uncertainty in our life

1082 Words3 Pages

After learning the concept of post-modernism in class and doing some research on the internet, I have a rough idea of what the postmodernism is. In this essay I will discuss the postmodern elements in the movie ¡°Run Lola Run¡±. By watching this movie, I think that ¡°Run Lola Run¡± is a movie which is fast paced, exciting and attractive. Moreover, it offers three sections, each comprising the same story, but told in contrasting ways; which in my opinion makes this movie quite different from other common movies and the uncertainty of the postmodernism view of life obvious.
First of all, the movie has an unusual opening. When the movie begins, there are just many people on the screen; and I cannot find any clue to the plot or the setting. However, I think this opening shows Bonnycastle¡¯s idea of postmodernism which is ¡°it is hard to know what you might encounter next or what kind of transaction might be expected of you¡± (Bonnycastle 232); in other words, I think the opening wants to show us there are various people on the earth, and their fate and destiny are different. After this unusual opening, the main characters Manni and Lola appear on the screen; however, after they finish their phone call, I understand what has happened. In addition, Lola has a mere 20 minutes to get a large amount of money to her boyfriend so that he will not be killed by his boss. In fact, it seems impossible to do such a thing in 20 minutes; however, I think this is what the audiences will find the most attractive. In addition, I guess the director wants each member of the audiences to imagine the next 20 minutes in their own mind before they see the result of the movie. However, I am sure that each person¡¯s ending will be different as this is a reflection of the uncertainty of the postmodernist view of life. Consequently, the first part of the movie only interests me in what will be going on in the next 20 minutes.
After Lola hangs up the phone, the movie shows Lola running. The movie uses rapid camera movements and accompanies by a pulse-pounding soundtrack to make me follow Lola with every turn she runs.
With the movie goes on, I feel that the main characters Lola and Manni do not fit stereotypical gender roles in this movie. As Bonnycastle says ¡°[you] may be uncertain about the sex of some of the people who surround you, and about how much p...

... middle of paper ...

...; however, sometimes we never care about the tiny changes but it does reflect the uncertainty of postmodernism view of life.
In this movie, not only the main characters¡¯ lives but also all the characters¡¯ lives show the uncertainty of postmodernism view of life. In each section Lola passes by the same bystanders. For example, the old woman, nuns and man on bike, their lives are changed in different ways. Moreover, in the last section of the movie, I feel the result is interesting and give audiences a surprise. In the first two section of the movie, one of Lola and Manni will die at the end, but last section ends with a comedy. Manni finds his lost money from the beggar; however, Lola wins 100,000 marks in the Casino. This ending seems perfect, and it shows that the life is changeful.
From the changes in different section of the movie, it gives me a feeling about that our life is full of uncertainties. Each of the same characters in the movie has several different results and this obviously reflects the ideas of the postmodernism view of life. After I watched this movie, I am thinking of one problem, what will the result be in my life when there are various uncertainties ahead?

Open Document