Matt here, with a review of Run Lola Run on Blu-Ray.
It’s been a good number of years since I’ve seen Tom Tyker’s adrenaline filled, very post-MTV, technical overload of inventiveness that was his late 90’s German movie Run Lola Run but it’s message and worthwhile stature in cinema history, has stayed as strong as ever. I actually didn’t remember this movie being so much fun, let alone thoughtful.
Run Lola Run is without subtly, a movie about fate, how even the smallest choices in life make a big difference not just to our own future but importantly to the future of everyone around us. Who is to say that if we didn’t bump into a lady on the street, said lady wouldn’t go on to die in a horrible car accident some years later?
Those few seconds, that little change in attitude. The domino effect, the butterfly effect. It can and ultimately must, change us on that single day and for eternity.
Who is to say that if we decided to go to bed early one night and not go out with our friends to that birthday party that we actually might have missed the opportunity to meet the partner of our dreams and live happily ever after?
Such delicate consequence of action most certainly effected my own love life.
Over four years ago now, I was kind of the third wheel for a night out in my local town and to stop me from going crazy and probably to stop me from being irritating to my mate’s friend who I didn’t really know, she gave me the phone number of one of her best mates. The idea being I could text her and feel less uncomfortable at being out on a night out that I shouldn’t have really been out on, which I obliged.
On September 25th in just a few weeks time I celebrate four years together with her best friend. How slim, how unlikely, how remarkable love and relationships are. If I hadn’t gone out that night, if I hadn’t taken my mobile phone, if my mate’s friend had decided not to give the number to me… how different my life could be right now. Would I even have Obsessed With Film, would I really be as happy with life as I am right now?
With a terrific opening, Run Lola Run begins with a frantic phone call from a panicked and worried Manni (Moritz Bleibtreu) to his red-headed girlfriend Lola (Franka Potente) telling him the unfortunate story of how he lost the 10,000 DM he was set to pay a gangster (Tyker tells me in the director’s commentary that it translates to be around $60,000) on a train and how he is going to get his head blown-off if he can’t stump up the cash in just 20 minutes time.
It’s highly reminiscent of the infamous opening to the classic Edmond O’Brien movie D.O.A. and is an instant hook, no time to waste here.
He pleas to Lola for help. How the fuck is she going to come up with such an extraordinary amount of money in such a short time? Well that’s not his concern. He just has to have the money. And if she isn’t there on time… his only choice is to rob a bank and steal the money in a dangerous and stupid daylight robbery.
From there, Tyker twists the narrative of what we see into a sensational mix of alternative universes, where we see multiple possibilities of how those 20 minutes might turn out for Lola and Manni. Each time we follow Lola and her desperate running to get to her boyfriend’s safety and how being tripped up when running down the stairs of her own apartment can make a tremendous impact on how those 20 minutes and the rest of her life will turn out.
And what a memorable figure Franka Potente makes as Lola. At this period of cinema, it was rare for a female lead to be the action hero, the one coming to the guy’s rescue but she pulls it off. Roger Ebert in his review called her “Lara Croft in the Flesh” and she really is, she’s believable as this ultra quick and tireless runner. She is toned and strong, like a fitter version of the determined Sarah Connor from Terminator 2: Judgment Day.
Her unique red hair flopping in the air, her arms outstretched with a passionate force, she doesn’t say much and occasionally she has moments of mythic quality with some of the supporting players but you can’t help but want her to succeed even though you are never quite sure about her character.
What an exciting film period this dawned. Fight Club, The Matrix, American Beauty… movies about morality and our place in the world that would have an ever lasting effect on cinema was just around the corner. I don’t think you could do a disservice to Run Lola Run either, a huge influence on The Bourne series (a few years later The Bourne Identity was born, starring of course Franka Potente) and so many other action movies including I would suggest the new Bond franchise.
And how we would all love a Lola to be running for us in our time of need. Such passion, such devotion to nothing but your cause. Is knowing you have a Lola out there not the most comforting image in the world?
EXTRA’S
A very informative audio commentary with Tyker and Potente, both of whom English is a second language but it never becomes distracting. It’s fun hearing about the supporting German actors who are apparentaly most big names in their native country. Adds a little more depth to their performances and the stature of what the film must have meant to Germans watching it, expecting the narrative to change to their perspective.
A cool documentary which I believe is exclusive to this disc titled “Still Running” which is a pretty candid behind-the-scenes look of the film and is well worth a watch. A music video, rounds out the extra’s. I would have maybe liked to have seen a little bit more on the extras front… but for the reduced price and this gorgeous transfer of this really fun movie… I got my money’s worth from the first and what won’t be the last watch.
RUN LOLA RUN is available from Axel Music on REGION FREE BLU-RAY DISC
Matt has previously reviewed..
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN on Blu-Ray
3 Comments
Our anniversary is the 24th but i’ll let u off.
Lol.
I can remember seeing this here in the States as soon as it came out. Blew my friggin mind. Tykwer is a genius in my opinion. And Franka can be the mother of my children.