Lola rennt (1998) Reviews

• A breathtaking, action-packed love story...

  kgx3112001-01-15

  Run Lola Run is a riveting, heart (and pavement) pounding epic choose-your-own-adventure. Written and directed by Tom Tykwer, Run Lola Run is the story of a girl, Lola, who receives a panicked phone call from her longtime boyfriend, Manni. Manni owes a mobster 100,000 marks and doesn't know what to do. Lola, desperate to save his life, reassures him that she can get the money to him by noon, when he must meet the mobster (that means, she has twenty minutes), or else Manni would rob a grocery store. From that moment on, the movie takes us through three stories of Lola's trials trying to get Manni's money in 20 minutes - and with every person she comes into contact with, their lives take on completely different forms, as shown by 30-second photo flash montages. On an originality scale, this film ranks a ten. Franka Potente, the actress that portrays our flame-haired heroine, does an exceptional job. From the first frame the film plunges into action and adventure with breakneck speed, and we find ourselves cheering for Lola right to the end.

• Riveting action, dynamic sound track, and brilliant editing had me hooked from the first frame.

  ecto-31999-06-27

  The concepts are simple. How do our actions affect our own lives, as well as those whom we touch? What part do chance and random events play in determining an outcome? Can we select a different result by making different choices? In short, what is reality? Well, maybe it isn't all that simple, but while others have plowed these same fertile fields, as recently as the film "Go", and also in "The Music of Chance", based on Paul Auster's novel, no one has dealt with such cosmic existential questions with more brilliant originality, fast paced action, and a pulsing score than in this German cinematic masterpiece. In a compact ninety minutes, combining snips of animation, cinema verité, quirky characters, situations and dialogue, and a pace that makes most music videos look like they've been filmed in slow motion, three versions of the same story sequence unfold, and each time conclude with a jolting finish that defies convention, and keeps the viewer guessing until the final frame. This is one of those rare cinematic events that is entertaining, satisfying, and absorbing, as well as flawlessly acted, staged, edited, produced and directed. I thought that Lola ran her race with flair and style, and left all others way behind in the dust.

• Technically Stunning

  nick_smart852002-04-14

  Tom Tykwer has truly proven himself as the filmmaker to watch. The little known German director has produced a modern-day masterpiece; a dazzling technical film about how life consists of the decisions we make. Lola (Franka Potente) receives a phone call from her boyfriend, Manni. (Moritz Bleibtreii) Manni accidentally leaves a bag carrying $100 000 on a train, which is picked up by a homeless man. This leaves Manni in quite a predicament. He is supposed to deliver the money to a gangster by noon, if he fails, then he is likely to be killed. Lola has twenty- minutes to save his boyfriend. Twenty short minutes to somehow find the money and get it to him. Run Lola Run is a film you expect to see at a Independent film festival, or in a Professor's office at a film school. In no way do I mean that in a negative way, I mean not to intend that the film is of a lower standard with lower production values, rather that the film is a beautifully mastered technical film that uses every filmmaking technique in the book. It is refreshing to see a film like this in the midst of the commercialised, dry-cut, 'traditional' filmmaking that we see on the silver screen so regularly. As stated before, the film attempts to use a wide range of filmmaking techniques to help get the director's meaning and vision across to the audience. Some of these include speed-up, instant replay, black and white, and even animation in some parts. It may sound strange, but the film is twenty-minutes long. Well, not really, but it is in context. Tykwer focuses on the twenty-minutes that Lola has, and shows that twenty-minutes three times over, each time with small differences will affect the outcome of the characters. The danger with this kind of technique is that it can threaten to be repetitive. However, the new additions added by Tykwer are very clever and link in perfectly, which will have you gasping for more. Tykwer wrote and directed this film, and while doing this, he never lost sight of his meaning. His meaning that he is trying to express is that life consists of the decisions we make. While watching the film, this becomes increasingly evident. He also likes to emphasise that time is against Lola during the film. This can be seen when a young woman walks past and Lola asks her for the time, the next shot shows a much older woman answering her question, hence showing the importance of time. Franka Potente gave a good performance as Lola. Yet, it is hard to say that she was fantastic, because it is a role that requires a great deal of physical acting and we didn't get to know a lot about Lola, hence the film wasn't overly-focusing on her issues, rather her boyfriend's problem. The real standout performance from my point of view came from Moritz Bleibtreii. He actually took on a quite challenging role and pulls it off successfully. He achieves his objective of getting the audience to feel sympathy for the position that he is in. Run Lola Run is without a doubt, one of the best technical films ever made. A profound, exciting, new age masterpiece that has well and truly left its mark on the film industry. Five out of Five.

• One of the best circular narratives!

  emma5022003-05-07

  This modern German film from 1999,that was so stunning and brilliantly edited won many awards at the Sundance Film Festival. The audience was taken away on this fast pace exhilarating ride which in turn warrants those watching to think about the circular narrative and its elements. All elements of the film including soundtrack and opening credits are incorporated into this them of a story being told through three different threads and three different experiences. The opening credits are displayed in cartoon form, as well as some of the traveling/running that Lola (Franka Potente) does through out the film. The soundtrack fills the film with a fast paced feeling and adds to the heart-pumping adrenalin rush that element of limited time creates. Fast camera angles, the use of panning, the incorporation of cartoons, the use of outdoor scenery ( no sound stage used), and close face shots are some of the main filming techniques used to make what I can only describe as an MTV video style of film making. The use of high speed camera shows areas of the plot that remains constant while the hi 8 camera is used in portions of the plot that changes in each of the 3 episodes. Also the use of red tinting shows a difference from real life and inside the characters thoughts. The audience is placed into the middle of the plot, there is no real introduction to the main characters, Lola and Manni, ( Moritz Bleibtreu) until after the main crisis of a loss of a bag filled of money that is suppose to be in the hands of a crook/ gangster with in the next 20 min from the time of the main character's conversation. This discussion is repeated 3 times until the characters successfully complete the task that lays before them. They either have to produce a replacement bag of money, or find the missing sack. In each of the 3 episodes the same characters are present as well as the same events but they either are incorporated or interact differently. For example, each episode has glass shattering. If the red ambulance does not crash through glass that is being carried across a main highway, then glass is broken by Lola screaming. Each episode also has elements of time, breaking of time, the different use of fire arm, running, and the use of the same script by the characters. The episodes are broken apart by either Manni or Lola dying, and in these deaths the audience is brought into the head of the characters to where they talk of love, life, death and loss. The audience is shown a place where the characters have a choice, which in turn is how they can relive the same morning events. This allows the audience to discover new interactions amongst the characters, discover new pieces of each story and how fit into one overall tapestry of a day in the characters lives. This film grabs the audience from the very beginning and proceeds to take them on an intense ride filled with lows and highs. One that can be watched over and over again due to the lack of information or images that is constantly being discovered. The complex and layered tale that unfolds in Run Lola Run is amazingly and almost unbelievably made better through the editing, film footage style, and soundtrack. The unusually dramatic images and different style than other films of the latter 90's sets Run Lola Run in a class of it's own

• Modern Masterpiece

  ganstertrippin2002-01-12

  Run Lola Run. What a cool title. It tells the tale of a young man, Manni, who one day was doing a job for crime boss. The job was just to deliver a bag of money to him with 100000 DM which roughly translates to $20000 or $25000 US. Unfortunatly Manni leaves the money on a train and is totally screwed unless he can get the money back in 20 minutes. So he calls his girlfriend, Lola (and no, she is not the girl from The Fifth Element), for help. From here the film follows Lola choosing three paths, each going for 20 minutes, to getting the money for Manni. Run Lola Run is a wonderful study of how life consists of the paths we take. Some say there is no right and wrong paths to take in life, but Run Lola Run seems to illustrate that the right path is the best. Franka Potente (Lola) does a wonderful job and must have lost about 10 pounds for all the running she does in this film. But the real star here is Tom Tykwer (the director), who vison for this film is so fantastic and cool. In terms of coolness, this has to be one of the coolest movies ever made. It contains black and white camera, animation, three or four different types of slow motion, fast motion and the most amazing still shots taken for a film which is enough to keep anyone interested. Plus this film is only 80 minutes long, but luckily it feels about 20 minutes longer than that. After being one of the most talked about films of 1998, I would safely say that Run Lola Run has inspired a large number of film makers. Run Lola Run is a modern masterpiece and should pave the way for the future of films.