Review of Run Lola Run (1998) by Brian H — 10 Nov 2012

An adrenaline filled wild ride. Run Lola Run has been built up to be one of the most fast paced films of all time and I absolutely agree. Tom Tykwer knows how to manipulate the images in order to take his audience on an exciting adventure.

But on top of that we also care about the characters, which is a big deal since things are constantly moving and we only slow down a few times to get to know them. Lola's not a very good person and neither is Manni, her boyfriend.

Manni was part of a drug deal and when he's about to return the money to his boss it falls into the hands of a homeless guy on the subway and now he's out 100,000 DEM. He needs the help of Lola so that he doesn't die.

The problem is that she came home late that day, which she never does, and now she only has 20 minutes to find that kind of money and get it to him. It also opens with philosophy. Questions about how we know what we know and what's actually the truth and why we believe anything at all.

This factors into the story when it takes a big dramatic twist when Lola's shot at the end of the first segment. She's on the ground dying and she decides she doesn't want it to happen that way.

So what does she do? Go back to the time she got the phone call from Manni and try to get the money in a new way. The first segment she tries by going to her father, but he tells her she's the product of a different man and he's going to leave her and her mother for another woman.

The plan fails and she's heartbroken. Then when she tries to stop Manni he's already in the middle of robbing a store. She decides to help him by knocking out the guard, taking the gun, then helping grab the rest of the money.

When they get out they're surrounded and Lola's shot by a police officer. Along the way she also almost runs into a woman with a carriage. We see this woman's future as she divorces her husband, loses custody of her child, then steals it later.

Another is the biker's future, which we also see change in the second segment. Everyone's lives are affected just by a little change in time by Lola. Could our lives revolve around when a person leaves their house, even if it is just a couple of seconds later? Tykwer argues that point here.

The second segment she's tripped by a dog going down the stairs, which leads to a happier life for the woman with the baby and something different for the guy with the bike. However, the guy driving the car still hits another car while getting out of his parking garage.

This change in time lets Lola's dad react to hearing his mistress is pregnant, which is a negative reaction, but then Lola still can't get the money so she puts a gun to his head and makes him get the money out from the bank.

When she leaves the bank it's surrounded by police, but since she put the money in a garbage bag they don't think she's the robber and tell her to get out of the way. This one ends with Manni about to go in and rob the store, but she stops him just in time, but it still ends tragically with him getting hit by a car and dying.

I love the second guard in Lola's dad's place because he tells her that she can't get everything she wants. The third time around he tells her he was wondering when she would get there. He's kinda like the God character watching Lola live these different scenarios.

The third segment shows Lola jumping over the dog, stopping the man in the car from hitting the other car, which turns out to be her dad's driver, and gambling to win the money she needs. Of course her scream factors into her winning, which was set up well earlier in the film where she screams in anger and glass breaks.

This time the guy riding the bike doesn't say anything to her and ends up selling his bike to a homeless person, then the homeless guy ends up riding past Manni, who notices him and ends up chasing him down to get the money back from him that he stole from the subway.

Lola wins the money, Manni gives his money to the drug dealer, and all ends well. The last quote of the movie is Manni asking what's in the bag. In between these segments we also see Lola and Manni talking about their relationship.

One of them is Lola asking if he really loves her and how he knows, and the second one is him asking her if she really loves him. Even the way they're situated in bed is slightly different. The first one Lola's slightly below Manni, and the other one she's slightly above.

So is the way we're situated also going to affect our actions and thoughts? Tykwer doesn't feel the need to explain why the movie works the way it does. We don't need to understand the mechanics.

It's more of a philosophical, fast paced action/adventure than a straight forward narrative. The characters are more rich than you'd expect going in. And I feel like there's something that could be gained from watching this a few times.

With it's short run time there are plenty of things that could pass you by without noticing. It's brilliant filmmaking all around. A beautiful camera shot that moves into animation, smooth shots of Lola sprinting down the streets.

I can't imagine this film being better than it is.