Run Lola Run(1998) - A German Movie

Hi Guys,

It was Tuesday night. Time was 11.45 pm. I had just finished my assignments and found that the movie was just for 80 minutes. Not feeling so sluggish, I decided to watch the movie ‘Run Lola Run’. It didn’t fail me. It’s a 1998 German thriller movie, directed by Tom Tykwer. It was one of the best I have ever watched. The movie deals with the importance of decisions and how things could go wrong because of a little delay. The movie portrays three different scenarios with different endings.

The movie begins with Lola receiving a call from her boyfriend Manni. Manni is a criminal and he was supposed to handover 100,000 marks to his boss. Lola was supposed to pick up Manni and as her moped is stolen she doesn’t turn up. So, Manni takes a train and he loses his moneybag to a beggar, as police chase him. He calls Lola and tells her that she must bring him the money in 20 minutes, if she wants to save him or else he will rob the nearby shop. She plans to ask help from her father. Thus the run begins.

Manni And Lola

First Run

In the first run, she is frightened by a dog and its owner in the steps and runs faster. On her way, she bumps with the car of Meyer, her father’s colleague. Further the car hits another gangster’s car leading Meyer to death. On the way she denies a cycle for 50 marks. Meanwhile, her father is having secret affairs with another woman and she is pregnant. When Lola reaches his office, he says he isn’t her father and throws her away. She runs to Manni a little late than 20 minutes. He enters the shop and is robbing. Lola decides to help him. After getting the money, they run out and are further surrounded by the police. A tense officer shoots Lola and she dies.

Second Run

Again it starts from the end of phone call. This time the dog’s owner hurts her leg and she limps a bit. Again she collides with Meyer leading to the same result. Again she denies the cycle. When she reaches the office, her father and the woman are fighting and Lola joins the fight. After chased out, she takes the security guard’s pistol and demands her father to give her money, despite the warning of surveillance. After getting the money she comes out only to find that there is police around. But the police think the robber is someone else and asks her to leave. She comes a little earlier than 20 minutes and calls Manni before he enters the shop. He crosses the road and an ambulance hits him to death.

Third Run

This time, the dog barks and she jumps over the dog. This time she falls on the car of Meyer and thus delays him by a second. So, he survives. The cycle owner sells his cycle for 70 marks to a beggar and the beggar has the 100,000 marks. Manni finds the beggar and chases him and gets the money back by using a pistol. Meanwhile Meyer goes to Lola’s father’s office and escorts him. Seeing that his father is out, Lola goes to a Casino and to her luck she wins the money. Taking it she comes back, only to find that Manni has already settled the money. So, now they have an extra 100,000 marks. No one is hurt and all is well.

Specialities

The movie has got a very racy screenplay. It just spans over 80 minutes. The portrayal of the movie is brilliant. As Lola starts running out of the house, her mother asks Lola to buy shampoo and the camera roles into a TV nearby which is showing a cartoon. The girl happens to be a comic Lola and the dog scene occurs here. Similarly the fates of other lives are shown in the form of photographs, which quickens the pace and doesn’t make the movie to deviate.

Franka Potente in Run Lola Run

Franka Potente has the played the role of Lola to precision. She has got her hair red dyed and wears different combination of dress. She brings in all the expression needed for the movie. Tom Tykwer is a part of the music team and music is a big plus. The background music is amazing and fits the visuals. Cinematography is another big plus. Tom Tykwer is captivated by Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo and hence you can see that there are spiral structures all around.

Don’t know why time is precious? Watch this movie. A must watch!!!

Happy Reading!!!