Writer-director Tom Tykwer's hyperkinetic, metaphysical "Run Lola Run" was the sensation of last year's Toronto Film Festival and this
audacious, mile-a-minute cross between a cartoon, music video and film school exercise fulfills all the hype. 90 minutes seems like 20 as this hyper, frantic film tells 3 different versions of the same
story with slight and crucial differences.
Shriekingly cool Lola has 20 minutes to find 100,000 marks to replace mob money her boyfriend Manni lost -- or Manni's history. Tykwer's ballsy,
virtuoso camera work grabs the viewer by the throat and blasts into the story full speed with a rare blend of assurance and ferocity. Whew! The spinning, zooming camera is everywhere as
Lola starts on her desperate quest. Tykwer uses a blend of Lars Von Trier's jittery handheld shots, standard Hollywood overhead cam sweeping shots and the rapid-fire cutting popularized by rock video
to heighten the adrenaline level as Lola tears around town, her crazed state of mind and utter panic echoed in the film's breathless and energetic fury.
Read that T.S. Eliot quote before action starts
and keep it in your mind. What seems just a more accomplished, artistic handling of the same tired small-town-crook-troubles tale instead develops into a metaphysical examination of the small chances
and choices that can change lives. The second story is a stunner as it demonstrates how a few seconds can change lives and alter relationships forever.
Franke Potenta
(whose haircolor was an instant fashion hit) is wonderfully gutsy in all three of Lola's incarnations. She's got a tough haul in the first sequence, as Lola's world implodes with each desperate moment. Franke has a marvelous screen presence, both slightly obnoxious and charming, and this contradiction enables her to pull off the various aspects of Lola's personality that are heightened by each different story. Pay very close attention to the relationships between characters and when Lola makes a choice (effectively underscored by using the same slow motion shot of Franke looking at the camera). The movie moves from senseless carnage to a mixed outcome to true joy. Some of this is accident (what Lola's father hears and then doesn't hear) some is choice (the casino) yet it all hinges on Manni's faith that Lola will somehow find a way to save his life.
Not content with this, the third sequence celebrates the mystical powers of true love, as it builds on and enriches the dimensions of the story we've seen twice before. The ending is
perfection. It's the most romantic ending I've seen in recent memory, a true love story set to a driving techo beat (the soundtrack is outstanding). Rent this one. |
