Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.5

Victoria Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov May 26, 2016

Winner of multiple awards at the Berlin International Film Festival, Sebastian Schipper's "Victoria" (2015) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Curzon Artificial Eye. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film; casting scenes; camera test; and audio commentary with director Sebastian Schipper. In German and English, with optional English and English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

Blue euphoria

Victoria randomly speeds up, slows down and then speeds up again, but you don’t notice because the film places you right in the middle of the action and keeps you there literally until the final credits roll. Some interactive video games can do this as well, but the experience is different. The environment is artificial and you are aware that you can pause and make decisions that can instantly take you out of the game. While viewing Victoria you begin to feel the euphoria, the tension and the fear. After a while you completely forget that you are simply viewing a film.

It all begins in a night club full of strangers. This is the kind of dark and oozing atmosphere place where you would go to lose yourself for a few hours and forget that the world you live in exists, not to make new friends and talk to them. But it is here that Victoria (Laia Costa) meets Sonne (Frederick Lau), Boxer (Franz Rogowski), Blinker (Burak Yigit), and Fub (Max Mauff) and they decide to spend the rest of the night together. Victoria is Spanish and barely speaks German which is why they communicate in broken English. Sometimes they have trouble understanding each other, but it does not matter to them because they feel good together. They also feel free and invincible.

After the boys show Victoria The Roof -- their secret place on the top of a large apartment building where they like to relax and unwind -- she decides that it is time to leave. In less than an hour she has to open the coffee shop where she works and begin serving hot drinks to the early commuters. Sonne volunteers to go back with her because he knows exactly where the place is.

Less than an hour later, Victoria and Sonne can already tell that they can be more than just good friends. They smile, touch and make plans to see each other again.

But then their lives spin out of control when Boxer phones Sonne and asks him to convince Victoria to drive them to a nearby underground garage where they must meet a shady character and his goons. They absolutely have to go because Boxer owes the man. And once they meet him, they must do what he asks them to do. Walking away simply isn’t an option.

Sebastian Schipper’s Victoria is the equivalent of pure cinema. It is essentially a fluid slice of reality that sucks you in and then allows you to temporarily experience the feelings and emotions of its protagonists.

It was filmed digitally over a fixed period of time as one single continuous shot (approximately 135 minutes long). So in a way it is similar to Aleksandr Sokurov's Russian Ark, but it offers a more intense and ultimately more intimate experience. There was a script, but the film does not have a traditional structure and the movement of the actors was not prearranged. (Apparently Schipper had some basic guidelines, but the movement of people in front and around the camera was completely unrestricted).

While the technical side of the project is unquestionably unique and impressive, the strength of the film comes from the natural chemistry between its stars. It is simply amazing to watch these young actors and their unbridled emotions while Schipper follows them across Berlin. Were they actually acting?

Some very beautiful ambient tracks composed by Nils Frahm are occasionally used to very effectively slow down the film.

Victoria Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.40:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Sebastian Schipper's Victoria arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Curzon Artificial Eye.

The film was shot digitally and under very unique conditions. Indeed, similar to Aleksandr Sokurov's Russian Ark, Victoria is essentially one long continuous shot -- there are no standard cuts and the lighting is fully organic. This is very important to remember because the minor fluctuations that emerge throughout the film are in fact native limitations. Even during the darker nighttime/club footage, however, depth is typically excellent. Clarity is also outstanding, through occasionally while the camera moves around the main protagonists some heavy shadows can have an obvious impact on it. Colors are natural and stable. Image stability is excellent. Lastly, there are no serious encoding anomalies to report in our review. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Victoria Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: German DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and German LPCM 2.0 (with portions of broken English). Optional English and English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

I viewed the film with the 5.1 track, but I think that the 2.0 track is most likely just as effective. The film has a very fluid organic sound design that basically places the viewer right in the middle of the action. What this means is that there are segments where some of the dialog can be slightly uneven, while elsewhere random sounds and noises can be somewhat overexposed. In this film these types of fluctuations are in fact very effective. There are no audio dropouts or digital distortions to report in our review.

Victoria Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary - in this audio commentary, director Sebastian Schipper discusses in great detail exactly how different segments of the film were shot and a lot of the unorthodox choices that were made while following the main protagonists on the streets of Berlin, the casting of Laia Costa, etc. Mr. Schipper also phones screenwriter Eike Frederik Schulz, who further discusses the unusual structure and narrative of the film. Other "guests" include Max Mauff, who plays Fub, composer Nils Frahm, etc. In German, with imposed English subtitles.

• Casting Scenes - a collection of casting scenes. In German, with imposed English subtitles. (5 min).

• Camera Test - camera test for Victoria from January 11, 2014. In German, with imposed English subtitles. (11 min).

• Trailer - original trailer for Victoria. In English and German, with imposed English subtitles where necessary. (2 min).

Victoria Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I was fortunate to see Sebastian Schipper's Victoria long before it was released on Blu-ray and thought that it deserved all the praise that it received at various festivals last year. The concept behind it is risky, but the end result is absolutely fantastic. Now that there have been so many reviews of this film it is probably impossible to see it without knowing at least a tiny bit about it, but if for some reason you have avoided it and the reviews, see it unprepared. I think that it is one of last year's very best films. Curzon Artificial Eye's technical presentation of Victoria is excellent. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.