Run Lola Run Essay

This essay will primarily focus on the 1998 independent German film Run Lola Run, directed by Tom Tykwer. Essentially, this analysis will look at how Run Lola Run transgresses the normative boundaries of genre; integrating elements of interactive gameplay into the narrative, like that seen more commonly in videogames. This essay will also look at how the film exhibits postmodernist qualities.

Run Lola Run, utilises an unusual cross media narrative that includes a videogame structure and film plot in a ‘stop and rewind’ format or ‘replay story’. The ‘replay’ story in essence allows for the protagonist to ‘do over’ previous scenarios in order to change their present. Previous examples of this have included: Back to the Future (1985), Groundhog

Day (1993) and more recently, Premonition (2007). Tykwer’s use of the replay story in selling this postmodernist product has proved successful, despite the fact that the plot is used as a device to consistently undermine the efforts of the protagonist- in this case, Lola.

‘The film has been heralded as a postmodern text in which the happy ending has to be viewed as ironic. This article contends that such readings wilfully disregard the celebration of human spirit that underpins Lola’s efforts to save her boyfriend, Manni.’

What is particularly noticeable about Run Lola Run is the elicitation to a culture of hyperrealism whereby the interactive nature of a videogame seems to be of more importance than reality - or in this case, where Lola’s reality can be changed at the press of a button. Baudrillard’s hyperrealist model illustrates the friable nature of society and in the case of Run Lola Run, the postmodern world that they are consumed within has been so endlessly reproduced that the media in her social ‘reality’ has become a hyper reality.

‘The very definition of the real has become: that of which it is possible to give an equivalent reproduction… The real is not only what can be reproduced, but that which is already reproduced: that is, the hyperreal…which is entirely in simulation.’

What can be noted in Run Lola Run is the ‘urban’ environment, a Germany in its post Berlin wall era which reflects a new, prosperous Capitalist society- one aspect which falls under the umbrella of postmodernism. Frederic Jameson sees an emergence of a postmodern culture as the result of a new are of social and economic life.
‘[…] everything in our social life- from economic value and state power to practices and to the very structure of the psyche – can be said to have become “cultural”’

Stylistically, Run Lola Run has a fast paced plot, driven by an equally matched techno soundtrack adding to sense of urgency expressed in the story.

Strinati touches upon the subject of music, referring to how postmodern texts go beyond those that are perceived as the ‘norm’ – which in this case, is seen in cinema.

‘They are concerned with collage, pastiche and quotation, with the mixing of styles which remain musically and historically distinct…’

This can be true of Tykwer’s Run Lola Run, where the techno music of the 1990’s was unlike the music heard in the mainstream charts; emerging as an underground subgenre of popular dance music. Tykwer himself was aware of the explicit use of this subcategory of dance music in his film and understood the link that it held with the kinetic energy of the storyline, taking full reigns of the implementation of the music within the film.

“The music (...) was also very important to me. I think, write and cut in a very musical way - so it was obvious that I’d want to take care of the soundtrack too. (...) The very idea of anyone else composing music for any film of mine is like a nightmare to me. The wrong music can screw up a film completely. In a film, music intensifies

everything.”

To understand the contemporary appeal of the film we must observe further the implementation of non-diegetic music and its link with the narrative. As an audience we are aware that the intense rhythm of the music matches the intensity of the circumstance Lola is in, as she runs to the aid of Manni. To complement this, Tykwer’s editing is done so in a manner that blends the frantic nature of the story with the energy of Lola as a character. For instance, as Lola runs throughout the streets of Berlin (see Fig.1 ) we are introduced to slow motion shots which correspond with the intense techno music in perfect synchronisation so as to evoke a sense of empathy with the viewer as we experience the adrenaline inducing journey with her.

In essence, Tykwer’s use of sound is one of the key editing tools which has to the success of the film, giving it a contemporary edge in a postmodern Germany.

“Run Lola Run has achieved international acclaim precisely because it transcends such inherently German themes. Its success has been seen to stem from the visual richness on display and the playful celebration of technology…”

During the opening sequence, the audience becomes aware of a cartoon version of a running Lola introducing the names of the people who contributed to the production of the film. (Fig. 2) During the credit roll, the animated Lola destroys each name in her frantic mission. As she progresses she encounters a snarling dog, three clocks, and a spiral - symbolic animations are a foreshadowing of the events to come. Succeeding this, is a new sequence introducing the viewer to the characters and the actors in the film. The stylistic devices employed illustrate the actors from multiple angles animated with their real and film names listed below, indicative of a title screen one would see in a computer game, the film then brings us into the film as we know it with an aerial shot of Berlin and into Lola's apartment.

When studying the film, we must look at some of the specific techniques linked to postmodernist cinema. With reference to Run Lola Run we are made aware of the contrasting use of colour film and black-and-white to add to the emotional depth of the film. For instance, as Lola runs through the streets of Berlin in her present day, the audience are consumed by the use of colour film- vibrant colours to emphasise the intensity of the plot; however, in the flashbacks to the scenes involving her father arguing with his love interest, Tykwer has made use of a distinct change in colour formatting, using grainy black and white images to evoke a sense of illegitimacy and corruption expressed in the plot. Not only this, the short black-and-white segments are used explicitly when Lola or indeed, Manni recount a scenario- a pastiche of what cinema looked like in its infancy in a sense. Tykwer's playing with colour illustrates both the film's complicated stylistic structure, but also the amalgamation of both high culture and popular art: we can identify the role of characters and objects through the way they are colour coded.
.
What is more, Tykwer appeals to the high cultural theme of ‘causality’ or karma as driving the events of the film forward, yet at the same time recycling popular culture by making Lola into a computer game character. Tykwer mixes high and popular culture in his overall aesthetic: his film is structured not only by philosophical motifs like time, causality and fate, but also by colour, by shapes, and by the way the film's soundtrack resonates with the action. It recycles other pop cultural forms also, like that seen in its overall structure,

‘[…] virtual reality computer graphics can allow people to experience various forms of reality at second hand, potentially at least as surface simulations rather than real events’

In summary, Run Lola Run, as we've seen, is a prime example of postmodern film making. Tykwer employs a past paced editing style in conjunction with an upbeat techno soundtrack, as well as utilising a variety of cinematic techniques such as the use of contrasting colours to give the film aesthetic often associated with videogames. In essence, the film focuses more on the style of the film rather than the substance, despite the fact that Tykwer’s screenplay gives us a highly structured narrative. In saying this, Run Lola Run’s success is based on the hyperreal and virtual aesthetic of the film, unlike most Hollywood productions at that time. The notion of being merely a passive consumer of the film is challenged as the viewer feels engulfed in the tasks Lola undertakes in each of the three ‘games’ within the film- almost feeling like a videogamer rather than film-watcher.

The videogame aesthetic can be argued to be a genre in itself- with visual dynamics that give a film an interactive quality and gives the viewer the feeling that they are active consumers rather than passive. As a postmodernist film that denies standard metanarratives and transcends all normative social boundaries, the film is inherently hyper-realistic, and adds to the contemporary success of the film in a post-conflict, urban Germany, and subsequently garnering success globally