RUN LOLA RUN

1998 - Germany - 81 min. - Feature, Color

Director Tom Tykwer

Sound by Dolby Digital

Produced by Arte / Bavaria Films / BMI / Brandenburg / Filmboard Berlin-Brandenberg / FilmFernsehFonds / German Federal Film Board / German Independents / NRW Film Fund / WDR TV / X Filme Creative Pool

Release Jun 18, 1999 (USA)

Released by Prokino / Sony Pictures Classics

PLOT SYNOPSIS:

Tom Tykwer directed this German thriller in which Manni (Moritz Bleibtreu) handled a smuggling job, delivered the loot, collected the payment, left the bag on the subway, and now has 20 minutes to gather 100,000 deutsche marks or confront the wrath of his boss, local criminal Ronnie (Heino Ferch). Desperate, Manni phones his girlfriend Lola (Franka Potente) who immediately runs downstairs and through Berlin streets to the bank run by her father (Herbert Knaup). However, she's rejected and leaves minus money. When she goes to meet Manni, he's holding up a supermarket, and she's shot by the cops. In a destiny device familiar to readers of Ken Grimwood's acclaimed novel Replay, the story begins anew with different outcomes. In one version, Lola robs the bank and takes her father hostage; in another, there's casino cash to be won. All Lola-Manni scenes were in 35mm, while scenes without them were shot in video. Other cinematic techniques on display here include whip pans, jump cuts, slow and fast motion, split-screen, intercut color and black and white, segment titles, and animation. Shown at 1998 film fests (Venice, Montreal, Toronto). - Bhob Stewart

REVIEW:

A film that sprinkles spine-tingling chills for its entire 81 minutes, Lola Rennt (known in the U.S. as Run Lola Run) is an intensely satisfying fusion of driving techno music and stunning visuals. Tom Tykwer's hip, German-language thriller is known primarily for its unique structure - part video game, part choose-your-own-adventure - which propels Franka Potente's feisty yet vulnerable Lola through three versions of a plan to secure an impossible sum of money in the next 20 minutes. But it's the details within that structure that sometimes escape critics' attention. In one original device, Tykwer follows the lives of the people Lola blows past, and how that split-second interaction helps determine the next months or even years of their lives. As they turn to stare or shout an insult, Tykwer zooms in on their faces, kicking off a flurry of snapshots that serve as chilling portents and bracing commentary on the interconnectedness of random events. Lola's initial idea for getting the money is the same each time, meaning that the viewer thrice watches very similar footage, but it's the small variations that make it newly engaging each time. The sequences are separated by the film's only quiet moments - touching flashbacks of pillow talk in which Lola and Manni (Moritz Bleibtreu) reveal their deepest insecurities. Shot through a gauzy red filter, these moments provide stark contrasts to the brashness of the rest of the film. The action is fueled throughout by pumping rave music, much of it composed by Tykwer himself. The resulting package is a spike of adrenaline that should thrill anyone who appreciates a smart concept executed at a frenetic pace. - Derek Armstrong

CAST:

Franka Potente - Lola

Moritz Bleibtreu - Manni

Herbert Knaup - Lola's Father

Armin Rhode - Mr. Schuster

Joachim Krol - Norbert von Au

Nina Petri - Jutta Hansen

Heino Ferch - Ronnie

PRODUCTION CREDITS:

Tom Tykwer - Director / Screenwriter / Composer (Music Score)

Stefan Arndt - Producer

Frank Griebe - Cinematographer

Reinhold Heil - Composer (Music Score)

Johnny Klimek - Composer (Music Score)

Mathilde Bonnefoy - Editor

Alexander Manasse - Production Designer

Monika Jacobs - Costume Designer

Frank Behnke - Sound/Sound Designer

Maria Kopf - Line Producer

AWARDS:

Best Foreign Language Film (nom) - 1999 British Academy Awards

#2 Foreign Film of the Year - 1999 National Board of Review

SIMILAR MOVIES:

Samehada Otoko To Momojiri Onna (1998, Katsuhito Ishii)

Drift (2001, Quentin Lee)

Timeless (1996, Chris Hart)

Sweet Jane (1997, Joe Gayton)

Kill Me Later (2001, Dana Lustig)

Groove (2000, Greg Harrison)

Trainspotting (1996, Danny Boyle)

Cherish (2002, Finn Taylor)

Smoking/No Smoking (1993, Alain Resnais)

MOVIES WITH THE SAME PERSONNEL:

Winter Sleepers (1997, Tom Tykwer)

Das Leben Ist Eine Baustelle (1997, Wolfgang Becker)

Zugvögel ... Einmal Nach Inari (1998, Peter Lichtefeld)

Die Tödliche Maria (1993)

Die Giraffe (1998, Dani Levy)

Stille Nacht (1996, Dani Levy)

OTHER RELATED MOVIES:

Winter Sleepers (1997, Tom Tykwer)

The Princess And The Warrior (2000, Tom Tykwer