but none of them can be seen thanks to the cameraman who reacted quickly by filming from a much lower angle so as not to have any windows in the frame. [/b]
at wiki: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_(2015_film
trailer: youtu.be/e9tKRK2qj0I
VICTORIA [2015]
Directed by Sebastian Schipper
[b]Victoria: Are you stealing that?
Sonne: No, no. I pay tomorrow! I don’t want…He’s a friend of mine. Really. I swear, he’s a friend of mine…
Victoria: OK.
Sonne: I pay him tomorrow. I know him very long time.
…
Boxer: Tell her why I’m famous. I’m famous! I’m famous.
Sonne: He stole a truck. He stole a truck and he went on a highway to Poland.
Victoria: That’s true? And you were famous for that?
Boxer: I was eleven! It was on the news. There was an interview.
…
Boxer [explaining his tattoo]: I smashed a guy.
Victoria: What?!
Boxer: I really hurt…I hurt a guy very bad.
Victoria: But what’s the relation with the tattoo?
Boxer: I’m not a bad guy. I just…I did a bad thing, OK?
Victoria: Yeah, but… You did this tattoo for that reason? Because you did something bad?
Sonne: Who cares? He was in jail…
Victoria: You were in jail?
…
Victoria: You don’t seem German at all.
Sonne: We are real Berlin guys. There are many people just coming here and think they are Berlin. But we are Berlin. We’re real Berlin. Multicultural. You know?
…
Sonne [amazed at her skills playing the piano]: I never, ever… I never hear something like this before. Really. Show me your hands. It’s like wonder hands. Really!
Victoria: They’re just hands.
Sonne: No. What’s the name of the song?
Victoria: It’s “Mephisto Waltz”, you know?
Sonne: Mephisto? Mephisto, he’s like a devil, huh?
Victoria: Yeah, it’s the devil.
Sonne: I like the devil.
Victoria: Yeah, me too.
Sonne: But one question. Really…Why you don’t play…? You have to play…You have to play in concert halls. Why do you do something like this!
Victoria: I’ve been… I’ve been… I don’t know the name, how you say that… I’ve been… in the conservatory, you know… I was in the conservatory. and I cannot continue in the conservatory because I’m not good enough, or something like that.
Sonne: Because they’re stupid, or what?
Victoria: No, it’s OK. I prefer that.
Sonne: No, really… Because it’s amazing. It’s like. You know, I…
Victoria: No, it’s not amazing…I don’t know. I’ve been like sixteen and a half years practicing playing the piano every day, like seven hours every day. Seven is the maximum. You cannot play more, because you’re gonna hurt your arms. And it’s a really hard life, because you have no…you have no life. You have no friends. Well, the friends are like the other guys that are in the conservatory…but they are not your friends really. They’re like your enemies. Because they are fighting for your dream too.
Sonne: But was it your dream… to play?
Victoria: Not any more.No. Because it’s… You are… You… You can became a bad… I don’t know. I was just thinking, for my friends, they should fail in their exams… because then I would have, like, more opportunities for me! our teacher said to us that just the 90% of us, we are lasing our lime. It’s really difficult to became a real piano player. And it’s better like this. You know, when I was 12 I can remember, I was like an old lady…just playing always the fucking piano. [/b]
And then the fateful phone call…
[b]Victoria [after Sonne gets off the phone]: What? What happens?
Sonne: I have to do Boxer a favour. We have to go now to…do some work.
Victoria: Now you have to work with them?
Sonne: Yeah, I have to go. Yeah, yeah.
…
Boxer: Man! Just fuck it!
Sonne: Call him and tell him it’s off! Fuck it!
Boxer: We can’t!
Sonne: We don’t have to do it tonight!
Boxer: He wants four of us!
Sonne: But not tonight!
Boxer: I gave him my word!
…
Sonne: Just call him and postpone it!
Boxer: We can’t postpone! I owe him! You know what I mean![/b]
We know where this is going…
[b]Sonne: You know…You don’t have to do this. Really, you don’t have to do this. But…Boxer. He was in jail, yeah? And there was this guy giving him protection. Like…The guy do him a favour…Now he have to do something for him. For this guy. And now we have to go there with four guys…And Fuss is completely…You know…? You just have to…Please, can you help us?
…
Sonne: We just go there…And after this bring you back to the cafe no problem. We just need now help because…Boxer is in trouble if not, you know.
Victoria: And you need to be four?
Sonne: Yeah. I don’t know why.
Victoria: I just drive you there and then I come back?
Sonne: We bring you back. We bring you back, no problem.
Victoria: OK. No problem. It’s something bad to do, or…?
Boxer: We’ve got five minutes. Five fucking minutes!
Sonne: It’s something not… after, maybe it’s something bad. But it’s not about you. You know, we just go there and bring you back. Really, that’s not bad for you. OK? Really. I swear. It’s not bad for you.
Victoria: OK. I go.
…
Blinker: We’re meeting a real gangster. That’s interesting!
Boxer: Shut the fuck up!
Blinker: Got it, Boxer. Everything’s cool.
Boxer: Stop frightening the girl, retard!
Blinker: We’re not frightening her.[/b]
She doesn’t speak German.
[b]Andi: These are your boys?
Boxer: Yes.
Andi: Who’s the bitch? Are you guys fucking her?
Boxer: The bitch is our driver.
Andi: You don’t say. Get out. You’re the driver? Done this before?
Victoria: I don’t speak German.
Andi: What the fuck? She doesn’t speak German?!
…
Andi: I can’t force you.
Boxer: Then we won’t. We won’t do it.
Andi: Boxer, back in jail you enjoyed my protection. You owe me. Ten grand. And I want that money.
Boxer: I’ll get the money.
Andi: You had no money for cigarettes and now you’ll find ten grand?
Boxer: Give me a week, OK?
Andi: One week? OK. While you’re getting the money, I’ll keep the bitch.
[A thub grabs Victoria]
Sonne: We’ll do it. We’ll do it! Hey, we’ll do it, OK? We’ll do it, man!
…
Andi: Tilidine, cocaine. Take some. It makes you confident and aggressive. If you’re busted, you’ll do less time. Bitch, you too.
…
Boxer: I’ll do it alone.
Sonne: I come with you. I drive you…Guys, for once, everyone together. Come here. Blinker, come here! Blinker, come here, man!
Blinker: No, let’s go, let’s go!
Sonne: Relax, for once. But we’re taking her back first!
Victoria: Sonne. I want to go with you.
…
Sonne: Go! Go! Go! Go! Come on!
Victoria: The car, the car is not going on! The car is not going on! Boxer! The car is not going on! The car is not fucking going on!
…
Boxer: Let’s check what Fuss is doing, you stupid morons!
Victoria: Oh, my god! Fuss! He’s still in the car!
Sonne: I totally forgot about him! I completely forgot him!
…
Sonne [with the cops in pursuit and bullets flying]: Why’d you let me into your shitty apartment with a baby?
Mother: I don’t know…
Sonne: Are you stupid? You can’t let me in when there’s a baby here! How stupid are you? How stupid are you, man?!
…
Police [over a loudspeaker]: Attention, residents! This is the police! Please stay in your homes. Keep your doors closed. Don’t let anyone in! We will inform you once the situation is under control. Attention, residents! This is the police! Secure your doors and windows.
…
Victoria: Listen. Listen to me. I’m going to take your baby. Listen to me!
Mother: Not my baby! No!
Victoria: Come. Listen to me. Listen to me. Look at me!
Mother: Not my baby.
Victoria: We are good people. We need your help. Now. Right now!
Mother: Not my baby!
Victoria: Look at me! Your baby’s going to be OK! Your baby’s going to be OK. I promise. We need your help. We just need to go out. Your baby’s going to be in that store in five minutes. I promise. I promise to you. We need just your help. Please.
…
News reporter [on TV]: The police identified the getaway car, which led to the first thief’s arrest. There was a shootout between police and the thieves here in Kochstrasse… One of the thieves died at the scene, another one on the way to the hospital… Two suspects, a man and a woman in their twenties, are still at large.
…
Sonne: Listen, listen. You go… you go now…You take the money.
Victoria: What?!
Sonne [gasping for breath]: Nobody knows who you are. Take the money. Go to Spain. You go. Go!
Victoria: Sonne, I’m going to call a fucking ambulance, OK?
[she calls for the ambulance]
…
Victoria: Sonne. Sonne. OK, listen. Listen. They are on their way. They’re coming. Sonne, look at me! Sonne, look at me. Hey! Stay with me, OK? They’re coming. They are on their way. Stay. Hey…Look at me. Stay with me. Sonne, stay. Sonne, stay with me. Stay! Stay. Sonne, stay. Stay! Stay! Stay! Stay. No, stay. Sonne, stay. Stay with me. Stay. Stay…Stay.[/b]