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I suppose I'm just too much of a cynic to really
get RUN LOLA RUN. This from director Tom
Tykwer:
"The story is pretty simple: you have twenty
minutes to come up with 100,000 marks and run
through the city to rescue your true love. The
starter message for a film doesn't get much
clearer than that. But what happens is
absolutely universal as far as both theme and
content are concerned. It is this woman's passion
alone that brings down the rigid rules of the
world surrounding her. Love can move mountains,
and does. Over and above all the action, the
central driving force of this film is romance.
The film could be just as easily set in Peking,
Helsinki or New York, the only thing that would
change is the scenery, not the emotional dimension.
I think everyone, truly everyone, can identify
with Lola."
Oh puh-leeze. I may be no one, but don't throw
me in with everyone either. This isn't
to say that LOLA isn't without merit. There are
quite a few intriguing elements including a brief
repeating animated sequence and some fleeting
but stylish ruminations on chance in the city.
And, doggonnit, if Franka Potente didn't get
a great cardio workout filming this. Someone
should sign her up for a sneaker endorsement.
She's also got a great scream. It's not
love that can move mountains. It's that damn
scream.
Much has been made of the pulsating techno soundtrack.
I'm not exactly a fan of synthy sounds, and after
30 straight minutes of it, the few seconds of
Dinah Washington we're given was literally music
to my ears. Dinah never sounded so good. I'll
admit, though, that the relentless beat finally
did grow on me and is completely appropriate
to LOLA's images and urgent tick-tock-tick-tock
theme.
Still, there's not a lot of heart in LOLA. Just
a couple of punk kids in deep shit. In a few
years they'd end up with kids, fat and divorced
if they didn't manage to OD first. Move mountains
my ass. I didn't find anything lovable about
either Lola or boyfriend Manni.
This shouldn't be much of a surprise when you
consider that Tykwer based his movie on the idea
of a woman running. "I get an image in my head," he
says in the DVD notes. "And I start wanting to
get it moving, to build a story around it and
then make a film out of it. In RUN LOLA RUN,
it was a woman running."
Great. A whole movie around the idea of a woman
running. For me, LOLA is all style and very,
very little substance, which is a fine way to
kill 81 minutes. Nothing wrong with that, although
Lola might tell you to spend those minutes more
wisely.
 
Run Lola Run
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