Product: Run, Lola, Run [VHS] (1999)
Rating: 5.0
Very Artistic, Visual & Really Moves!
I've frequently found German cinema to be too depressing for my own taste as has my husband. However, this film got rave reviews on my film listserv so I had to give it a chance. I was drawing when I put it on the video player and, five minutes into the film, I had put away my drawing, not to touch it again until the movie was over! That is how much this movie grabbed my eye. The director has quite the artist's eye and takes us through 3 different visual versions of reality for Lola as she runs to try to save her boyfriend's life. We see how very small increments of time can make vital changes to the opportunities and chances one has in life, including whether one will even continue living! There is not a second wasted in the telling of this story and it is told very visually instead of being laden with dialogue. Lola has some very dramatic encounters with her father, a banking executive, in these 3 versions of her running. At the end, you feel very aware of how close you might live to momentary disaster, especially in light of the effects of Lola's runs to the pedestrians and drivers on the streets where she runs. We found ourselves very caught up in the film and wanted our own copy of it as soon as it was over, which we did get.