Around the World in 24 Frames 02.05.10: Run Lola Run

Posted by Len Archibald on 02.05.2010

The ball is round, the game lasts 90 minutes, everything else is pure theory.



Good Friday! This week is over and after having some bouts of abdominal pain and some tests (please don't let my ulcer re-appear…) we're back with some good ol' fashioned foreign goodness!

But first…

BEATING TRAFFIC Trailer:


I never get tired of that. Seeing my own creation makes me cry. Well, it doesn't – but I am beaming with joy.

THE REBUTTAL

I want to thank everyone who left some positive words in regards to Let The Right One In, as well as giving some responses to my head-scratcher of a question last week. I award the prize (what prize???) to hombre who figured, "…they just have to lose the pressure as they couldn't jerk off enough to Mr. AJ Grey's contributions."

ZING!

BTW, to Dave C, who asked what my plans with Beating Traffic are: yes, I am planning to enter the film in some festivals. I will first be giving a free preview screening for friends and family (as well as test the waters) before taking it nationwide. Hopefully, I'll get some positive feedback. What's crazy is that it is a LOT cheaper than I thought to enter films (of course, when you decide you want to enter it in like…oh let's say THIRTY of them, that's when you notice the rubber band becoming looser on the bank.) Thanks for the ego boost. I will definitely keep updates on where it is on the festival circuit! I will get to Cache soon enough as well.


THE RANT

I will say this once (specifically for the people who whine "KEEP POLITICS OUT OF YOUR COLUMN~!!!"): this week I was offically burned by the U.S. healthcare system. I won't get into details, but I will say that when everything was said and done, my head was spinning so fast and I was in such a rage over what happened, I was ready to abandon this country and take the first one-way trip back to Canada. Of course I made a statement about this on my Facebook page and – well…let's just say I'm not as close with certain people as I used to be, simply because they're SO F*CKING IGNORANT.

I was born in Canada. Lived there for the first twenty-five years of my life. I think I might know how *my* healtcare system works better than some Jack Daniels swilling, flag-waving-patriot-that-does-not-know-what-patriotism-actually-means wannabe toughguy American who wants to tell me that it would take me a month to wait for a particular procedure or medical exam that I would need…When I know that I could go see my family doctor and make sure that I'm prepped and ready to take a particular exam in no less than TWO DAYS – but, what do I know? I'm just a Canadian that knows absolutely NOTHING about the Canadian healthcare system, and this yokel American that's never been there does. Ladies and gentlemen, I call that "Arrogant Ignorance" – THAT'S why some of you unfortunately had to hide behind a CANADIAN flag on your backpack when you went to foreign countries to avoid a beatdown and venomous slander - not because other countries are "jealous" or "hate freedom" or some other dumb shit that is made up in your head to give you some sense of security in your insecurity. Don't ACT like you know everything, it's easy to get called out on how much you actually do.

The moral of the story folks: stereotypes exist because people willingly perpetuate them. Some are disgusted with black people because some black people truly act like the absolute DUMBEST IGNORANT mo-fo's on the planet and that's all they see. At the same time, some have an EXTREMELY negative reaction of "Rural America" because there are some that act like inbred rednecks that suck off Glen Beck's unmentionables and spout off every inconceivable lie, half-truth and opinion off as complete fact, without backing it up with – y'know…ACTUAL FACTS.

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I love movies. They represent escapism, art, intellect and spirituality. Some are nothing more than popcorn flicks, designed to ease the burden of "real-life" for a couple of hours. Some bring important issues to the forefront that challenges how we perceive our surroundings. The most important thing for me – if one is a serious filmgoer – is to constantly expand and discover new movies. This includes experiencing stories told outside of North America.

Yes, I know: "I don't like to read while I watch movies". Well, neither do I, but I won't use that to prevent me from finding a great story within the screen. It is important, as human beings to discover other cultures and expand our perceptions of those different from us and how they see the world. There are reasons that Bergman, Kurosawa, Fellini, Ozu and Truffaut are important in the movie world – They are just great at what they do.

I intend to highlight a new film every week that is considered "foreign-language"; now that definition is simple, yet broad and complex. For example, if you need subtitles to understand the events of the plot, I will discuss it. If it is a film from a primarily English-speaking nation, but is *NOT* in English (i.e. Leolo or Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner from Canada), I will discuss. If it is a film from outside the U.S. and it *is* in English, I will not discuss (sorry, Brits & Aussies) – for now. My goal is to shed light on some of these gems, and help quell the insatiable appetites for those who can't live without seeing a new movie. Enjoy!

Lola rennt: Run Lola Run

Country: Germany
Release Date: August 20th, 1998
Distributed by: Sony Pictures Classics
Directed by Tom Tykwer
Runtime: 76 minutes
Cast:
Franka Potente
Moritz Bleibtreu
Herbert Knaup
Nina Petri
Armin Rohde
Joachim Król
Ludger Pistor
Suzanne von Borsody
Sebastian Schipper
Julia Lindig
Lars Rudolph
Ute Lubosch
Monica Bleibtreu
Heino Ferch
Hans Paetsch

If one ever watched "Chappelle's Show", you may remember the one brilliant skit where Dave Chappelle imagined what life would be like if it played out like a video game. It became a living mockery of all things "Grand Theft Auto", complete with guns changing in hand and blinking dead people, and became one of my all-time favorite skits he's done.

What does this have to do with Tom Tykwer's German film, Run Lola Run? Simple – this is a seventy-six minute video game captured on celluloid. It is one of the most high-octained, high-powered and exciting films ever made. I actually believe in my feeble mind Run Lola Run should not be shown to someone that is diagnosed with epilepsy. After he/she goes into shock, you'll probably get kicked in the balls.

The film became a major pop-culture phenomenon when it exploded onto the scene in 1998. It's poppy-techno score, quick edits and breathless pacing hurled the film into the stratosphere. When I worked at Rogers Video, I remember this being the first foreign film that everyone had to see. In fact, I will go so far to say that Run Lola Run helped take foreign film to new mainstream heights that opened the door for North American audiences to accept Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Pan's Labyrinth into their homes.



The film opens with the normal "foreign" existentialist rant: "Who are we?" "What are we here for?" It opens a discussion about free will vs. determinism – which always made me wonder how many probably turned the film off or began to pull themselves out of it emotionally because of this. They probably thought they were being pulled into a pretentious arthouse mess that was depressing and asked more questions than solved answers. The opening is a tease – a great one at that, until we meet a random police officer who will basically explain the premise and tone of the film with one line, a quote by German football legend Sepp Herberger:

"The ball is round, the game lasts 90 minutes, everything else is pure theory."

A soccer (or football [futbol], depending on where you're from) is kicked in the air and this film starts at its breakneck pace. Lola (Franka Potente) receives a phone call from her boyfriend Manni (Moritz Bleibtreu) who is at a telephone booth. Manni works as a low-level courier for Ronnie, a local crime boss. Manni was supposed to bring 100,000 marks from a diamond peddler to his boss, but Lola failed to pick him up after the exchange due to her scooter being stolen that morning - so he had to take the subway. After seeing some ticket controllers on a subway who constantly eyed him, Manni panicked and got off the train, accidentally leaving the bag with the 100,000 marks behind. The bag is picked up by a homeless person.



…before I get any further, I want to discuss my feeling about how a film is edited – something I don't discuss very often. I get on Michael Bay for his movies because the majority of them have either a) paper-thin plots; b) characters the audience is never given a chance to invest into emotionally or c) INSANE style-over-substance. The reason I don't like Bay's style of filmmaking is that it's cookie-cutter and gives off the same sheen and gloss and camerawork, no matter the story. The movement and placement of images should SERVE the story, not FORCE it – and therein lies the difference of why the pacing in Run Lola Run works better as opposed to a film like Transformers 2.

The opening moments of Run Lola Run hurls the audience into the desperation of the story: quick cuts of hands, eyes, streets, lips – these are used to heighten the tension and focus on the humanity of the situation. Manni depended on Lola and she failed him. If Lola fails him again, he will be dead – or worse, he will have fallen to the depths of outright desperate criminal behavior as he gives Lola twenty minutes to arrive and help or he will rob the grocery store across the street. Run Lola Run becomes a story of redemption.



Once the movie gets going, it never stops. Lola goes into her memory banks – which plays like a perverse game of "Press Your Luck" as she flashes the faces of those who could possibly help her. She finally decides to approach her father (Herbert Knaup). The first truly glorious "blink-or-you'll-miss-it-moment" occurs here, as through a simple gesture, the audience is clued in at that moment how things will turn out in the future. It isn't something one thinks about when it happens, but upon repeat viewing, it is understood why Lola's father does what he does.

The film then goes into "video-game" mode as we are taken through a journey via Lola's point-of-view (and her feet) as she hurdles towards her goal of making it to her father, convincing him to assist in her troubles and make it to Manni on time. The supporting players in the film exist only as "AI"-type obstacles and hurdles that hinder or prevent Lola from reaching her goal on time: A woman on the street, a man on a bicycle, an ambulance. We also see the "butterfly-effect" of the interactions Lola has with each of these people.



Now, the shock/twist (which isn't really shocking or that much of a twist if you've heard of the film), is that Lola's world exists on three alternate realities, each one wielding different results based on Lola's interaction with the various characters she encounters. It is a unique way to treat a story, playing so much like a video game where the player attempts to reach a goal only to get killed off – but like every video game, the player are given three lives (or chances) to succeed. Lola is the player (or maybe it's Tykwer) and she learns from her mistakes, runs faster or is able to better maneuver herself around the obstacles placed around her.

This was Franka Potente's first taste of mainstream appeal – she later got her major North American break in The Bourne Identity, but it is easy to see why she has become somewhat of an underground superstar. With her fiery red hair and her new-age hippy dress has a unique quality about her: it's obvious she cares for Manni, cares for her father and cares about the situation. The audience doesn't get to know her that well, but Tykwer does such a remarkable job at upping the stakes that it is possible for the audience to become invested in her struggle. Potente and Bleibtreu also do an effective job at quickly giving the sense of a legitimate relationship right from the start so the audience can emotionally invest in the story.



The "runs" are told in three 20-minute segments, and to say they fly by would be an understatement, but the film makes an extremely wise choice: in-between the first two finales, we are given a glimpse of Lola's and Manni's relationship through – memories? Subconsciousness? A flash? The scenes parallel each other, with Lola questioning Manni's dedication to her and then Manni doing the same in the second. This is one of the few times the film halts – giving the audience a moment to breathe and take in all that has occurred (and that is a VERY important element of film editing, especially with a film like this.) Mathilde Bonnefoy was the editor of this film and did outstanding work here, understanding the pacing and weight of the narrative.

The world that inhabits Run Lola Run is a bright, colorful and fast-paced one. Frank Griebe provided the cinematography for the film, boasting on-location sequences in Berlin. I can only imagine the excitement and difficulty the crew for Run Lola Run may have had in working around such conditions. Tykwer, Johnny Klimek and Reinhold Heil collaborated for the film's soundtrack, a pulsating, sharply-paced techno-score that includes numerous musical quotations of the sustained string chords of The Unanswered Question, an early 20th-century chamber ensemble work by American composer Charles Ives. Of course, the audience probably doesn't know that – nor probably cares – but it is a fascinating layer that is heaped on a film that on the surface, appears to be style over substance.



There are other facets that add a visceral, deeper feel to the film: allusions to Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo (spiral staircases); a painting of Kim Novak on the back wall of the casino as she appeared in Vertigo (created by production designer Alexander Manasse in fifteen minutes) and a parallel of a scene in Casablanca, where a character wins by betting twice on the same number. Apart from Sepp Herberger's quote that opens Run Lola Run, there is another reference to German culture in the film by using Hans Paetsch as a narrator, who is a famous voice of children's stories in Germany and recognized by millions.

Tom Tykwer was fascinated by film from an early age, making amateur Super 8 films at the age of eleven and later helped out at a local arthouse cinema to see more films, including those he was too young to buy tickets for. Tykwer was struggling financially when Run Lola Run was released. It became the most successful German film of 1998, gaining $7 million at the US box office, and elevated Tykwer to international fame. As Lola was becoming a success worldwide, Tykwer was already at work on his next film, The Princess and the Warrior, also starring Franka Potente (whom he started dating). The Princess and the Warrior centers on a love story between a nurse and a former soldier. He has since contributed his talents to direct one of Paris, je t'aime's short films, as well as making his Hollywood debut directing Clive Owen and Naomi Watts in The International.



This is a film that is more about itself than anything else. We are introduced into a world inhabited by characters that are given the illusion of free will. I say "illusion" because even though Lola is given three chances to complete her task, we have to wonder who is giving her those three chances. Run Lola Run is a satisfying experience, a perfect running time for its self-contained story, with a breathless pacing that races (literally) to a great conclusion.

And, boy – can Lola run.



Trailer for Run Lola Run


{Film Passport Stamped]

Coming Attractions: What does a story about two men taking care of two women in comas have to do with a silent film about a shrinking man who winds up inside the vagina of his lover? Only Pedro Almodóvar knows, but I will do my best to decipher it!

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