Run Lola Run is written and directed by Tom Tykwer. He combines a mixture of three episodes (each has its own alternative ending), animation, suspense, and sharp dialogue.
Non-German speaking audiences don’t have to worry about reading the subtitles since there is enough action and body language to help you figure out what’s going on. The dialogue is spoken quickly and most lines are repeated again in each episode, so you already know what’s being said after your viewing of the first episode. All left for you to do for the next two episodes is to pay attention to the new stuff.
Lola’s boyfriend, Manni (played by Mortiz Bleibtreu) owes 100,000 German marks to his boss. Earlier that day, Manni lost a bag of DEM 100,000 in a train and his boss gets pissed off. Then his boss threatens to kill him. That is unless Manni can obtain another 100,000 in 20 minutes. As for the bag containing DEM 100,000: it was stolen by a homeless man, now on the run from Manni. This sounds like a Guy Ritchie movie, doesn’t it?
With the clock ticking, Manni makes a call to his girlfriend.
Franka Potente plays the heroic girlfriend, Lola. Franka impressed American audiences with her performance as Johnny Depp’s first lover in Blow. Before that movie came along, she opens up this German film by answering her phone. Manni, in a hurry, tells Lola everything she needs to know: 100,000 German marks in 20 minutes. Plus, she gets 3 tries to do this.
Many film critics have regarded the film as video game-like, which is true. In each episode, Lola approaches each “level” carefully, hoping not to cause delay and waste time. Even the music is video game-like. The animation was not created by Pixar, but it will do.
There isn’t a single boring scene in this movie. It’s the type of movie that can play on TV and if you wanted to kill some time, you would enjoy this.
It may not be as fun on a second viewing, so be sure to see this from the beginning and without distraction.
I was reading the Wikipedia article for this movie to learn about locations used and now I want to pay pilgrimage to certain filming locations from this flick- such as the supermarket and Lola’s apartment. One of these days, I gotta write a separate blog on filming locations I’d like to visit from my favorite films.
3 stars out of 4. ***
I'd like to view it a second time, I remember I loved it when I watched (I was maybe 14-15 at the time).
ReplyDeleteAnd Berlin never looked so fun and dangerous.