8 Brilliant Uses Of The Long Take In Movies & TV Shows

Last but not least comes the oddity of this list in Sebastian Schipper’s German-language crime thriller, Victoria, charting the titular protagonist’s chaotic night out in Berlin, which rapidly evolves into a bank robbery. Shot in a single continuous long take, or ‘one shot’ as this is known, Schipper achieved a perfect synthesis of time, place and film, across an astonishing two-hour run time.

The production was not without its troubles though. Getting the film greenlit was difficult enough in the first place, with Schipper being given a budgetary allowance that permitted a ‘three strikes and out’ approach to filming, and having to promise the financiers a traditionally cut version of the film if his ambitious technique did not pan out. After filming two dud runs in which the cast over- and under-acted, it was on the third and final recording that they struck gold and walked away with a largely improvised but perfect synchronised slice of cinematic history.

While not the first film to attempt the one shot, whose tradition has more than a handful of entries in its canon, Victoria is probably the most prolific and successful example, gaining exposure via a slew of high-profile media attention and an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. Ultimately, Victoria does what the likes of Hitchcock and Iñárritu could only feign to do, leaving us with the longest take of all.