Run Lola Run Analysis

Run Lola Run - Outrunning Chance, Chaos and Free Will

Run Lola Run is a 1998 German film directed by Tom Tykwer. This essay will explore and discuss themes of free will, determinism and chance found within the film.

“Cinema that interests me is cinema about openings, unresolved questions and experiments, [...] without refusing chaos, chance, destiny or the unexpected.” This quote by Tom Tykwer describes how he is trying to explore a range of possibilities in film. Through certain techniques, symbolism and intricate, distinctive visual methods. The central theme of the film Run Lola Run aims to portray the interrelation of action, ‘The Butterfly Effect’ while also treating life as a playable a game of chance.

Run Lola Run opens with two quotes;

Run Lola Run explores the dynamic of a nonlinear plot within the theory and chaos, the mathematical concept proposes that even small actions can change the outcome of a plot. The most popular idea would be that the butterflies flapping of its wings in Mexico can cause a hurricane in China, it may take a long time for these two actions to find their connection. Another interpretation is causation or the Domino Effect wherein one small action can set off a string of prodigious actions, whether these are negative or positive often rely on what the audience can infer. In Run Lola Run this perhaps is best visualized by the woman Lola meets on all her three runs. First Lola bumps into her and the woman subsequently becomes poor, loses custody of her child and together with her husband alcoholics. On the second run Lola barely bumps into her, yet again this changes the woman 's course of life, her plot is interrupted somehow by the brief, split-second interactions she has with Lola, this is rendered through a montage of photographs. In the last run Lola does not physically interact with the woman, yet even the non-interaction triggers a series of events, the woman leaves her husband and child and joins the Jehovah 's witnesses. It could be argued that Lola even contributes to this progression of events, the woman could have been inspired by Lola 's run to leave her life for another life of freedom within the

“The ball is round, the game lasts 90 minutes, everything else is pure theory” Run Lola Run’s ‘game’ begins here. Referring back to Sepp Herberger’s quote another aspect of the films likeness to games are the scenes rendered through cartoon sequences, this underlines the artificial aspects of the narrative. We are always aware that it’s just a game, sure, through the given mise-en-scène the audience experiences the intensity of the characters’ emotions but the audience is always aware of the nature of the movie, of the stakes that are not actually as high as they appear to be. The clock is ticking, we know Lola has twenty minutes what happens within those twenty minutes is completely up to chance and chaos. The film treats life as if it’s a game, everything is influenced by variables and Lola has to be at the right place at the right time in order to save Manni’s life. The narrative constantly welcomes new variables that Lola must embrace to finally come to a happy ending. The way in which Lola is able to always return to her starting point bears strong resemblance to the concept of save points within video games. The two different cameras that are employed contribute to the artificial, fake feeling that the film is trying to convey, for scenes that do not focus on Lola and Manni a much lower resolution is utilized, Lola’s encounter with her father thus appear dream-like out of focus and surreal. It’s a game of chance, everything is fictional and we are not supposed to be