Rating: 

The Info

Directed by: Tom Tykwer
Written by: Tom Tykwer
Starring: Franka Potente, Moritz Bleibtreu, Herbert Knaup, Nina Petri
Produced by: Stefan Arndt

The Nutshell

Lola has 20 minutes to somehow get 100,000 marks to her boyfriend Manni or else the mob will kill him. Luckily, she is given three chances...

The Review

    Run Lola, Run is the most aptly titled film of the year. In German, with English sub-titles, Lola is proof of the old saying "A butterfly flaps its wings in New York and the stock market crashes in Toyko." It demonstrates how small, seemingly insignificant actions can alter more than their immediate surroundings. Lola wraps this message around a loud, fastpaced and tense action film that will surprise you.

    The plot is simple. Lola (Potente) gets a call from her boyfriend Manni (Bleibtreu), who is at a payphone, frantic as hell. He is a low-level courier for the mob, and he has managed to forget a bag with 100,000 marks on the subway. He has to deliver this money to his mob boss in exactly 20 minutes or else he is a dead man. Lola promises to help him, though she has no clue how. Her big problem: her moped was stolen earlier in the day and so she has to run to Manni, across town. Lola hatches a simple, desperate plan involving her father (Knaup), the banker. Does it work? Does he get her the money? Thus the story begins, and we experience 20 minutes of film almost as tense as the Normandy landing in Saving Private Ryan.

    Two things make these 20 minutes tense: the soundtrack and the fact that the filmis shot in real-time. Blaring techno music propels the film's action as well as the audience's adrenaline. Shot in real-time means that Lola's 20 minutes take roughly 20 minutes on film. The fact that there are no gaps, that we see every little thing that happens to Lola, pulls us into her (and Manni's) dilemma. When the 20 minutes are up, the filmmakers use their big trick: Lola and Manni are given another chance to get it right... and then a third.

    After the first segment's amazing climax, we are transported to a bedtime conversation between Lola and Manni from the past, one that cleverly reflects on the recent events. From here we flash backwards to the film's beginning. Once again, Lola  runs frantically out of her apartment, yet before she has even left the building, things are happening differently. As Lola runs past a neighbour on the stairs, she is tripped, causing her to slow down. This one tiny change turns Lola's second try into something new.

    Another trick used in Lola is to concentrate on the people Lola runs past. As Lola passes certain people, the camera follows them for a few seconds and you are shown a five second synopsis of their future in a series of rapid polaroid images. It allows all strangers to be a part of the story, and importantly, makes you remember their presence. By remembering these strangers, you find yourself wondering how they will play a part in Lola's next twenty minute adventure. The film's style is similar to that of Natural Born Killers, using occasional flashes of animation  to make a moment in time more interesting.

    While Lola is given the lion's share of screen time, Manni, Lola's father and his friend Jutta are well-developed. Kudos go mainly to Franka Potente here, for her powerful portrayal of Lola. She has created in Lola a nineties version of Sigourney Weaver's Ripley from the Alien series, bristling with attitude and inner strength.

    Perhaps the most exquisite part of Lola is the beginning. A stranger begins the film by asking us such existential questions as "Who are we? Where are we going" Why are we here?" But before you can say "Oh God, an ART FILM!!!" this man is blown off the screen by techno music and a blistering film that is the most original and innovative of the year. Run Lola, Run is an astounding film, and you should not let the appearance of sub-titles keep you from experiencing it.

Copyright - Tim Chandler

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