Product: Run, Lola, Run [VHS] (1999)
Rating: 5.0
Run to get this DVD
Some have remarked on the originality of the film's concept. In fact, this is one of the science fiction genre's more cliched premises. What makes it novel, perhaps, is that it's applied to a non-science fiction setting. But, as interesting as the concept is, it does other films and television shows an injustice to regard _Run Lola Run_ as an entire innovation.What separates _Run Lola Run_ from other films is not the story itself so much as the way the story is told. Director Tom Tykwer is an auteur run amuck. From the opening sequence, we are completely at the mercy of Twyker's powerful vision._Run Lola Run_ is the collision of German expressionism, Czech animation, and MTV. So much of this film is told though this blend of visual styles, in fact, that one could turn off the subtitles and understand most of what was going on.This is not to say that the film is a vacuous visual metaphor. Far from it. Tykwer has crafted a genuine story here, with a great moral center. It's just that that morality is not exposed through pages of dialogue. Tykwer, instead, uses so many techniques, so well-edited together, that the characters are largely defined visually before you even know what's happening.Clearly, this is a must-have film for anyone seriously interested in the craft of filmmaking. Not only will you learn a lot from the cacophony on display in the film itself, but the commentary (only in English) is especially enlightening. This is one of the very few secondary audio commentaries on DVD in which the lead actress plays a part, and her insight is invaluable. It's extremely intriguing to hear scenes relived from both sides of the camera. More interestingly, though, Tykwer's explanation of how he pulled off his vision is something that will energize even the most casual filmmaker.