Run Lola Run

Based in Berlin, Run Lola Run is fragmented. Each of its three sections, or “runs,” begins the same way, with the same characters working to solve the same problem: Lola must come up with enough money to pay off a crook who aims to kill Manni. However, the methods and attitudes of the characters differ, and thus each section comes to a different conclusion. This is director Tom Tykwer’s artful way of exploring the concept of the butterfly effect. How can an individual person or event end up affecting the whole of human history? (Obviously a relevant question in post WWII Germany.)

The reason I felt inclined specifically to share the clip below is for the cinematic tricks that Tykwer incorporates, in order to make otherwise mundane subject matter enthralling. The driving action of this sequence could not be simpler, and it's even alluded to in the title. Lola is running -- yes, that’s pretty much it. Nevertheless I can’t look away because Tykwer’s hodgepodge of visual techniques keeps my attention, forcing me to wonder how Lola’s run will be depicted next.

This clip alone shows a graphic match cut (the spirals of the phone cord and of the dominoes at :29) video portraits and unsettling jump cuts (from :34 to :40) a motivated tracking shot (from 1:20 to 1:40) and animation (from 1:41 to 2:00). The fragmented production style compliments the fragmented plot, resulting in a film that speaks to sentiments held by the formerly fragmented city.