Product: Run, Lola, Run [VHS] (1999)
Rating: 5.0
A brilliantly innovative cinematic masterpiece
I have always tried very hard not to say a movie was awesome, but I feel compelled to say that this German gem from 1999 is as awesome as awesome can be. I've never seen anything like Run, Lola, Run; it's a film that doesn't sound as if it should really work, yet its presentation is dazzling and mesmerizing. Franka Potente gives an incredible performance, her talents as visible as her bright pink hair. There's nothing misleading about the title. Lola runs and runs some more; Franka Potente could probably have tried out for the German Olympic team after all the running she had to do here.The strengths of this movie are its unique vision, stunning cinematography, and pulse-pounding soundtrack, but here's a breakdown of the plot. Lola (Potente) and Manni (Moritz Bleibtreu) are in love, and like most couples in love we find the man doing something really stupid and blaming the woman. Manni does a little work for a mafia-type fellow, and his latest job involves the delivery of one hundred thousand marks to his boss. Lola was supposed to meet him in town, but she was late, and Manni ended up accidentally (yet still very stupidly) leaving his bag o' cash on a train for a bum to pick up and run off with. Now he has twenty minutes to come up with one hundred thousand marks before having to face Mr. Big. Lola was late because her bike was stolen, yet of course the whole mess is her fault, according to Manni. I'll cut the guy some slack here, though; knowing you are about to be rubbed out tends to put a little stress on the system. Lola takes off, trying to come up with the money and get it to Manni before the top of the hour. Lest you think the film cannot last longer than thirty minutes tops, just know that there is something a little bit different about Lola; the old saw "if you don't succeed, try, try again" takes on special meaning with this girl, and the transitions of what might be considered silly by some are handled very, very well.Run, Lola, Run does much to show us how our decisions impact both ourselves and those around us, even strangers, in a big, big way. The movie provides us with a quick series of revealing snapshots of the future lives of several individuals who cross Lola's path, and it is really quite fascinating to see how these peeks at the future differ under slightly different circumstances. One may not be able to say that fate is kind or unkind, but she (fate) is certainly capricious. Irony abounds here, just as in life. The visual presentation of this film is just stunning, combining all sorts of illustrative elements. There is an animation sequence that mimics part of Lola's run, split screen shots of two scenes at once, and almost dizzying camera pans that do indeed compare with a lot of the elements of music videos. The whole movie is also infused with a powerful, beating soundtrack (a significant portion of which is provided by Franka Potente herself) that never allows the viewer to take a breath; there is very little danger of your nodding off while watching this cinematic masterpiece. Voted the best film by the audience at the Sundance Film Festival of 1999, Run, Lola, Run is a visionary piece of cinematic art that every lover of good movies should see.