Run Lola Run
(Lola Rennt)
Tom Tykwer (1998)
Basic Plot
The film begins with Lola receiving a phone call from her
boyfriend Mani. He was supposed to bring 100,000 marks
from a diamond buyer to his boss. When Lola fails to pick
him up due to her scooter being stolen that morning, he had
to take the subway. When he sees some ticket controllers on
the subway he gets off of the train, accidentally leaving the
bag with the money. The bag is picked up by a homeless
man. Mani now has to find 100,000 mark within 20 minutes
before his boss finds out, and plans to rob nearby
supermarket. Lola urges him to wait and tells him she will
organize the money. Lola slams down her phone and starts
to think about who can possibly help her.
The main part of the film is divided in three "runs". Each run
starts from the same situation but develops differently and
has a different outcome. Each run contains various flashforward sequences, showing how the lives of the people that
Lola bumps into develop after the encounter. In each run,
those people are affected in different ways.
Main Characters
Lola - Franka Potente
Mani - Moritz Bleibtreu
Lola’s dad - Herbert Knaup
Security guard - Armin Rohde
Setting
 Berlin,

Germany, late 1990s.
Setting is established visually through a
helicopter shot which clearly establishes that the
film is set in a modern city. Natives to Germany
would recognise the landmarks of Berlin,
although the exact location of the city is not
super important as any western city would
suffice as a setting for gangster type action.
Opening Sequence

The opening of a film is often the most critical part of the
film. This is where the audience expectations are set up.
What narrative possibilities are established in the
opening of RLR? What could be about to happen? Why
do you think this?

Consider the following:
Titles
Music
Camera movement
Visual style
Dialogue
Opening
 Titles: Titles tend to spiral in when which may
be some indication of the cyclic nature of the
film. Spiralling may suggest that we are always
returned to the beginning. We are also
presented with mug shot style portraits of the
characters which may be an indication the film
involves some sort of a crime.
 Music: The music in the opening, much like the
music throughout the film has a relentless,
driving beat. This complements the fast pace of
the film. It may be suggesting that the film is
going to be about some sort of race or event
with a frantic pace.
Opening cont’
 Camera: The opening camera franticly weaves
through an out of focus crowd pointing out specific
characters before focusing on the security guard
who gives us a line of philosophy relevant to the
plot. We get an fast, exciting crane shot above
Berlin that speedily approaches Lola’s apartment
and zooms through to focus on the phone. This may
give the audience the impression this will be a fast
paced film.
 Visual Style: Visual style is very important in this
film. In the short span of time that is the opening
sequence the audience is exposed to animation,
stills, fast forwards, and very obvious fast paced
editing. This may indicate to the audience they
should expect a non-traditional film.
Opening cont’
 Dialogue: The first bit of dialogue we hear is a
philosophical VO about man being a curious creature.
Following this we hear a line of dialogue from the guard
with the soccer ball suggesting some sort of analogy
about life. “The ball is round, the game lasts 90 minutes,
anything else is pure theory”. This could translate as
“you are born and after several decades you die, what
happens in-between is unpredictable”. This may be
suggesting the film is about unpredictability in situations.
The conversation that takes place between Mani and
Lola clearly establishes what the film will be about. Mani
has managed to lose 100,000 marks which he needs to
give to his gangster boss at in 20 minutes at 12 noon.
The film is now clearly going to be about a race against
time.
Opening cont’
 Summary: Although by the end of the opening
sequence the dialogue between Mani and Lola
clearly outlines the plot line elements such as
the philosophical VO and statement from the
guard suggest it may be more complex than
that. We are presented with “game like” imagery
of a character smashing titles with the sound of
breaking glass and lots of different production
effects. It is clear from the onset that this is not
going to be a traditional crime suspense thriller.
Production Elements
 Discuss
how each of the following production
elements enhance the audience’s
engagement with a character in Run Lola
Run.
Camera movement
Sound (music, dialogue, VO, sfx)
Editing
Lola
Clearly Lola is the hero of the film. She is
portrayed as some sort of modern day female
super heroine. Although she seems to possess
some super human traits such as breaking glass
with her voice and bringing people back to life,
it’s her positive attitude and determination that
saves the day. The director clearly wants us to
align with Lola and her plight.
Camera Movement

Whenever Lola is running she is filmed
predominantly with tracking shots. Tracking
shots give the audience the feeling that they are
right there alongside Lola. Almost like you are
running with her. This type of camera movement
helps he audience engage in Lola’s journey
more so than dolly shots or other type of
movement. However the fast editing pace of
RLR cuts in lots of different angles/shots to keep
the visual style interesting and fast paced.
Sound (music, VO, dialogue, sfx)
 Music: The use of the techno sound track
whenever Lola is running reinforces to the
audience the race against time and the tight
timeline Lola has. We as an audience
understand time is running out and want her to
succeed in her mission.
 Dialogue: The dialogue that takes place
between Mani and Lola on the phone clearly
establishes that Lola is always bailing Mani out
of situations he stupidly gets into. As an
audience we align with Lola as Mani comes
across as demanding and selfish.
Sound (cont’)
 Voice
Over: The use of VO whilst Lola is
running demonstrates to the audience that
she has no grand master plan for this
mission. She is relying on pure chance
and her positive attitude to find a solution.
She never gives up, just keeps running
and “waiting” for an idea, or situation to
occur. This helps the audience engage
with her and feel a sense hope when she
stumbles on a potential solution. We want
her optimistic attitude to succeed.
Editing

The editing in RLR is fast paced and significant in
many ways. The director has used numerous
editing techniques to help the audience engage with
the characters. When Lola is trying to work out who
to approach for the money the fast paced flashing in
of different faces, combined with the rotating
camera highlights her manic train of thought. The
audience can see (and hear) her thought process
and understand where she is going which helps
them engage with the story, and character.
Editing cont’

The 3 way screen split at the end of ‘run one’ is an
effective way to highlight the important factors in the
situation (Lola, Mani, time) and engage the audience at
this critical point – 12 noon.

There are many different edits and cuts while Lola is
running in order to show how far she has gone in a
shorter amount of time than reality. There are times
when Lola is running and the camera is in front of her
then it quickly cuts to behind her as if she has just ran
through the camera. Other times it cuts from the front to
the side to give a better picture of where she is actually
running. The variety in the editing helps keep the
audience engaged with Lola’s journey.
Audience understanding
With reference to Run Lola Run provide one
example for each of the following production
elements and explain how contribute to the
audience’s understanding of the narrative.
 Lighting
 Sound
(music, dialogue, sfx, VO)
 Camera work/Film technique
Lighting
 Bed
scenes: The bedroom scenes between each
run is bathed in a saturated red. Red is symbolic of
love, passion & anger. In these scenes they are
questioning their relationship. The use of the red
wash helps the audience understand the emotions
displayed.
 Video Scenes:. The scene in the bank is lit ( and
coupled with the medium of video) to appear harsh
and cold, much like the relationship between Lola’s
father and his lover. As this is so visually different to
the rest of the film, which is lit naturalistically, the
audience is forced to pay attention to the discussion
between the lovers and understand the impact on
Lola’s plight.
Sound (music, dialogue, VO, sfx)
 Dialogue: The conversation which takes place on the
telephone at the beginning of the film is integral to the
audience’s understanding of the narrative. It clearly
establishes the problem, how it was created and what
needs to be done to resolve it. This is particularly
important in what is essentially a 20 min film (3 times).
We don’t have time to waste and need to engage the
audience immediately.
 SFX: After the first run, when Lola is shot, Mani’s gun
makes an unexpected noise when it hits the ground.
Almost like the sound of failure. This may have ben used
to highlight to the audience that this is not an acceptable
outcome. NB: It may just be the sound slowed down but the
director has left it in for a reason.
Camera work / Film technique
 Camera
work: After Mani and Lola escape from
the supermarket and are surrounded by the police
the camera does a full 360 degree rotation about
them. This helps the audience to understand that
they are surrounded and have no escape route, or
choice but to give up.
 Film
stock: Although the majority of the film is shot
on standard 35mm film the scenes that do not
directly involve Lola or Mani are shot on video. The
striking difference in visuals forces the audience to
pay attention to the content of the conversations in
these scenes and how they impact on Lola’s journey
and it’s outcome.
Cause and Effect
A narrative generally begins with a
situation, then a series of changes occur
according to a pattern of cause and effect.
With reference to Run Lola Run, discuss
two examples to show how cause and
effect contributes to the way the narrative
has been set out or organised.
Cause and Effect






Lola goes to shops to get cigarettes, leaves moped
outside and it gets stolen (Cause)
Lola is not there to pick up Mani at the designated
point. (Effect)
Mani takes the train but panics when the guards get
onboard (Cause)
Mani leaves the money on the train (Effect)
Tramp takes the money (Cause)
Mani has to find 100,000 marks within 20 minutes
when he is meant to meet his boss (Effect)
Sequence Question

Select a sequence from Run Lola Run and
discuss with examples how any four of the
following elements contributed to the
effectiveness of that sequence.
•
•
Camera/Film techniques.
Sound (music, dialogue, sfx, voice over).
• Editing
• Developing storyline.
• Character development
• Creating suspense
Supermarket Escape sequence
 Camera/Film
techniques: As Lola and Mani exit
the supermarket the camera is following them from
a distance which leaves the audience wondering if
they are being pursued. This is effective in adding
to the suspense. Will they get away? Once they
are stopped by the police blockades at either end
of the street the camera does a full 360 degree
rotation around them demonstrating that there is no
escape route; they are surrounded by walls or
police. This is effective in communicating to the
audience their predicament and questioning how
they will escape.
Supermarket Escape sequence
 Sound
(music, dialogue, sfx, voice over): As
Mani and Lola run out of the supermarket the first thing
the audience notices is the distinct change in the style and
pace of the music. We move from the fast paced, driving
techno to a laid back, relaxing jazz track, “What a a
difference a day makes”. This lulls the audience into a
sense of security. They are led to believe that the
characters have escaped without consequence and will
complete their mission however the sound of police sirens
soon permeate through the song and we are reminded
that their illegal activities have consequences. The drastic
change in the music gives the audience a break and a
chance to relax for a moment. This is effective method to
manipulate the audience’s emotions.
Supermarket Escape sequence
 Editing: Some of the most effective editing in this
sequence is once they are surrounded by police. When
Mani throws the bag into the air everything goes into slow
motion. The slow motion is an effective mechanism to
highlight the tragedy of this ‘run’. We cut from the ascending
bag, to the police officer firing his gun accidentally while
watching the bag, to a FS of Lola being shot in the chest
and falling to the ground. This is not an outcome the
audience is expecting and the slow motion extends the
tragedy of the situation; the heroine of the story has been
killed, we assume, by a most un heroic character by
accident about thirty minutes into the film! Most audiences
are confused about where the story could go now.
Supermarket Escape sequence
 Developing
storyline: This is one of the pivotal
points in the storyline. They achieve one of the
key goals outlined in the opening: get 100,000
marks in 20 minutes or Mani dies. This is short
lived though as they lose the money (thrown to
police) and Lola is killed (we assume). The whole
point of the film is to explore choices and the
notion of chance vs. fate. The audience is not
expecting to be returned to the beginning so
having the heroine killed, yet able to return to the
starting point for another journey is an effective
way of continuing the exploration of chance vs.
fate.
Supermarket Escape sequence
 Character
development: At this point in the film
the audience has very definite impressions of our
two main characters. When they first exit the
supermarket the production elements allude that
they are successful and our impression of Lola
and her ‘can do’ attitude is raised higher. When
she is shot the audience is left feeling confused;
the good person isn’t mean to die. In some ways
her ability to cheat death and get to ‘start’ again
makes the scene more effective as it develops her
character’s determination and positive attitude
even further.
Supermarket Escape sequence
 Creating
suspense: The creation of suspense is
achieved through a number of production elements in this
sequence. It is interesting that the director forces the
audience to relax (through the contrast in music) as they
leave the supermarket before launching them into what
seems a hopeless situation for Lola and Mani as they are
surrounded by police. The contrast adds to the intensity of
the suspense making it more the sequence more effective.
The use of the slow motion as they are surrounded also aids
in creating suspense by prolonging the outcome of the
situation. It seems to take forever for Lola to hit the ground
after being shot leaving the audience with time to ponder
where the narrative could possibly go now, which adds to
the effectiveness of the sequence.