Review of Run Lola Run (1998) by Omar K — 16 Apr 2018

Run Lola Run: A World Without Boundaries.

"Who are we? Where do we come from? Where are we going? How do we know what we think we know? Why do we believe anything at all?" These are the questions Tom Tykwer poses to the viewer in the beginning of his 1998 film, Run Lola Run, to set up a postmodern world that transgresses temporal and social architectures of confinement. The film has a game-like feel to it, with Lola as the player and the various men in the game, including Lola's father and her boyfriend, Manni, as the source of obstacles in the game. The 'game' begins when Lola gets a phone call from Manni, who desperately needs help. Earlier in the day, Manni loses a bag containing a hundred thousand German marks, which to Manni's despair, belongs to his murderous drug-dealer boss who needs the money in exactly twenty minutes. Driven by her love for Manni, Lola races against time to gather the money but gets shot on her first attempt. So, she goes back to where she started, but wiser than before, and tries again and fails again and then tries again and succeeds. Even though every attempt is essentially the same, a minor change in Lola's timing of her runs leads to three different outcomes, the last of which is a success.

These different outcomes that result from the same story reflect a fundamental consequence of postmodernism; there is no "singular truth" but a "multiplicity of truths" and "different perspectives" (McDonald). Through the film's plot that often switches between animation and reality; game and non-game, Tykwer makes it harder to identify what is true. And the creative mise-en-scene and energetic soundtracks used in the film further blur the line between real and unreal, which effectively illustrates a postmodern world in which "no definite terms, boundaries, or absolute truths exist" (Niles). Therefore, by using elements of form and content, Tykwer creates a postmodern world that allows him to transgress the temporal and social boundaries blocking our escape from the shackles of time and from the sexist gender roles imposed upon us by modernist society.

Tykwer sets up his postmodern world in the very beginning of Run Lola Run through provocative questions with no clear answer. The narrator ironically replies to these questions by saying, "isn't it always the same question? And always the same answer?" This ambiguous answer along with the fast-paced techno music that follows and the loud ringing of Lola's phone sets a chaotic mood that is characteristic of a postmodern world. The chaos of the situation only increases once the 'game' starts and Lola has to run to save Manni's life. The extra-diegetic techno music runs with Lola as she rushes down the streets of Berlin, and the rush of the situation becomes so extreme at times that Tykwer must use animations to reflect the urgency of the situation (Tykwer).

However, the switch between animation and reality creates an increased sense of confusion and makes it harder to distinguish what is real from what is not. Sometimes the animation translates seamlessly into reality, however, the game-like nature of the situation makes the viewer uncertain of what is real. For example, an animation portraying Lola run down spiral stairs and trip on her way down translates to a limp in her run in real life (Tykwer). But the fact that Lola gets shot on her first attempt and comes back to life on her second makes the viewer question the truthfulness of what is presented, which is what Tykwer needs to establish a postmodern world with "no definite terms, boundaries, or absolute truths" (Niles).

Once Tykwer establishes this world, he is able to transgress temporal and social boundaries. The temporal boundary that forces us to rush our actions under the pressure of time is represented multiple times through the spiral motif. There is a spiral on the pillow Lola sleeps on, a spiral on the door in the animation, a spiral on the "Spirale" shop, and a spiral staircase (Tykwer). This motif symbolizes the endless spiraling of time; the endless rotation of the hands on a clock that, despite their cyclic movement, lead to different outcomes with every rotation. By creating a game-like experience, Tykwer breaks this endless spiral and allows Lola to repeat the same story and the same time frame more than once, thus transgressing the boundary of time.

On the other hand, to transgress the boundary created by modernist gender roles in society, Tykwer characterizes Lola as the player in a game where men are the source of the obstacles Lola must face to succeed. For instance, Lola must engage in a stressful race against time because of Manni's "amateur" way of handling the drug money and her father's reluctance to give her the money she needs to rescue Manni (Tykwer). Making men the source of the problem clearly transgresses the social boundary that often portrays women as the issue in society. And the fact that the female, Lola, must provide financial support for the male, Manni, reverses the modernist gender roles that dictate that males must provide for the females, which is once again a transgression of the boundary of gender roles and a rejection of the false consciousness which portrays women as unequal to men.

In conclusion, Run Lola Run is an excellent film that portrays postmodernism in a creative and thrilling way. Through Run Lola Run, Tykwer not only tries to entertain the viewer but also attempts to fight the endless spiraling of time that imprisons us and the sexist gender roles that hinder our societies' advancement. By using a game-like plot, creative mise-en-scene, and fast-paced music, Tykwer succeeds in creating a chaotic postmodern world that temporarily frees us from the social and temporal architectures of confinement present in our modernist societies today.