Run Lola Run

"Run Lola Run" is one of the most fun, involving, stylish movies I've seen in a long time. The suspense is high from the get-go, with Lola's boyfriend Manni phoning her to say that if he doesn't get 100,000 deutsche marks within 20 minutes, a gangster will kill him. Immediately, Lola sets off running through Berlin in a frantic attempt to locate the money. The fun part is that we see Lola's journey three times with three very different outcomes, determined by little things that happen to Lola as she runs.

Lola (the engaging Franka Potente) manages to be both an iconic, super-cool heroine, and a believable young woman who just wants to get her boyfriend out of trouble. IMDb ratings show that this is the rare action movie that appeals to girls more than to guys, probably because Lola is such a strong character.

This is exhilarating film-making, with a propulsive soundtrack, a fast pace, and many flashy effects like animated and black-and-white sequences--in addition to the most stunning use of split-screen that I've ever seen. Incredibly for such a young director, these techniques are employed with great assurance. I also like how although the film is "hip" and sometimes amused by the crazy things that happen to people, it's never cynical. Instead, there's a sweet optimism to it, a faith in karma and love.

Occasionally, "Run Lola Run" is a bit too clever for its own good. The rapid-fire montages that show the fates of minor characters are superficially amusing, but unnecessarily hammer home the theme that "little things can have a huge effect on a person's life." However, the movie's philosophies are still ambiguous enough that there's a lot to think about when it's over. Furthermore, "Run Lola Run" is an extraordinarily good time; it's impossible to take your eyes off the screen whenever Lola's on it.

Tom Tykwer's clever "Run Lola Run" showed up on cable the other day. We had seen it when it first came out, and frankly, watching it for a second time, it seemed even better than the last time. Mr Tykwer made an excellent impression with this film, which introduced us to this talented director. Having seen "Heaven", and "True", "Lola rennt" is by far a superior effort from Mr. Tykwer.

The premise of the film is a clever one. Lola, in twenty minutes, must solve the mystery in which she is drawn into. At each of this situations, Lola shows great resources about how to help her petty criminal boyfriend, who has lost 100,000 DM, and now must account for the missing money.

Franka Potente is the main reason why this movie works the way it does. She is almost like the cartoon character one sees in the opening credits. Lola, is larger than life, and shows she can do anything she wants because of her resolve. Ms. Potente brings freshness to the role and she totally captivates the viewer in her no-nonsense approach to life, in general. The supporting cast does good work under Mr. Tykwer's direction.

It's a puzzle why Hollywood hasn't made an attempt to remake this film, since the Americans are obsessed with redoing material like "Run Lola Run". Let's hope they don't try!

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.

Run Lola Run is a very original film in its premise, it guarantees entertainment to the spectator from beginning to end, the film requires the spectator's full attention and because it is short, I suggest not to pause or divert focus, because I believe this film is made so you get lost between Lola's runs, in the end you end up staying what now? What comes next, and then, unfortunately, the movie ends.

One thing I found funny is that Lola never gets tired and doesn't even want to pant, maybe the production should have paid a little attention to this detail since it's the title of the film.

I believe it served as the inspiration for The Butterfly Effect (another classic), the plot is not so deep and fails to explain several things, a problem that would not exist if the film were bigger or had a sequel.

Despite this, the soundtrack, setting, photography, editing, guarantee the adrenaline and action of the film.

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.