Sometimes you find SciFi in the worst places, like Disney. Sometimes you find it in a strange German techno thriller.
The story of Run Lola Run is one of the simplest I’ve ever witnessed: Lola’s boyfriend, Manni, screwed delivery of 100000 Detche Marks (close to 83k Eur in 2024) and now his boss is going to kill him within 20 minutes. It is up to Lola to get the money, and then run as fast as she can to him - before he does anything stupid.
This does not sound scifi but there is one element that convinces me: butterfly effect. The one from the mediocre Ashton Kutcher movie and a great movie from Kieslowski. We rarely speak of it today, but a few years ago it was quite popular. In Run Lola Run we see different outcomes depending on a very slight changes. This, and Lola’s magical scream are the only fantastical elements here. Enough for me!
The story is serviceable - it’s not bad, but it’s also not memorable.
What is memorable is how the movie is made.
There was this short period of time, when a few ultra-energetic movies were made. Think Pi, or Human Traffic. They seem more like something you would see on MTV than a full length movie. Lola runs, some powerfully techno music plays loudly and that’s basically it. We’ve got some breaks with dialogue, but most of the movie is pure, raw energy. Think Mad Max has aggressive montage? Check again.
Run Lola Run is a midbudget (low?) thriller with SciFi elements which is very much a forgotten genre. It’s also very, deeply european, which I love1. It’s an enjoyable, non-insulting ride. But it’s a not lost classic.
-
Berlin, where action takes place, is so clean here. I say that as a Pole. Our cities back then were far from being nice to look at. It improved though! ↩︎