Run Lola Run is a film set in Berlin, Germany, where in the opening sequence we are introduced to a bird's-eye view of the entire setting; which is a view of Berlin's old city urban streets. The film was originally an art festival film, which allowed the auteur/director, Tom Tykwer, to experiment with several and generally risky and non-commercial camera angles and visual features to create the film's idiosyncratic emphasis on time, fate and human urgency. In doing so we are first shown a bird's-eye angle that merges into establishing shots that rapidly track to extreme close ups. Also in the first 5 mins of the film, we see the use of cross-cutting when Lola is having a conversation on the phone with Manni. This.This is interspersed with black and white flashbacks that are gradually sped up. Following up on this Tykwer employs jump cuts as Lola chooses to embark on her life or death 20 minute odyssey. Changing it up Tykwer follows this scene with a cartoon strip of Lola, which then cuts back to live action. The overall result of Tykwer, using many different visual techniques was to again create a sense of urgency, effectively placing the viewer along side Lola in her frantic twenty minute race against time through the the city streets of Berlin.
In the film a technique seen a lot throughout this film was, the use of flashbacks and flash forwards. This was efficiently supported by the use of black and white, to show that it is in a different time frame. While embarking on her situation, Lola finds herself literally running into other people, when this occurs Tykwer choose to use a flash forward into those few chosen's future, showing the audience in the first sequence what the future will hold for them, in a sped up scenario, in ...
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... success of a commercial film but having only created an art festival film. This fact leading him to having the advantage of throwing in every trick in the book and then the book, in other words it has allowed him to use a wide variety of visual techniques to help portray the roller-coaster ride that is ‘Run Lola Run’. An example is shown in the opening credits. where we are thrown a digital surprise, as a shot of a crowd turns into an aerial point of view leading to the crowed spelling out the name of the film. Another example is when Lola is running through the streets of Berlin and every time she stumbles into a bystander their futures are shown in an instant flash forward viewed in black and white. The message is that the smallest events can have enormous consequences, you know the saying a butterfly flaps its wings in Malaysia, causing a hurricane in Trinidad.
The idea of free will or the ability to manipulate one's own fate is a concept that many people struggle to define. Run Lola Run (Tom Tykwer, 1998) depicts the interaction between the concepts of fate and free will by portraying the way one situation can be affected by minor differences of similar events. The episodic journey of the main character Lola suggests that fate can be altered through choices made as a result of character growth.
The entire movie is bursting with counter narratives, when the audience believes they hold an accurate grasp on what is truly happening, there is a misguiding event, as the storyline is continually challenged. The viewer’s beginning formations about what is going on are learned to be always questionable because what is repeatedly steered to trust and is revealed not be the truth in the conclusion of the film. This neo-noir film had multiple scenarios that make the previous actions untrustworthy to the actual message. This proves that all the observations and thoughts the viewer possesses are only relevant to what they are exposed to and shown and not to what is, in fact, happening.
The film Wendy and Lucy, directed by Kelly Reichardt, presents a sparse narrative. The film has been criticised for its lack of background story, and as a short film, much of the story is left to the viewer to infer from what is presented in the plot. However, Wendy and Lucy is able to depict the intimate relationship between Wendy and her dog as well as reflecting more broadly on the everyday, and commenting on the current economic state of the film’s setting in America. This essay will examine how film form contributes to the viewer’s awareness of the story in Wendy and Lucy and allows a deeper understanding of the themes presented. The aspects of mise-en-scene, shot and editing and sound in the film will be explored.
The distinctively visual techniques employed by Tykwer in Run Lola Run, function to raise the importance of time, its inevitability, and intrinsic power over the events in our lives. The premise of the film is based upon the small amount of time Lola has to find 100, 000 marks. Often portrayed ticking slowly towards twelve noon, clocks are a recurring motif reminding the responder of Lola’s race against time. This continual visual reference to clocks is therefore augmented by their ticking sound, sometimes combined with the sound of a beating heart, strengthening the force of time. The opening sequence features a talisman symbolic of a grandfather’s clock to reinforce the significance of time. Tykwer uses a close-up low angle shot of the talisman to portray a submissive view of time, emphasising its importance and reminding the audience of Lola’s journey to overcome it. Animation techniques manipulate the face of the clock, morphing it into a creature that opens its mouth and appears to swallow Lola, indicating how time consumes us. Throughout the opening credits, an animated Lola portrayed running towards a clock highlights the importa...
"Every second of every day you are faced with a decision that can change your life. The difference between life or death can be decided in a split second" (IMDb). Run Lola Run is an excellent 80-minute German film written/directed by Tom Tykwer and edited by Mathilde Bonnefoy that has a four part "What if" style genre. The movie just throbs with kinetic energy mixed with a case of Monster Energy Drinks. It is so fast-paced that it is like a roller coaster that is unstable with each twist and turn. Run Lola Run will captivate your mind and spirit with beautiful and free form flashes of anticipation, panic, passion, desperation, hesitation, fear and fervor that when all combined is quite invigorating and will significantly exhausts its viewers. The formula editor Mathilde Bonnefoy uses to manage the complex rhythms in this film not only dazzles viewers with the pacing, but it also maintains an extensive focus on what Lola is doing and why she is doing it.
In conclusion three notions of justice developed in Book I of The Republics of Plato are outlined in On Justice, Power and Human Nature. Justice is viewed as telling the truth and paying debts, doing good to friends and harm to enemies, and the advantage of the stronger.
During the opening six minutes of Nicholas Roeg’s film Don’t Look Now, the viewer experiences a dynamic mixture of film techniques that form the first part of the narrative. Using metaphor and imagery, Roeg constructs a vivid and unique portrayal of his parallel storyline. The opening six minutes help set up a distinct stylistic premise. In contrast to a novel or play, the sequence in Don’t Look Now is only accessible through cinema because it allows the viewer to interact with the medium and follow along with the different camera angles. The cinematography and music also guide the viewer along, and help project the characters’ emotions onto the audience because they change frequently. The film techniques and choppy editing style used in Don’t Look Now convey a sense of control of the director over the audience and put us entirely at his mercy, because we have to experience time and space as he wants us to as opposed to in an entirely serial manner.
Run Lola Run is a film set in Berlin , Germany. This film gives you the idea of running with Lola on her journey to come up with one hundred marks in twenty minutes to save her boyfriend Manni’s life. Tom Tykwer uses many film techniques that usually are not used in movies , making this film not like every other Hollywood movie. Techniques such as the use of flashback and flash forward , this giving the film an idea that just by one slightest move or event can change your move in different ways. Other techniques that made this film interesting and attention grabbing is the use of animation, cross- cutting, birds eye view and medium shot.
Truth be told there is no real justice in Socrates? ?just city?. Servitude of those within his city is crucial to its function. His citizens are, in every aspect, slaves to the functionality of a city that is not truly their own. True justice can not be achieved through slavery and servitude, that which appears to be justice (and all for the sake of appearances) is all that is achieved. Within Socrates? city there is no room for identity, individuality, equality, or freedom, which are the foundations justice was built upon. These foundations are upheld within a proper democracy. In fact, the closest one can experience justice, on a political level, is through democracy.
Cephalus is the first to give a definition of justice which is, living up to your legal obligations and being honest. At first I thought this definition was somewhat accurate because if everyone did their legal obligations everything would be fine. Socrates refutes this definition by using the example of a madman. Basically, what happens if you would owe a madman a weapon, but him having it is unjust and causes others harm. At this point it would almost be better to be dishonest. I found myself switching my opinion on this definition after Socrates gave this example.
In the Republic, Plato discusses many topics, including the issue of justice versus injustice (Plato 34). Plato’s argument indicates that justice works interchangeably with proper ethics (Plato 35). According to Plato, in order for a person to live the “best life”, they must live with justice and ethics (Plato 35). These two terms are similar in the sense that it is subjective to each individual. One’s definition of justice results from their own beliefs of ethics, which varies from person to person. Plato claims that doing “justice” is the better way of living, even if it brings misfortune in the end (Plato 34-35). This brings up the ethical dispute that misfortunes from justice is better than rewards earned from injustice. However, as seen in modern day, there is still no universal idea as to whether or not something is justifiable or abides by the ethical conduct that is expected. Often times, an action may seem justified to one individual while it seems unjustified to another. In order for someone to get what they want, they don’t think about their actions, whether or not it is following their ethical codes. In this case, the idea of “justice” and “ethics” is purely a mirage of the mind that people created so that they have a reason to feel good about themselves. In today’s society, many people get away with doing “injustice” while the actions of “justice” are disregarded. The definition of “justice” and “ethics” is still open-ended as demonstrated by justice system of the United States. There are people getting away with crimes and innocent people being put into prisons. Many times, these cases communicate the racial discrimination in the states.
In Book one of the Republic of Plato, several definitions of justice versus injustice are explored. Cephalus, Polemarchus, Glaucon and Thracymicus all share their opinions and ideas on what actions they believe to be just, while Socrates questions various aspects of the definitions. In book one, Socrates is challenged by Thracymicus, who believes that injustice is advantageous, but eventually convinces him that his definition is invalid. Cephalus speaks about honesty and issues of legality, Polemarchus explores ideas regarding giving to one what is owed, Glaucon views justice as actions committed for their consequences, and Socrates argues that justice does not involve harming anybody. Through the interrogations and arguments he has with four other men, and the similarity of his ideas of justice to the word God, Socrates proves that a just man commits acts for the benefits of others, and inflicts harm on nobody.
The topic of justice first comes about through a conversation between Socrates and Cephalus. The two are reflecting upon their old age, evaluating how they have lived their lives, when Cephalus states that his wealth "keeps him from having to leave life in the fear of owing debts to men or sacrifices to the gods." [331b] This comment leads Socrates to question Cephalus on the subject of justice by asking if he really believed that justice is simply telling the truth and returning what you receive. Socrates feels this definition is too simple, asking if it is "sometimes right to behave in these ways, and sometimes wrong?" [331c] Socrates proposes this question: if someone were to borrow weapons from a friend, and afterwards this friend went mad, would it be just to return the weapons to the friend? Although Cephalus' definition would warrant returning the weapons, the two conclude that it would in fact not be the right thing to do. The two feel that this statement does not fit the definition of justice.
Classic narrative cinema is what Bordwell, Staiger and Thompson (The classic Hollywood Cinema, Columbia University press 1985) 1, calls “an excessively obvious cinema”1 in which cinematic style serves to explain and not to obscure the narrative. In this way it is made up of motivated events that lead the spectator to its inevitable conclusion. It causes the spectator to have an emotional investment in this conclusion coming to pass which in turn makes the predictable the most desirable outcome. The films are structured to create an atmosphere of verisimilitude, which is to give a perception of reality. On closer inspection it they are often far from realistic in a social sense but possibly portray a realism desired by the patriarchal and family value orientated society of the time. I feel that it is often the black and white representation of good and evil that creates such an atmosphere of predic...
The timing of this film was a significant factor in the story line. In the middle of the Great Depression unemployment and poverty were a major