Product: Run, Lola, Run [VHS] (1999)
Rating: 5.0
The Joy of Cinema
Francois Truffaut, the great Frech director once said, "I demand that a film express either the joy of making cinema or the agony of making cinema. I am not interested in anything in between; I am not interested in all those films that do not pulse." Tom Tykwer, the director of Run!Lola!Run!, knows exactly what Truffault was getting at. His 88 minute landmark film from Germany does what most movies fail to do. That is, ASTONISH US! I have not seen another film this year(or for several previous years) where the director's love of filmaking is revealed in each shot. In brief, the film centers around a young woman trying to come up with 100, 000 marks in twenty minutes to try to save her boyfriend who messed up a drug deal. The film gives three versions of the execution and outcome. But to mention "the plot" only does this movie injustice. Like with all movies, a film is not juged good or bad on what it is about. It is judged on how it is about what it is about. Tykwer does not use the three different scenario technique as a ploy. Each new version of the story makes us think about the past actions of its characters while, at the same time, revealing something new about them. What makes Run!Lola!Run! special, of course, is its style. In a way, this is the perfect movie to end the century. It looks back to a tradition(i.e-pulp plot, "love conquers all theme") while looking to the future(i.e-fast-forward freeze-frame, animation). Furthermore, the director uses music the same way Scorsese, Tarantino, and Kenneth Anger do. Not to drown the images on the screen, but to heighten and enhance them. Run!Lola!Run! is by a filmaker who is in love with filmaking. I cannot wait for his next movie. Unfortunately, Hollywood directors will try to copy and follow Tom Tykwer. However, like Pauline Keal said(when referring to director Jean-Luc Godard) they can't walk behind him because he has already "burned up the ground."