Analysis Of The Film Run Lola Run

I have decided to write on “Run Lola Run” (1998) directed by Tom Tykwer. I had seen the movie in the class, and I liked it a lot because of its different storyline. It was different from any movies that I have seen till now. The director has shown three distinct endings which makes the movie unique. I was impressed by the love Lola had for Manni that she tried her best to save him.

The six important systematic features are as follows: 

• Narration

a. Narration type: Omniscient narration is when the spectators know more than the character does on the other hand restricted narration is when spectators know as much as the character does. In movie Run Lola Run when the beggar who stole the money from Manni in train passes by Lola on the street while she was struggling to collect the money, she didn’t know that it was him, but the audience does. So, it proves that Narration in Run Lola Run is Omniscient to some extent.

b. Subjective narration is when a narrator knows everything about a single character only and sees the story through the eye of character. On the flip side, in objective narration the narrator is an observer but cannot enter the minds of the other characters except in a speculative way. Such a narrator is trapped by the chronology and immediacy of the story. In Run Lola Run the point of view is third person because audience can see through the minds of other characters too so it is not completely subjective however we can’t say objective either. So, it is subjective to some extent. Subjectivity is more of mental than perceptual because the movie is fictional.

• Narrative: 

a. Round or flat character: The flat characters stay same in the storyline unlike round characters which are complex and undergo developments through the story and surprises the reader. By watching the movie any spectator can say that character of Lola is round because she undergoes changes in the movie, she changes her decisions not even once but three times in the story which makes the reader astonished.

• Mise-en-scene:

a. Role of Lighting: The lighting of the film is very significant to emphasize some actions. By highlighting or using shadows, lighting can put the things or characters forward or hide them and create a mystical scene. In a movie, the direction of the lighting and color of the lighting, quality and source of the lighting plays a very important role. In Run Lola Run, most part of the film we see the use of high key lighting. The usage of lighting is very natural especially in the outdoor scenes while Lola was running or Manni was waiting for her. It is like the noonday lighting which shows all objects often knows as hard lighting. However, when Lola was in her room, the usage of frontal lighting which comes to Lola’s face is visible, it vanishes her shadow. The most effective use of lighting in the film is in the scene when Lola and Manni are about to die, they have a glimpse of their conversation in bed maybe after making love, given in red light. The usage of red is a sign of their sexual relationship because red is always seen as the color of eroticism and the nervousness of the spectator that they will die or not.

• Cinematography:

a. Identify the kind of shots: There are many uses of different shot sizes in Run Lola Run. I want to start with extreme long shots. It gives the spectator a view of physical environment. It can show the landscapes as well as buildings from outside. Characters are usually very small or there are no characters. The building of bank is an example of extreme long shot as the whole structure is shown. Most of the shots are extreme long shots because it portrays the streets in which Lola is running. When Lola hits the woman with the baby, they both are shown in the screen, so it is a long shot. Medium shots are used to show characters from waist up. Small groups can be shown by medium shots. The scene when Lola wants money from the cashier is an example of medium shot. Lola’s flashback’s when Manni and Lola are in bed can be considered as over the shoulder shots. The example of close up’s can be when Lola thinks about people from whom she can borrow money, the inner thoughts of her are given to the audience through close up’s. When she choses her father to ask for money we see constant closeup’s which is very impressive.

• Editing:

a. Editing is the most important element in making a film because by editing the shots are put in a meaningful way. So, what the spectator watches is the order of shots done by editor. One way to achieve the continuity in editing is by using master shot. By master shots, the spectator is first given the sense of surrounding and then they are shown a close up, finally they are shown a master shot too. By this way, the audience gets the sense of surrounding and makes relations of characters in that surrounding (00:48:00) and (00:49:11). This is very important to get the cause and effect relationship between the events and characters. Normally, in editing to keep the continuity, there is a 180° rule meaning that camera should not have cross the line of action when two shots are edited together. If it changes position by violating 180° rule, then there will be a jump cut which seems weird. In one scene of Run Lola Run, there is this kind of violation of this rule. The left side of Lola seems like the right side in the next shot, this is a total confusion. Moreover, in the following shot, jump cuts are used intentionally to create a discontinuity in editing. As a mean of continuity editing, eye line matches are used in Run Lola Run severally. The audience always wants to see what the character sees in the shot. That is why eye line matches are used. In the first shot we have the character looking at something off screen, then we have a cut showing what he or she sees, then we see the reaction of our character based on what he sees. There is another kind of shot which provides continuity in editing. It is named as shot reverse shot. This is commonly used in conversation scenes which are so much used in Run Lola Run.

• Sound:

Sound is another important technique of film. Main sounds in the Run Lola Run are given by dialogues including face to face dialogues and telephone conversations. On the other hand, there is a continuous music throughout the film. The film is so much energetic that it needs a very rhythmic music. This intense rhythm of visual elements in the film is combined with a techno soundtrack which is also as rhythmic as the visual elements. The lyrics of the soundtrack during the second run are like that:

‘Never, Never, Never, Never, letting go

Never giving up, never saying no

Just go, go, I never stop

I never think

To do, do, do, the right thing

I want to go

I want to fight

I want to rush

I want to run

I want to see you again

under the setting sun

We will kiss

We will laugh

We will be a part

of what is said to be

a union of the heart’

So, we see that there is a perfect parallelism between the lyrics of the soundtrack and what is going on in the film. The techno soundtrack of the film directs our attention immediately to the steps of Lola when she is running. There is also another important aspect of the soundtrack. It includes some sounds like clock’s tick tock from the background. This is the sound motif used in this film. The high loudness and pitches of Lola’s scream in certain scenes are also important. In order to make it more underlined, it is strengthened by the visualization of breaking glasses. This is obvious in the gambling scene and in the telephone conversation scene (00:09:29). Screaming is, most of the time, seen as the expression of boredom and aggressiveness. While creating soundtracks, like editing, there can be a mixing of sounds. It seems to me that the scream of Lola is not a pure human scream.