Definitely not boring

An incredible technical achievement! Which, on a more problematic note, is also a film with a story. The title character is a Spanish girl (Laia Costa) living in Berlin. One night, she leaves a nightclub, encounters an unruly group of men, flirts with one (Frederick Lau), and joins them for an early-morning heist, resulting in a whirlwind chase through the city as the police close in. Every moment of this ordeal is captured in a single, continuous, nearly two-and-a-half-hour shot. There is not a single cut. The result is bold and hypnotic. There are moments when one cannot help but pause and whisper, "Holy shit, this is still the same winding-and-darting shot from an hour ago!" But the ease with which Victoria is recruited to participate in a life-or-death criminal Hail Mary strains credulity, and there are points when the real-time requirement results in tedium (conventional cinema can collapse time...and leave out the tooth-brushing).

B

It is an amazing movie during the first hour...before the whole heist shit starts. The performances are so natural and it captures the feeling of being in Berlin so very very well. Laia Costa is a revelation and I could have just watched her with the guys for two and a half hours. But then it descends into, well, what it becomes and that is just so unnecessary...

That being said, it is STILL the best German film I have seen all year (okay, competition wasn't crazy) and it is a shame that it will get zero recognition for its cinematography Stateside. Unlike Birdman's good-looking trickery, it is all real here. They shot the entire film three times and what we see is the third take.

Nicht Kartoffelsalat?

Bruder vor Luder!

Man was this intense. Costa is something else and I can't wait to see her in more films moving forward. Yeah the first half is better than the second and about 20-30 minutes could have been cut but when there is momentum in this film it fires on all cylinders.