Run Lola Run (1999)

Twenty-five years ago, this high-energy German-language action thriller started to take the world by storm as it was also released in the U.S. becoming an instant cult phenomenon.  The story it quite simple: Manny (Moritz Bliebtreu) is a young drug courier living in Berlin who has just bungled an important money delivery.....he's scared and desperate, so who does his call?? Why his Flaming Red-haired girlfriend...the titular Lola played by Franka Potente.  She hangs up the phone and starts to....you guessed.....RUN to help him out  And run she does....across Berlin running into a variety of different characters whom she may or may already know....and thus kicks off a relatively short adventure which we see play out multiple times over, each version taking off in different directions.  As directed by Tom Tykwer (The International, Cloud Atlas) and with a catchy soundtrack loaded with catchy EDM, what results is is one of the more memorable graduates from the vaunted (cinematic) Class of '99!

Host: Geoff Gershon
Edited By Ella Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon

https://livingforthecinema.com/

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/Living-for-the-Cinema-Podcast-101167838847578

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/livingforthecinema/

Letterboxd:
https://letterboxd.com/Living4Cinema/

Transcript

RUN LOLA RUN - 1999

Directed by Tom Tykwer

Starring Franka Potente, Moritz Bleibtreu, Herbert Knaup, Nina Petri, Armin Rohde, Joachim Krol, Julia Lindig, Suzanne von Borsody, Sebestian Schipper, and Ludger Pistor

Genre: Suspense Thriller (Audio clip)

After just adoring this film during its first US theatrical run back in '99 and several times on video and DVD since then, I just could not resist seeing it on the big screen again for the 25th Anniversary. Brought my two teenage daughters (well one's in college) who had never seen it before. As soon as the camera pans up that silly clock with the gargoyle face as the pulsating Tykwer/Klimek music starts to kick in, I KNEW I was in for a good time! :) This film for all of its dated '90's elements and video game trappings is still such a kitschy, propulsive EXPERIENCE to witness firsthand that it holds up better than I could have imagined. 

The story is deceptively simple and straightforward: Lola's (Franka Potente) finds herself furiously running across Berlin to save her boyfriend Manny (Moritz Bliebtreu) from his own incompetence as a drug courier. She has twenty minutes to get to him before his drug dealer boss comes calling for the missing dough...and either you're on board for those crazy kids or you're not. 🤔 My daughters unfortunately were not particularly digging this....they just didn't see the point of the whole enterprise despite enjoying the music and most of the visuals. (The screaming not so much) 

Which I get...I'm not even sure it's a generational thing. But from MY 1999 standpoint - having spent much of the past five years leading up to this film witnessing every other filmmaker shamelessly attempting to ape the kinetic stylings of John Woo, the bombastic music video vibes of Tony Scott, and/or the grungy post-modern nihilism of Tarantino - I was just PRIMED for this and director Tom Tykwer (who also wrote the screenplay) hit the spot better than most were at the time. :) (This came out the same year as The Boondock Saints....enough said) There's loads of genuinely NASTY stuff being thrown at you via those running Polaroid flash forward gags of side characters....drug overdoses, kidnapping children, bondage....it CAN be unsettling to think about. But the story just runs right past it, never slowing down....

And so much of that is due to Potente. Of course her firy red hair and furious running style leave the biggest impression but it's more than that. She delivers an iconic performance based almost entirely on facial expressions and tics: that angry glare, the whole "What ME??" aghastness of her eyes at points, and of course a piercing million yard stare from her which works especially well during the casino sequence later in the film. Hers is/was a face designed for films with subtitles....for folks who didn't like films with subtitles. 😜 Never considered myself part of that group but it makes sense that around this particular time period, it was European actresses with amazing faces like hers, Audrey Tautou, or Monica Bellucci's who were starting to cross over more easily into American movies. 

There a playfulness running throughout it all despite some several darker elements being introduced along the way. And thanks to exemplary work from editor Matthilde Bonnefoy and cinematographer Frank Griebe, we can always follow what's going on (where in the run she's situated) and keep up with ALL of the side players at different points along the way. :) 

Among the standouts are certainly Herbert Knaup (dude looks like Sting) giving a nice acid turn as Lola's extremely put-upon bank manager father Vater - he has some memorable moments built almost entirely on slight shifts in the story as it's retold threw times over. Also sublime is Armin Rohde as the smug security officer at the bank whom Lola keeps encountering - he has one effective grace note towards the end which kinda sneaks up on you if you don't realize it's actually HIM.

And who can forget Manni?? Moritz Bliebtreu is great with all of the desperate and doofus moments which are needed on his end. But he's also got the sly smile and delivers JUST the right amount of clever notes to convey that even if he's not exactly keeping up with his better half, he's at least trying. ;) 

Best Needledrop (best song cue or score used throughout runtime of film): 

This film features EASILY one of the best soundtracks of the ‘90’s and even since then….it’s pretty much wall-to-wall electronica resulting from a collaboration between two techno legends, Johnny Klimek from Australia and Reinhold Heil from Germany….with some tracks actually conducted by the director Tom Tykwer and most of the vocals coming Lola herself, the star Franka Potente.  This music not only helps propel the story but you could make a case that we hear more from Potente herself through the songs than actual dialogue. (Audio clip) 

And I kind of alluded to it earlier but the opening to this movie….WOW, just an all-time opening credits sequence to rival the best of all time, I LOVE it!  Not only does it do a highly efficient job of introducing us to all of the major players – almost video game-style - and also give us a true taste of the visual overload headed our way with sped-up and blurred camera work taking us through a crowd comprised of the whole cast and crew….but…..it LITERALLY kicks the movie into high gear with the image of a soccer ball being kicked up towards the camera over all figures now assembled to spell out the title of the movie….the ball lands through the O then leading us to psychedelic animation of Lola herself running with her back to the camera.  If you are not 100% PUMPED after hearing those six repeated electric guitar riffs just as the ball is kicked into the air, then I don’t know what to tell you…..for me, it’s an announcement that what we’re about to embark on one HELL of a 90 minute ride.  The track is simply titled, “Run Lola Run – Introduction Theme.” (Audio clip) 

Wasted Talent (most under-utilized talent involved with film):

With the rare exception just a few years back of the amazingly entertaining South Korean film Parasite not only winning Best Foreign Language Film but BEST PICTURE – pretty historic actually on several fronts – it is a truly RARE occasion when we see the Academy actually recognize a foreign language film which is actually….dare I say it….FUN.  And we have had some truly STRIKING examples in recent years including last year’s Godzilla Minus One from Japan and previous episode RRR from India, neither of which were nominated for that award.  Now to be fair…in both cases, their respective countries egregiously did NOT submit these films for consideration as only ONE film per country can be submitted.  But back in ’99….major props here for the German film board as they actually had the balls to submit THIS movie as their nation’s representative film for Oscar consideration.  Alas Lola Rentt (its German title) was not nominated for Best Foreign Language film that year….I DID see two of the other films nominated including the eventual winner, Pedro Almodovar’s excellent domestic drama All About My Mother…..deserving too, just a phenomenal film!  But come on….what better way to signal that American audiences (and critics) will appreciate less super-serious film from overseas than to at least nominate something like this?  

Trailer Moment (scene or moment that best describes this movie):

So many moments of bombast and and yelling and…..RUNNING of course that I would have to choose wat I believe is THE funniest moment of the film – it occurs during the second lap of Lola’s vaunted run around the 48 minute mark and it’s a quick moment too.  We are at Lola’s father’s bank and after he has kind of heartlessly dismissed her for asking for his help…..Lola then storms back through the lobby and impulsively takes matters into her own hands.  She grabs the gun from the security guard and demands a big bag of cash from the effete teller…..which he calmly gives her.  And apparently unbeknownst to her, he has trigged the silent alarm.  Because when Lola steps out of the main entrance of the bank, the camera pulls in on her face AGHAST as she is now surrounded by several cop cars with several armed cops ALL aiming their weapons in her general direction……UH-OH!  Well what happens next?  As several armed police advance towards the entrance, one of them waves her off, tells her to get out of there before she gets hurt…..yup, Lola apparently just DIDN’T fit the profile of suspected bank robber….so she then comically runs off to find Manny with her bag of cash.  (Audio clip) 

MVP (person or people most responsible for the success of this film):

Of course it took more than just Lola's face to pull this altogether....this was only German filmmaker Tom Tykwer's third feature film and the one which put him on the map. Besides the three previously mentioned filmmakers (Woo, QT, Tony Scott) there's also some '90's Oliver Stone thrown in for you. Changing film stocks at certain points does a great job of illustrating the stakes for not only Lola (and Manny) but several other key characters.  And despite these influences, Tykwer very much makes this film its own unique thing.  His directing career has been a bit of a mixed bag since then but you could never accuse this man of not taking some BIG swings….a couple of years later, he would collaborate again with Potente on the somewhat interesting The Princess and the Warrior and thirteen years later, one of THE most truly unique AND divisive films of the 21st Century – which he co-directed with the Wachowskis – the time-and-space-bending balls-out EPIC Cloud Atlas.  Regardless for guiding us on this fast-paced, tightly wound gonzo sprint through Berlin, Tom Tykwer is the MVP.  

Final Rating: 5 stars out of 5

The kids might not appreciate it and I'm sure there are many from my generation who have always dismissed this as a '90's gimmick movie. But as far as I'm concerned, this remains a deliriously entertaining film with possibly even more to say than you might realize just upon first watch.  Happy 25th Anniversary to one of the best from the Class of '99!

Streaming on Prime Video

And that ends another DETERMINISTIC review!