Victoria

"I'm reluctant to rate it with the hackneyed phrase of "form overshadowed content", though it's pretty much the best way to describe it. In any case, the chosen format "in real time" is bold and ambitious, everything is in constant motion, it is made as one uninterrupted shot and through several different moods and genres it can be undeniably engaging, intense and as “Mann-style" captivating in many scenes as anything else. However, when something does happen (and it does more than it is appropriate), then the chosen form is on the contrary the cause of complete alienation and total exclusion from the movie, when you get so bored that you start noticing the smallest technical and production aspects, how they did a sloppy job in some scenes, and you will not pay that much attention to what is (not) happening on the screen. It's just the whole footage follows the sinusoid curve, for some time it is great, while some time it is out of place. Yet at the end of the day, what is the worst thing about this movie is a way too long, unjustified footage, especially the opening hour. As a result, I would be much more interested in watching a documentary showing how this movie was created including its pitfalls rather than watching the movie itself. Still, great job! We cannot deny that it is something that no one has ever tried before in such a scale. And more importantly, this movie is rather a success than a failure. (2015-10-07)

I probably didn’t get the film’s message, hence the low rating. When I found out it had over 70%, my jaw dropped so low it almost broke my toe. From my point of view, it’s a movie about a stupid girl, who after leaving a nightclub joins four drunk Germans. When they don't gangrape her within the first five minutes, she’s so thrilled that she joins them in a robbery and child kidnapping. The movie would be too short, so the filmmakers shrewdly filled it with pointlessly long scenes in which nothing happens. I don’t see any point in philosophizing about the influence of disco music on the development of characters, so this is the end of my review. (2016-11-21)

The film definitely has a good pace and the characters are quite intense, plus it develops maybe a little differently than you expect at first glance. It's a ride, almost in real time, with an interesting camera and interesting editing. However, it didn't manage to engage me in a way that I would outright admire the film. (2017-06-15)

For a concept involving the authentic night-time doings of a few characters in ordinary locations of Berlin, 140 minutes is a lot. The first half of this film drags a bit in exceedingly trivial scenes and dialogue. But what happens later is all the more surprising and gripping, especially if you know nothing at all about the plot. The troubles come in hints, and we suspect and fear them because the protagonist doesn’t deserve them. This is a very well made, emotive and thoroughly intensifying “one-shot” film with good acting performances. (2022-08-28)

Film as a performance and it's up to you how you take the ending. Unlike the others, I am instead convinced that the one-take method here is closely intertwined with the content, which simply wouldn't work without it. The genius loci of early Berlin, where anything goes, plays one of the main roles here; those who have ever drunkenly and drugged their way through the morning big city will particularly appreciate the immediacy of the first half of the film, which otherwise functions as a notoriously overwrought introduction to the narrative and characters. In a clever move, I find that the non-native speakers communicate with each other in broken English, which paradoxically simplifies their communication with the viewer, which is always limited to cutely futile bare sentences and not burdened with superstructure. Which can generally be applied to the whole film. The problem, paradoxically, arises once the plot gets going, when many imbecilic decisions can no longer be excused by adrenaline, alcohol, and drugs, but instead increase in intensity and, thanks to a narrative in real time, we drink in their consequences throughout. The uncomfortable tension that otherwise makes the whole film a veritable festival of viewer discomfort is thus transformed into a relentless facepalm and gnashing of teeth, as the one-take method is now becoming ossified and continues to lack formal attraction. It's only there, and it's only for one take. Nothing more (nothing less). P.S. For a woman who unsuccessfully went to pee at the beginning of the film, Victoria ended up making it through the next two and a half hours just fine. I had always suspected during my school days that girls go to the bathroom partly out of boredom. (2016-02-21)