‘Run Lola Run’ Review – Tom Tykwer’s Thriller Sprints to the Finish Line

The big picture

• Run Lola Run
  is a groundbreaking film that delves into existentialism and free will.
• The film's innovative storytelling and editing set the stage for future cinematic masterpieces.
• The evolution of Lola's knowledge in each iteration adds a unique twist, but its final message is familiar.

Run Lola Run it's a turbocharged, adrenaline-fueled thriller which also offers a heavy dose of existentialism, determinism and free will theory. director Tom TykwerGerman movie stars of 1999 Frank Potente in the title paper next to it Moritz Bliebtreu like her troubled little criminal boyfriend, Manni. In many ways, it is considered a game changer for the notoriously harsh and depressing film culture and German cinema as a whole. It sets out to tell a very simple story, and along the way engages in some mind-boggling inquiries that open up for discussion a variety of life's basic wonders. For example, is the butterfly effect a real phenomenon, and does every action we take alter the lives of the people we come in contact with and the world around us? The end result is a fantastically shot late 20th century film that redefines the way cinema can tell a hellish story while also asking some very deep questions.. Tykwer should be applauded for the three-act film that delivers thrills, spills and the incontestable “what ifs” that take the German narrative away from the self-loathing and demoralizing theatrical experience that existed after WWII World with authors com Werner Herzog i Rainer Werner Fassbinder and in a postmodern philosophical introspection of cause and effect.

What is “Run Lola Run”?

On its surface, Run Lola Run is the story of a pickpocket (Manni) who accidentally loses the 100,000 German marks he is sent to recover from drug trafficking.. When he gets off the subway without realizing it, he has left the money behind and a street bum (Joachim Krol) has, goes into full panic mode and calls Lola for help. If he doesn't arrive with 100,000 German marks in the next twenty minutes, his boss Ronnie (Heino Furch) will have him killed. Lola's desperate response is where Tykwer begins to delve into existentialism and how Lola's timing and choices have an effect not only on the outcome but on the lives of the people she literally runs into trying to get the money and save her boyfriend. The story is told in three separate acts that play out like a video game and have an interactive feel. The film ups the ante with each individual reality and is set against a backdrop of high-octane techno music as Lola runs for miles through the streets of Berlin with her pink hair flowing in the breeze.

Franka Potente must have lost ten kilos and slept very well every night shooting Run Lola Run. She is in a dead sprint for half the movie. The film unfolds in twenty minutes in real time, cut into three alternate realities consecutively in increments of thirty minutes of screen time. Tykwer sets out to get your blood flowing and your wrap to the edge of your seat from the very first scene. The story is nothing new, but the urgency and style it shoots are pioneering and top-notch. The video game-like reset of our main heroine also requires a mastery of scene continuity. Each iteration of the three acts must fit perfectly so as not to leave plot gaps or inconsistencies. Run Lola Run is a testament to the power of crisp direction by Tykwer and deft editing by Mathilde Bonnefoy. Remember, this is before the turn of the century and the pre-Christopher Nolan non-linear masterpieces such as time and space-continuum-warp I remember, Home, interstellari principle. What is the cast and crew Run Lola Run achieves is pure innovation in cinema.

'Run Lola Run' has its stumbles

One of the few scruples to have Run Lola Run it's the option that Lola learns from each iteration to the next. As she is portrayed as a cartoon character walking down the spiral staircase of her apartment building, she is initially tripped by a man standing with his dog and down a flight of stairs. In the third version, he seems to know that the man will extend his leg and jump on him and his menacing dog. Similarly, in the first version of events, Lola does not know how to work the safety mechanism on the gun, but in a later dimension, she knows how to disable the safety. This isn't a deal breaker by any means and is more of a creative decision that didn't necessarily sit well. We prefer that each reboot of Lola and her mission be as immersive for her as it is for the viewer. And you could argue that adapting it with each reset makes it a more unique sequence, so it's not something that detracts from the exciting pace of the film. Another decision that doesn't ring true is the blind woman (Monica Bliebtreu) who serves as an oracle of sorts that ultimately guides Manni in the right direction as he tries to recover the money. It comes across as a bit too convenient and a disjointed plot device. But these are artistic choices and take nothing away from the craftsmanship of the film as a whole.

Between each reset and the death of the main character, Tykwer records a tight shot of Lola and Manni lying next to each other in bed. They ask hypothetical questions like, “What would you do if you died?” What they are looking for is a form of unconditional love that neither Lola nor Manni received growing up. They want the other to say that their world will end and that they can never go on living without the other. Tykwer does a good job capturing Lola and Manni in one Romeo and Juliet Shakespearean light. We have a choice of which version of history we want to stick with. Run Lola Run it's not just a must-see German film; is a forerunner of today's films that clutter the continuum of modern legends like Nolan and Denis Villeneuve.

Run Lola Run now showing in theaters in the US. Click below to see times near you.

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