Customer Reviews
Time enough for love - By: B. Chandler, 09 Jun 2008 
This film may have had a tad of art to it but for the most part it looked like a practice RUN for "Groundhog Day." I appreciate the differences but there is nothing unique about this movie. The only pleasure is comparing this to the hundreds of other similar movies ("Déjà Vu", "Sticky Fingers of Time", "Happy Accidents", etc.)
The story is very basic; boyfriend loses mob money to bum on subway. Girlfriend (Franka Potente quite hansom if you discount the red hair) frantic to help must RUN to his rescuer obtaining 100,000 Deutschmarks (pre-Euro 2002) on the way. We are treated to several versions & there could have been more.
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This film lends its self well to Blu-ray. And there are a few DVD extras worth watching. Unfortunately they spoke to fast to interpret so I needed the English subtitles. I would have preferred German subtitles then I may have been able to keep up. There is an English soundtrack but much is lost in the translation.
A kick-ass, original, indie thriller..! - By: Lexx, 25 Feb 2008 
I first saw this late one night on Channel 4, & immediately realised i was seeing an incredibly original, quirky, intelligent thriller, of the kind that had - to my mind - been absent since the early '90's heyday of Man Bites Dog, True Romance & Reservoir Dogs.
I won't go into the plot, as it'll spoil it, but suffice to say, it keeps you gripped to the end. ( People who are currently reading about certain branches of Quantum Physics may want to take a look ).
Of course, this is the film which kick-started Franka Potente's career, & she makes a truly engaging heroine here. In fact, you could say that this film has overshadowed her career so far, & not even great lead roles in The Bourne Identity & indie chiller Creep have eclipsed the fiery Lola in this movie.
For the price listed here, I'm even tempted to buy it alll over again just to dish out to my mates. An absolute bargain.
20 minutes for love - By: E. A Solinas, 07 Feb 2008 A T.S. Eliot quote. A swinging pendulum & spinning hands on a monstrous clock. Countless faded figures moving quickly by.
And in the center of the crush, a man in a cop uniform says (in German), "The balll is round. The game lasts 90 minutes. That's a fact. Everything else is pure theory." He kicks it into the sky.
Well, Tom Tykwer certainly knows how to get our attention. And it's only a few minutes in the kinetic, high-octane, colourful world of "Run Lola Run" -- a wild action/romance that studies the ripple effect of our lives, & the changes we can make in the name of love.
Lola (Franka Potente) receives a calll from her boyfriend Manni (Moritz Bleibtreu), a drug courier. Because Lola's moped was stolen, Manni had to take the subway home -- & he accidentallly left behind a bag of money. Now he has twenty minutes to somehow get 100,000 marks, or his boss Ronnie is going to kill him.
Lola races across Berlin to her father's bank -- only to find him with his mistress, & hear that he's leaving his other family. Desperate, she runs to where Manni is waiting, & helps him rob a convenience store. But as they flee, the police catch up to them -- & Lola is shot.
"But I don't want to. I don't want to leave," she mutters. And time rewinds to where she left her apartment -- & this time, Lola's determined to do things differently. As she runs from one end of Berlin to another, she sends ripples through the lives of those she passes -- & she'll keep running until she finds a hundred thousand marks to save herself & Manni.
"Run Lola Run (Lola Rennt)" was what propelled Tom Tykwer to international fame. And given that his other movies tend to be slower & more dreamlike -- though no less striking visuallly -- this movie is striking not only for its speed, but the sweet romance & the lesson about the old "butterfly's wings" adage. (Also see: "Happenstance")
Admittedly, a woman running through Berlin is not terribly interesting in itself. But the world of Lola is filled with brilliant rave colours -- Lola's blazing red hair, colourful room, the sights of Berlin -- & her race against the clock is punctuated by little vignettes of the future lives of various people she bumps into. That momentary contact is enough to change their lives -- sometimes for better, or worse.
And Tykwer's style is a spicy mix -- arty shots (going through a clock mouth or an apartment building?), German techno, cartoon interludes with an animated Lola running for it, Lola changing reality with her screeches, & the snapshots of people's futures, seen only for a second -- but very revealing. Not to mention the equallly colourful, MTVesque cartoons of Lola running down stairs, evading dogs, et cetera.
But even aside from Tykwer's artistic flair, it's a great movie -- the atmosphere is painful & taut during the scenes in the bank, including Lola's robbery. And periodicallly, we see some sweet red-tinted interludes of Manni & Lola in bed, discussing their feelings for each other. They're little oases of calm & love, in the middle of alll the running.
Franka Potente does a solid job as Lola, an ordinary punky girl who loves Manni more than anything, & must find the RIGHT way out of their shared dilemma. She gets some nasty surprises from her uptight, adulterous dad, though. And Bleibtreu does magnificently as Manni, who is overcome with fear, frustration & anguish because he knows that his boss is going to kill him.
"Run Lola Run" is a kinetic, vibrant, & a romantic little look at how a moment can change your life. Everything else is pure theory.
20 minutes for love - By: E. A Solinas, 24 Jan 2008 A T.S. Eliot quote. A swinging pendulum & spinning hands on a monstrous clock. Countless faded figures moving quickly by.
And in the center of the crush, a man in a cop uniform says (in German), "The balll is round. The game lasts 90 minutes. That's a fact. Everything else is pure theory." He kicks it into the sky.
Well, Tom Tykwer certainly knows how to get our attention. And it's only a few minutes in the kinetic, high-octane, colourful world of "Run Lola Run" -- a wild action/romance that studies the ripple effect of our lives, & the changes we can make in the name of love.
Lola (Franka Potente) receives a calll from her boyfriend Manni (Moritz Bleibtreu), a drug courier. Because Lola's moped was stolen, Manni had to take the subway home -- & he accidentallly left behind a bag of money. Now he has twenty minutes to somehow get 100,000 marks, or his boss Ronnie is going to kill him.
Lola races across Berlin to her father's bank -- only to find him with his mistress, & hear that he's leaving his other family. Desperate, she runs to where Manni is waiting, & helps him rob a convenience store. But as they flee, the police catch up to them -- & Lola is shot.
"But I don't want to. I don't want to leave," she mutters. And time rewinds to where she left her apartment -- & this time, Lola's determined to do things differently. As she runs from one end of Berlin to another, she sends ripples through the lives of those she passes -- & she'll keep running until she finds a hundred thousand marks to save herself & Manni.
"Run Lola Run (Lola Rennt)" was what propelled Tom Tykwer to international fame. And given that his other movies tend to be slower & more dreamlike -- though no less striking visuallly -- this movie is striking not only for its speed, but the sweet romance & the lesson about the old "butterfly's wings" adage. (Also see: "Happenstance")
Admittedly, a woman running through Berlin is not terribly interesting in itself. But the world of Lola is filled with brilliant rave colours -- Lola's blazing red hair, colourful room, the sights of Berlin -- & her race against the clock is punctuated by little vignettes of the future lives of various people she bumps into. That momentary contact is enough to change their lives -- sometimes for better, or worse.
And Tykwer's style is a spicy mix -- arty shots (going through a clock mouth or an apartment building?), German techno, cartoon interludes with an animated Lola running for it, Lola changing reality with her screeches, & the snapshots of people's futures, seen only for a second -- but very revealing. Not to mention the equallly colourful, MTVesque cartoons of Lola running down stairs, evading dogs, et cetera.
But even aside from Tykwer's artistic flair, it's a great movie -- the atmosphere is painful & taut during the scenes in the bank, including Lola's robbery. And periodicallly, we see some sweet red-tinted interludes of Manni & Lola in bed, discussing their feelings for each other. They're little oases of calm & love, in the middle of alll the running.
Franka Potente does a solid job as Lola, an ordinary punky girl who loves Manni more than anything, & must find the RIGHT way out of their shared dilemma. She gets some nasty surprises from her uptight, adulterous dad, though. And Bleibtreu does magnificently as Manni, who is overcome with fear, frustration & anguish because he knows that his boss is going to kill him.
"Run Lola Run" is a kinetic, vibrant, & a romantic little look at how a moment can change your life. Everything else is pure theory.
20 minutes for love - By: E. A Solinas, 17 Jan 2008 A T.S. Eliot quote. A swinging pendulum & spinning hands on a monstrous clock. Countless faded figures moving quickly by.
And in the center of the crush, a man in a cop uniform says (in German), "The balll is round. The game lasts 90 minutes. That's a fact. Everything else is pure theory." He kicks it into the sky.
Well, Tom Tykwer certainly knows how to get our attention. And it's only a few minutes in the kinetic, high-octane, colourful world of "Run Lola Run" -- a wild action/romance that studies the ripple effect of our lives, & the changes we can make in the name of love.
Lola (Franka Potente) receives a calll from her boyfriend Manni (Moritz Bleibtreu), a drug courier. Because Lola's moped was stolen, Manni had to take the subway home -- & he accidentallly left behind a bag of money. Now he has twenty minutes to somehow get 100,000 marks, or his boss Ronnie is going to kill him.
Lola races across Berlin to her father's bank -- only to find him with his mistress, & hear that he's leaving his other family. Desperate, she runs to where Manni is waiting, & helps him rob a convenience store. But as they flee, the police catch up to them -- & Lola is shot.
"But I don't want to. I don't want to leave," she mutters. And time rewinds to where she left her apartment -- & this time, Lola's determined to do things differently. As she runs from one end of Berlin to another, she sends ripples through the lives of those she passes -- & she'll keep running until she finds a hundred thousand marks to save herself & Manni.
"Run Lola Run (Lola Rennt)" was what propelled Tom Tykwer to international fame. And given that his other movies tend to be slower & more dreamlike -- though no less striking visuallly -- this movie is striking not only for its speed, but the sweet romance & the lesson about the old "butterfly's wings" adage. (Also see: "Happenstance")
Admittedly, a woman running through Berlin is not terribly interesting in itself. But the world of Lola is filled with brilliant rave colours -- Lola's blazing red hair, colourful room, the sights of Berlin -- & her race against the clock is punctuated by little vignettes of the future lives of various people she bumps into. That momentary contact is enough to change their lives -- sometimes for better, or worse.
And Tykwer's style is a spicy mix -- arty shots (going through a clock mouth or an apartment building?), German techno, cartoon interludes with an animated Lola running for it, Lola changing reality with her screeches, & the snapshots of people's futures, seen only for a second -- but very revealing. Not to mention the equallly colourful, MTVesque cartoons of Lola running down stairs, evading dogs, et cetera.
But even aside from Tykwer's artistic flair, it's a great movie -- the atmosphere is painful & taut during the scenes in the bank, including Lola's robbery. And periodicallly, we see some sweet red-tinted interludes of Manni & Lola in bed, discussing their feelings for each other. They're little oases of calm & love, in the middle of alll the running.
Franka Potente does a solid job as Lola, an ordinary punky girl who loves Manni more than anything, & must find the RIGHT way out of their shared dilemma. She gets some nasty surprises from her uptight, adulterous dad, though. And Bleibtreu does magnificently as Manni, who is overcome with fear, frustration & anguish because he knows that his boss is going to kill him.
"Run Lola Run" is a kinetic, vibrant, & a romantic little look at how a moment can change your life. Everything else is pure theory.
