As Sebastian Schipper's sublime new drama is released on DVD, the movie's Spanish star reveals some of the secrets behind its unique production
When you enter a cinema knowing that you're about to watch a film shot entirely in one take, you could be forgiven for bracing yourself for a gimmicky ride, or for harbouring a secret desire to pick apart the numerous flaws that such an ambitious undertaking might result in. Ten minutes into Victoria, however – the fourth feature-length film from German director Sebastian Schipper – and you will find that you are no longer sitting sceptically in the cinema, or comfortably in your sitting room, but have in fact been transported to Berlin, where you will remain for the next two hours. The ride will be bumpy, by turns exhilarating, terrifying and heartbreaking, but the word gimmicky simply doesn't apply.
The film follows its titular character – a Spanish woman in her early 20s, played to perfection by wide-eyed, gamine-featured actress Laia Costa – as she encounters four ebullient Berliners outside a nightclub, and soon after finds herself embroiled in an unlikely bank robbery, spurred on by a blossoming romance with the kind and funny Sonne (Frederick Lau) and a thirst for adventure. For Costa, now 31, the casting process was unlike anything she had previously encountered. "I never had a script, I got just three notes: it is going be a sequence shoot, it is going to be a bank heist and you have to move to Berlin for a couple of months," she tells AnOther. "That was enough for me to jump on it." The cast and crew rehearsed for 12 non-consecutive days, prompted by 12 pages of notes (documenting scenes, locations and the broad actions of the characters), before doing three one-takes, the third of which was finally used.
"Since we shot the film in one take – and yes we did it more than once – we were able to see the (complete) film very early on," Schipper says in the film's production notes. "So we had the chance (and the challenge) to develop the ideas, the characters, the plot, the motivations much earlier than in a classic set-up. We 'cooked' right there, right then – on a super hot plate. Because we knew all the decisions had to be taken and then executed at that very moment – and most of all – that they were final. The panic, the fear, the adrenalin, the endless euphoria when we knew [we'd done it]...!" And indeed, all of these emotions are tangible as the actors sprint and stumble their way through the film, awe-struck viewers in tow, in what will surely go down in cinematic history as a sublime and successful stunt. Here, to mark the award-winning film's DVD release in the UK, we catch up with Costa to discover more about the experience of making it and her own coming-of-age.
On the rehearsal and filming process...
"We rehearsed the scenes working all together in a very creative process with director Sebastian Schipper for 12 non-consecutive days before the three one-takes. The challenge was to follow Schipper's rules to make it: never repeat the same action or say something in the same way twice."
On how she felt after each take...
"I always felt the same at the end of the three one-takes: 'just give me five more minutes, I don't want to stop it now.' I wanted to do it again and again."
On her favourite scene...
"We did three takes, so in my memory there are three piano scenes, three club scenes, three roof scenes… and they are all different. It was done in a sequence shoot, and I have the feeling that the movie is something that functions together, not by scenes. I can tell you my favourite take – the second one – but I can't tell you why, it was just a feeling I got after doing it. Freddie felt the same."
On her four male co-stars...
"They are genuinely talented actors and I learned a lot from them. I think they are real actors, without flashes or neon lights, without the noise this industry sometimes makes. Just real talented actors who love what they do, and go for it without a mask."
On what she learned making the movie...
"It's not about you, it's always about other people. That's why I love acting, because it pushes me to be a more tolerant person – with people and lives I don't know. You have to understand others. In this movie, I learnt about loneliness, a very hard and powerful emotion that makes you do things you would never have done before. You do it simply to survive."
On working with Schipper...
"He was brave enough to let us be part of the movie in a very deep way; he involved us in the creative process from the start. He listened and talked to everyone and we all felt we were a very important part of Victoria. You need a very confident and talented director to make a movie like this."
On her own most reckless action growing up...
"I've been a very good girl my whole life and that's why I love playing these strong characters, and making these kinds of stories. A film is a challenge for me to jump without a net for some hours, but it also promises me no consequences afterwards. The best deal ever."
On her favourite coming-of-age films growing up...
"My 'coming-of-age' thing has more to do with basketball matches than with films. I've been a federated basketball player for over 18 years. My crush for films is a very new one, just five years ago when I started my acting studies. Since then I've seen four films that have influenced me a lot: The Piano Teacher, A Woman Under the Influence, Breaking the Waves and The Piano."
On the best advice she's been given as an actress...
"You don't have to judge the characters, you just have to understand them."
On making this kind of film again...
"Good things cannot be just a one-time thing. I'd love to do it again and again..."
Victoria is available on DVD and Blu-ray now.
