Lola Bhaago Bhaago

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.

I have seen the movie several times, and each time I find new details and nuances that add to the story and the movies as an audiovisual delight. Friends of mine introduced me to the sound track at first on a high quality stereo system. It was amazing. I went home and ordered the CD. I am no great fan of techno music but that first track made me hold my breath because of its beauty. It felt like sitting in a cathedral and listening to a simple choral. I know, awkward comparison, but...

A few observations of my own.

Lola's first "run" reveals that her father believes she is not his biological daughter, calls her a "cuckoos egg". And it's quite possible, since we see her mom in all 3 "runs" talking on the phone with someone other than her husband. Lola is devastated. All three "runs" feature the bank security guard, trying to calm down Lola, giving her support. Every time they have intense eye contact, some silent understanding. He once even greets her with "Da bist du ja, Liebling" ("there you are, darling"). Quite strange for a bank employee to call his boss' daughter that, don't you think? We also see early on that he might have a heart condition.

In the last story segment, we see the guard again, in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. Lola caught a ride, for a change, to her meeting destination with Manni. Miraculously, the guard's heart condition improves as his hand reaches toward Lola's. The medic, at first annoyed ("what the heck are you doing here?") is puzzled. Lola's answer to his question, as she reaches for the guard's hand is: "Ich gehoer zu ihm." Very important, I think. Call me silly, but somehow I have this feeling that he might be her illegitimate father. As bank employee he might well have had contact with Lola's mother, and even time to have an affair with her, considering the workaholic dad being gone so much.

"Ich gehoer zu ihm" is badly translated in the subtitles as "I'll stay with him" while the German would better translate into "I belong to him." And that is something Lola could well have realized after her dad abandoned her with the accusation of being a cuckoo's egg.

The guard is also in the beginning of the movie quoting famous soccer coach Sepp Herberger's "the ball is round". It's in the league with Yogi Berra's famous word creations. The ball is round meant for Herberger, that anything can happen as long as the game is on. Expect the unexpected. Since this is a movie that wants the viewer to "think" about possibilities, why not go all the way?

People seem to get to easily impressed by films these days. No, I'm not a grouch, and I did like this film. Quite a bit actually, even though I'd basically seen the same film a few years ago: D.A.N.G.A.N. Runner, an HK film, predates Lola and is quite similar for the running throughout the film to live/save life etcetera aspect. Not to mention films like Flirt which deal with the same roles in different situations or Sliding Doors with the 'what if...?' aspect.

So this film, though interesting, was hardly new. It takes ideas already seen and twists them just a little bit. But it lacks the characterization and plot that made those other films so interesting. We learn very little about Lola, just a few snippets from her encounters with her 'father' and the bed sequences with her boyfriend, who we learn even less about. And the plot is all about cinematography and film style, there's little essence to it. In other words, it's eye candy and little more.

What that means is that we see great colour with little flavour. Experimentation with technique and style, sometimes it works other times it gets quite sloppy, and not enough attention to fine detail or story. (the cartoon part is cool though). And I would have liked a less Hollywood ending from a film that tries so hard to be contemporary and non-Hollywood.

Overall: Fun to watch. Some of the experimentation really worked. It's hardly a classic though, not even a terribly solid film. But it's interesting, and doesn't drag *too* much. I almost gave it a 6 but relented and instead give it a 7/10.

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.

Lola rennt or Run Lola Run as we say it, is a German thriller written and directed by Tom Tykwer. This Film will contrast your emotions as it shows you how one little event in somebody's life can change there's, and other peoples lives forever. This rollercoaster ride of emotions will keep you gripped all the way through as it jumps from soft, dimly lit emotional scenes, to the completely contrasting scenes of running and constant action.

The music used in this film complements the scenes very well, when it's a slow scene our ears are graced with soft classical music like when Lola is falling to the ground in a slow motion shot. The complete opposite of this is used in the fast paced running scenes, as we get pounded by constant techno beats. I believe that the director has used techno to try and get us inside Lola's head as she is running and stressing about Manni and all the other events that happen throughout this amazing film.

Lola's Determination to save her boyfriend Manni is very well projected as she enters the bank that her father runs, and throughout the three different versions of the story uses different techniques to try and save him. This involvement with the characters and the three different storylines is very unique to this style of film. I think that the actors have delivered a very memorable and exciting performance which will leave viewers wanting to watch the film over and over again.

I think that this director has used this style of film very well, he is one of this first to successfully use this style and create a very interesting and exciting film. This film is almost the only one of its kind, other than the film 'Sliding Doors' but even in that the character is living two parallel lives but in this film it is replayed over again.

This film used interesting techniques that I had never seen in a film before. I think that the snapshots into the peoples lives gave you a good view of how one little event can change your life forever. By replaying through the same sort of events three times the director lets you really get a sense of feeling for the characters, especially Lola and as the film progresses you actually start to care about the characters and I think this was a really good quality in the film.

Overall I really enjoyed this film, and think that it is one of the best foreign films I have seen in a long time, and would give it a 9/10.