Lola rennt (1998) aka Run Lola Run

Writer: Tom Tykwer
Director: Tom Tykwer
Stars:  Franka Potente and Moritz Bleibtreu

Original Theatrical Film Poster for Lola Rennt

A lot of people know I have a love to watch, study, and investigate film more than anyone else they know. I get asked a lot of questions like can you suggest a film that I have never seen, but should have seen. The problem with such an open ended question to a person like myself is I am not afraid to experiment with film and watch the unknown. The average person would look at me as if there was something wrong with me on the films I am willing to watch. I am not afraid to sit down and watch an independent film, a foreign film with 4 hours of subtitles, or even a really controversial film that would make the average person really uncomfortable. 

I would most likely recommend a film to you that at least fits one of those categories if not more.If I suggested a foreign film to you, then I am most likely going to get some strange looks or comments. The most likely comments are "It is a chore to watch a film and read subtitles" or "Reading subtitles is like working, why do I want to work on my free time". Most of these people have never seen or a foreign film with subtitles or if they have probably picked a film that was not what they expected and the dialogue was heavy. 

Beauty and the Beast 1946 directed by Jean Cocteau

To be honest if I told you to rent the Seven Samurai and watch that film, then I may have just ruined your whole experience with foreign films if you have not been properly introduced to them. My goal when trying to get a friend or colleague addicted to a foreign film, is to pick a film that will keep the person begging for more and open a whole new world to them. In order to do that the first foreign film must see should hit on these factors.

1. A world similar enough in culture to the U.S. that a person should feel as if they could live within that film world

2. The dialogue should be kept to a minimum that a person can focus on the film mostly and gradually work themselves up in dialogue content as they see more foreign films

3. The ideal film should be good enough that if the subtitles were not there you could tell the entire story through the images that were shot and the emotion of the actors.

Very films meet this criteria in the film world, but when a film does everyone should see the film.

 

Manni calling Lola in fear of his life

The Plot:

Lola receives a call from her boyfriend, Manni, who is in fear for his life. Manni just lost 100,000 dollars that he accidentally left on the subway after being startled by the police. When Manni came back, the money was gone and taken by the homeless man who lived on the train. Manni blames Lola, because Lola was suppose to pick Manni up from the drug buyer and take Manni back to his boss Ronnie. The problem is Lola's moped got stolen and Manni's world is now falling apart right before his eyes.

Manni now has 20 minutes before his meeting with Ronnie. If Manni cannot come up with the money in that amount of time then Manni is dead. Lola begs Manni to wait and let her come up with a to find the money before Manni does something stupid. Lola runs out of her with a plan to get her father to give her the money running to his bank. Any person Lola touches or passes along the way we get a glimpse into that person's future. A person may end up a crack addict, dead behind the wheel, or killed by a gang all of Lola's actions while she is running has an effect on everyone else in the world.

Lola's dad refuses to give her the money and admits he is going to leave Lola and her mom, before having Lola thrown out of the bank. In an emotional distress, Lola rounds the corner just as the twenty minutes are up, but Lola is too late Manni decides to rob a store for the money before Lola can stop him. Lola has no choice, but to knockout the guard now and help her boyfriend try to escape. Unfortunately, Lola is shot by the police and dies. 

All is not as it appears though, Lola wakes up in a dream like state in bed with her boyfriend discussing their love for each other. All of a sudden she is on the receiving end of the same call as before from Manni remembering everything from the first run.

Lola has to strategize a new way to get the money so the events from the first run do not occur again. However, there are some changes to some of the people she runs by as she touches or looks at each person differently. One person is now filthy rich and another is the mistress of one of her coworkers. Same problem as before this run ends with the death of Manni. Lola has to keep doing this run over and over until everything can be set right in which both Manni and herself can live.

Initial Reactions to the Film: 

I have never seen this film, until I watched the film for this review. The film has always been on my must see list, but with a lot of other films to watch sometimes great films get missed. As I watched the film, the settings, the plot, and who this film was going to be about was setup quick. The 20 minute runs felt as if they were taking place in real time. The suspense was so high, that I could not leave my seat until this film.

The idea of a simple action such as whether Lola was to bump into someone during one run, but miss that same person on the next run to determine whether or not that person lives in the high life in one timeline, but is a poor homeless crack addict in the next timeline is simply thought provoking. How can such a simple action have a devastating impact on a person's life? Every second counts in life. That is simply the magic of director Tom Tykwer was able to put across on the screen.

Tykwer put Lola through similar runs over and over again to where you could careless about the dialogue on the screen and simply focus on the sequences shot. To be quite frank, I didn't even need the dialogue to understand what was happening in Lola Rennt. The beautifully shot sequences spoke for themselves.

The film was so good I had to go back the next night and watch the film for a second time because the film was so intense that I felt one viewing was not enough. I wanted to see Franka Potente run over and over again to see if their was any subtle things going on in the background I might have missed. 

My only real complaint about the film all have to do with Lola's pants something about them was driving me crazy the entire film. I hated those pants so much that they were nearly as bad as Julia Roberts' lips. Roberts' lips are so ugly to me that I cannot focus on anything else in the film, but her lips to where I miss important sequences. As I always say every film has at least one thing that bothers you in it.

Final Thoughts on the Film:

After a second viewing of Lola Rennt, I was able to catch some of the minor details I missed in the first viewing. More thought provoking questions came to mind. How many times did Lola have to run before she could set things right? Are we talking years, months, days, or just the runs shown? Would I want to experience what Lola did over and over? Would be nice to win the Powerball. 

I have not seen a film in years that left me wanting to discuss the implications of simple actions in life. Lola Rennt would of left me speechless if I had seen this film when the film originally came out. The music, the suspense, and action just left me wanting more and more. Lola Rennt is the perfect film at 81 minutes, all films do not need to over 3 hours long to be masterpieces like all film companies want you to believe. In fact the length can sometimes kill a film.

Unlike Lola Rennt, to where I could pull the film out at anytime and show the film to almost anyone. The culture is similar enough to where the average person could walk in and understand what is going on in the film no matter where they lived in the world.  The dialogue is kept to a minimum, to where the scenes can tell the story of the film without dialogue. Lola Rennt is the perfect gateway film to introduce a person to foreign films. the film is good enough to get anyone addicted to independent and foreign films in my book.

Despite the ugly pants this film gets a 10 out of 10. Replacing Groundhog Day as my favorite DejaVu film. Films do not get much better than Lola Rennt. Lola Rennt will take you through one hell of an emotional roller coaster ride.