Movie Review – Victoria

A shot to remember

Victoria could have been one of those typical festival darlings because of the way it was shot but the first success of it is, it just doesn’t end up being only a festival darling but also works as a standalone movie, with or without the employment of the single take. Thanks to the highly entertaining actor, a great premise, which was made believable because we could empathize with the actors and of course a good camera and editing technique. ‘Victoria’ keeps us glued to our seats, in the league of ‘Run Lola Run’ and it’s a miracle that this film works like a fast paced jump cut type of films.

The film opens with Vicotria (Laia Costa) partying in a club solo. Her lively nature is revealed right from the scene one when she makes small talks with the bartender. She can be defined as one happy woman. The scene is an extended one. As I was not aware that it was a single shot film, I was impressed by the long take and was internally appreciating the director to have taken time off and setting the mood of the film. Single shot or not, the club sequence deserves a credit for the way it was made.

Right from scene one, there is a sense of tension. That only gets incremented when she’s called upon by one of the guy in the club and a group of men outside. I was praying that she shouldn’t be kidnapped and raped. The way the film was going, it felt like that, thanks to every other film which made us think so. Anyways the tension was palpable. The film took its own sweet time to establish the relationship between Victoria and the gang. Till the time they go the terrace and one the guys called out, “sister… sister…” to make her stop shouting, the situation was tense. Post that it felt as if she was going to give them needless trouble instead of them giving the trouble. Those moments of uncertainty was beautiful.

Victoria develops feelings for Sonne (Frederick Lau) in the midst of all the chaos. From tension, the mood changes to romantic when they take a bicycle ride to her café. When there is a cue that it was going to be sex scene there, it then jumps into something melancholic, thanks to the Piano. Isn’t it beautiful, how music was employed in a single shot and it needs to be appreciated because of the how difficult it is actually to blend it in cinema. One foot wrong and the entire film would collapse. Plus it gave a kind of ‘Before Sunset’ meeting ‘Whiplash’ feel. Inspiring as well as depressing. As it was a deep conversation involving music, I was moved.

Till this point, the film does a fine job. The difficult and unrealistic part starts post this, where it becomes a heist film. Victoria joins the gang of men including Sonne, Boxer (Franz Rogowski) and Blinker (Burak Yiğit) because Fuß (Max Mauff) for a bank robbery. It’s a scene which shouldn’t have worked but the actors, especially Laia Costa does a fabulous job in making us believe that she really wants to be part of them. May be the music scene too became a precursor for us to understand that she was depressed in life and wants to be of something productive and thus joined them.

The best part of the film was the club scene post that where we don’t get to hear the real music but witness the jubilation of all the characters. But we know for sure that it’s not going to be a happy ending in the end. The tension keeps us on hooks through the club scene where we tend to feel that they are getting overboard.

The chase and the killings in the end, just feels an eventual and unavoidable thing. It largely didn’t work or may be by that time we’re all deeply in love with the characters so we don’t want them to disappear. Anyways the film wasn’t entirely spoilt, thanks to a superb long shot.

Movie Review – Run Lola Run

Hits you high and leaves you dry

Run Lola Run was all about nostalgia. I wanted to watch a movie which would take me back to the good old dog day afternoons where I used to watch movies nonstop in a room even without ceiling fan. I couldn’t go to that level and just randomly click on a movie because I’ve become conscious of what I consume. Two movies were in contention, Inland Empire and Run Lola Run. I chose the latter owing to the run time and also due to the familiarity in title to ‘Kiss Kiss Bang Bang’ but I should soon catch up with Inland Empire. I’m afraid of exhausting Lynch’s movies but still… I’ve to.

I was so happy that I chose the right film. It’s a truly independent film. It is fun right from scene one. With the run time only just over an hour the film can be segmented into three parts. All three of it so cleverly done. The timeline is the most fascinating thing about this film. Films like this inspire people. May be that’s what happened when ‘Breathless’ came out. But I got more inspired with this film. It made me feel that I too can take up the camera and shoot. What if it doesn’t come out well? It’s still a product of my interest.

The idea looks farfetched. Fetching 10000 Marks in twenty minutes. Also when she gets killed by the police initially we think it’s all over but we get to see that it ain’t over. That’s a fast one which Tykwer pulls on us. The films motif seems to be resembling Vertigo, but the style reminded me of Guy Ritchie’s. ‘Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels’ specifically. 

I loved how the film doesn’t try to moralize us. We’re made to root for Manni (Moritz Bleibtreu) even though we know that he’s not a good guy. The things that Lola (Franka Potente) does are not necessarily good yet we root for her. The flashbacks or flash forwards of the characters she stumbles upon (literally) are beautiful. It’s not one of those flashy Butterfly effect movies but a movie which is earthier. The characters develop into someone different with every dash of the heroine. That’s a great idea, much like Linklaters ‘Waking Life’. But something more fun than that.

Even though the film doesn’t moralize, it’s not a film which is cold on characters too. For example, there is a little bit of tension for the scene where Lola’s dad and her girlfriend are involved, even the picturisation of it is grainy. In the same way the car crash scene, the best of the time loop sequence that. Also the homeless man scene, when Lola runs in an alley and we don’t spot that homeless man we were left to wonder. That’s a great cinematic moment. These scenes bring life to the movie and end up being a superior film, not just a mere gimmick. But my favorite scene would be the one where Manni gets the money from Homeless man and Homeless man in turn asks for his gun. He ends up saying sorry to the homeless man. I’m sure many of us would have felt bad for the homeless man even before Manni says sorry. That was indeed, philosophical.

Right from the title card the films motive was clear. I liked one of the comparison made between ‘Speed’ and this film. Where ‘Speed’ is just an adrenaline pumping no brainer action film, ‘Run Lola Run’ is an intelligent film. The bus runs all the while in ‘Speed’ but it’s just the context which is interesting, the scenes as such are mundane but here in ‘Run Lola Run’ every run of Lola is superbly choreographed and made interesting. We get to infer a lot of things. It stays true to the title as well as works intellectually too.

The movies climax sequence was slightly disappointing, I didn’t like the ambulance effect, it kind of spoilt the speed of the film, yet as a whole, seeing Manny come out from the car of his boss and getting a pat on the cheek was a sweet touch.