Jackson Booth-Millard
When I got the latest copy of the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, this German film was one of the latest entries, I found out it is one of the few films (like Timecode or Russian Ark) that was created in one single shot, so I was really looking forward to it. Basically Spanish girl Victoria (Laia Costa) moved to Berlin, Germany three months ago, she works in a cafe on a meagre wage, she does not know anyone in the city, and she does not speak much German, the only common language around her is English. One night, at around 4 o'clock in the morning, Victoria leaves a club, after enjoying drinking and dancing, she meets four young men who were rejected entry, they are "Sonne" (Frederick Lau), "Boxer" (Franz Rogowski), "Blinker" (Burak Yigit), and "Fuß" (Max Mauff). The men invite Victoria to walk through the city, she agrees, after the men steal alcohol from an all night shop, they all go onto the roof of an apartment building, where they drink and smoke marijuana together. Victoria says she needs to leave to open the cafe she works at in a short time, Sonne has been flirting with her since they met, he suggests accompanying her, she agrees, Boxer tells Sonne to return soon, it is implied the four men have something important to do this night. Victoria and Sonne arrive at the cafe, the two are alone inside, Sonne notices a piano and tinkles on it, he dares Victoria to play something, she masterfully plays one of the Mephisto Waltzes, Sonne is impressed and deeply moved, she tells that she had dreams of becoming a concert pianist, but at music school she was told was not good enough to continue. Shortly later, Boxer arrives extremely nervous and agitated, he demands Sonne leave with him immediately, the four men steal a car at the front of the cafe and drive away, only to return moments later, because Fuß is highly intoxicated and has fallen unconscious. A desperate Boxer demands Sonne to ask Victoria to replace Fuß and help them, Sonne reluctantly does so, he tells Victoria that Boxer was helped by gangster Andi (André Hennicke) while in prison. Now Andi demands Boxer pay him back, Andi has asked Boxer to get three allies for a meeting, none of the four men know the purpose of it, Sonne is surprised when Victoria immediately agrees to help, Victoria drives Sonne, Boxer, Blinker and Fuß (lying in the back of the car) to the meeting place, a parking garage. There Andi, surrounded by several armed men, demands that the four rob a certain bank this morning for €50,000, Andi will take €10.000 as payback, leaving them with the rest, the four agree to the robbery when Victoria is threatened, they are armed with guns, and forced to take drugs to make them more alert and aggressive. Blinker has a panic attack while Victoria is driving, but the others calm him down, Boxer feels guilty for involving Victoria and say he will rob the bank alone, but the others, including Victoria, tell him they will still help, the robbery goes smoothly, although the car stalls, it is left in a back alley. The four escape, euphoric after the successful robbery and still under the influence of the drugs, they return to the club to celebrate, Sonne and Victoria share a kiss, but they are thrown out when Blinker and Boxer strip naked on the dance floor. Outside, they remember has been left unconscious Fuß back in the car, returning to the back alley they find the police have already found it, they panic and try to leave, but police in plain clothes spot them. Boxer, Blinker and Sonne draw their guns and a shootout ensues, Blinker is hot and left by the other three, Boxer implores Sonne and Victoria to take the money and flee while he confronts the police. Sonne and Victoria manage to enter an apartment building unseen, they enter one of the apartments and take a young couple hostage, they take a change of clothes, the couple have a baby, they take it with them, Victoria promises the crying mother her child will be left somewhere for her to find, she and Sonne encounter the police on the staircase, assumed to be a young couple they are allowed to leave the building. They leave the baby in front of a café across the street and get a taxi to a nearby hotel, Victoria reserves a room while Sonne waits, writhing in great pain, on their room Victoria notices Sonne has been shot, once in the room he lies down in the bed. Sonne watches the news, it shows that Boxer died during the shootout, and Blinker died being taken to hospital, Victoria sees Sonne is bleeding profusely and calls an ambulance, but Sonne dies, Victoria breaks down crying, eventually she pulls herself together, takes the bag of cash and walks out of the hotel. Costa gives a great performance as the young Spaniard drawn into a bank job filled with numerous consequences, Lau is equally good as the man she fancies, the chemistry between them works well, it makes us care about them during the chaotic stuff, the techniques to keep the camera in one single shot (it took three attempts to complete it), going many places across the city, are remarkable, it really is a captivating drama. Very good!
