12 Foreign Films That Show Hollywood How A Genre Film Should Be Done
11. Victoria
Country: Germany
Genre: Thriller
Plot: A heist thriller set in Berlin that's nearly 2 and a half hours long... and shot in one continuous take with no cuts. Amazingly, it only took three attempts to get the finished version.
If Hollywood did this story, they would rush the entire thing and characters would be left to the wayside. Victoria's slow-paced approach, although it leads to a few pacing problems during the film, allows us to become invested in the characters and this makes the film far more suspenseful and soulful. Best of all, for once it's a thriller which feels like it's taking place in the real world.
Victoria is proof that heist films can have good characters and still be thrilling. This will also help films of this type reach a wider audience, since this will definitely appeal to those who aren't normally fans of heist thrillers. There's a certain sequence which might be the best nightclub-set film scene of all time, and makes for a beautiful bit of cinema.
Obviously, the USP is the single-take cinematography, but there's plenty else to write home about as well. The characters and set pieces are equally strong, and unlike last summer's Baby Driver, this is a well-written film that doesn't sacrifice thrills.
Remake?
No. Few would attempt the long tracking shot and Victoria is quite an obscure film anyway.