(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
One night in Berlin
Directed by Sebastian Schipper
photo: Sturla Brandth Grøvlen
During this year's film festival in Berlin, young Norwegian film photographer Sturla Brandth Grøvlen was awarded a Silver Bear for "outstanding artistic contribution" – ie outstanding artistic effort. He received the award for the German feature film Victoria, which premiered here at home in early September with the Norwegian title One night in Berlin (presumably to avoid confusion with Torun Lian's Hamsun filming from 2013). And the photographer's job on this production is so outstanding, as the entire film is shot in one long shot. From the beginning of the film, we meet the main character Victoria under intense strobe lights on the dance floor of a nightclub, it is not cut until the cast comes around 2 hours and 15 minutes – and about a dozen different rentals – later.
At the nightclub, Victoria meets with the Berlin Sonne, and a certain chemistry quickly emerges between the Spanish immigrant girl and the flirtatious German. Together with his friends Boxer, Fuss and Blinker, Sonne wants to show her the real Berlin, which he claims is to be found outdoors, along the city streets and on its roof. This will be the start of a long and eventful night in the German capital. The film takes a relatively good time to establish the central characters, but hints early on that Sonne and his gang are not exclusively on the obedient side of the law. Halfway into the action, they get an offer they can't say no to carrying out a robbery, which is really about settling old debt. At this point, however, one of the guys is too tired to participate, and thus the restless and adventurous Victoria is persuaded to act as driver in his place. With this, the film takes a new genre direction, from a kind of romantic drama to a cleaner thriller. And as you can expect from the latter type of film, the robbery should not go completely according to the original plan.
Russian Ark and Birdman. Long shoots with complicated camera movements and even entire feature films without clips have been made before One night in Berlin. Some such scenes have gained their place in film history, which reaches the main character of Martin Scorseses Goodfellas (1990) takes his new girlfriend to a nightclub where he knows everyone and gets to set up his own table in the absence of free seating. The over-three-minute steadicam take is further complicated by the couple entering the place through the busy and crowded kitchen, and the technical bravado makes us as the audience feel something of the same as the impressively impressed girlfriend. It's almost like holding your breath.
With his handheld camera, the Norwegian photographer maneuvers throughout the 22 recording locations together with the actors, in movements involving both lift and car trips.
Alexander Sukorov Russian Ark from 2002 is an example of a feature film that was filmed in its entirety in a long steadicam sequence. The film portrays a modern filmmaker, with Sukorov's narrative voice on the soundtrack, waking up in the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, with no one to see him, except for a 1800th-century French diplomat. Here, the more than 90 minutes of unbroken shooting gives an alienating effect to the audience, where, like the protagonist, we see the action and its various time periods from a dreamlike distance.
The opposite was the case last year Birdman, directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, who was also made as if it were a single long shot – although in reality this was done through digital processing and virtually invisible clips. The experience of an unbroken take created just as much a special intensity, which reflected the nervousness the main character feels towards the premiere of the play he both directs and plays in. In addition, this grip brought the film closer to the aesthetics of the theater, with the immediacy and the presence that comes with something here and now. And with this, Birdman's form and content went up into a higher unit – unlike how long tags and other technicals bravado may be in danger of directing too much attention to themselves. Used without coating in the action, most of these instruments can appear as show off from the filmmakers.
Real-time. How to place One night in Berlin in that way? In spectator power it is definitely closer Birdman hen Russian Ark, even though One night in Berlin – like Sukorov's movie – is "real commodity" when it comes to long, unbroken shooting. It is impossible not to be impressed by this route, where Brandth Grøvlen with his handheld camera (a Canon C300, without stabilizers, for those who are wondering) maneuver through 22 recording locations together with the actors, in movements involving both elevator and road trips. Yet it is in no way alienating. Instead, the bold molding creates an intensity comparable to Birdman's nerve, which can be transferred to the experience of embarking on a night-time adventure with someone who until recently was completely alien. And not least with the fear and adrenaline associated with participating in the robbery that will eventually come, with subsequent complications and consequences. Again, we are almost holding our breath as the action unfolds real-time.
I myself have interviewed Sturla Brandth Grøvlen about the movie for the industry magazine Rushprint. The photographer then explained that they had three attempts to make the film – after extensive samples of the scenes, which were also filmed (and consequently gave them the opportunity to put together a version of the film with clips). All three recordings were performed in full. Between each trial they had a few days break, where they also made adjustments: For example, some characters were printed in advance of the last recording, which was to be the final film. The photographer said that the previous two were technically better, but that the actor's performance made the third take on the supremely best film – and thus the choice was not too difficult for him to live with.
For it is to a large extent the actors who carry this film. Especially Laia Costa starring as Victoria, but also Frederick Lau makes an outstanding effort as Sonne. One might argue that theater actors play just over two hours in a row just as it is on stage, but it still requires something quite different to do it on film. No less impressive is that One night in Berlin is a very well played movie. So far I have not mentioned director Sebastian Schipper, who of course also has a great deal of credit for this – as well as for the film as a whole. He is also an actor himself – among other things he played in Tom Tykwers Run, Lola, run (1998) – but shows much more than just a good hand with his actors when he has managed to complete a project like this.
Like a war photographer. The staff around the actors were kept to an absolute minimum, though One night in Berlin at the same time required a large apparatus that worked to prepare the recordings in advance and along the way. Schipper wanted a rough expression in this film, and instructed Brandth Grøvlen to be like a war photographer dropped into a conflict zone, which depends on what's going on there. The photographer relied on the freedom to film in all directions around all recording locations, and consequently relied on amplifying existing lamps and other "natural" light sources – as well as adding some extra billboards and the like that created more light in the cityscape. Nevertheless, the Norwegian shooting star has added a lot of color and power to the film's visual expression. Brandth Grøvlen completed The Danish Film School in 2011 and has, among other things, also photographed the Icelandic feature film Rams, which won the award for Best Film in the Side Program Un Certain Regard during this year's Cannes festival. It is coming to Norwegian cinemas next year.
One night in Berlin could hardly have been done in one shot without the lightweight digital cameras that have come in recently. The story – where the German capital also plays a significant role – is certainly strong enough that it would work if you cut between the scenes, but the exceptional approach emphasizes the intensity and nerve of the play as well as the action. This does One night in Berlin to a unique cinematic experience, and a true triumph for Sturla Brandth Grøvlen and the others involved.
A Night in Berlin has its Norwegian cinema premiere on 4 September.
Huser is a film critic in Ny Tid.
alekshuser@ Gmail.com
