Run Lola Run
Encyclopedia
Run Lola Run is a 1998 German crime
thriller film written and directed by Tom Tykwer
and starring Franka Potente
as Lola and Moritz Bleibtreu
as Manni. The story follows a woman who needs to obtain 100,000 German marks in 20 minutes to save her boyfriend's life. The film's three scenarios are reminiscent of the 1981 Krzysztof Kieślowski
film Blind Chance
; following Kieślowski's death, Tykwer directed his planned film Heaven
.
The film begins with Lola (Franka Potente
) receiving a phone call from her distraught boyfriend, Manni (Moritz Bleibtreu
). He is a small-time criminal and has lost 100,000 marks belonging to his crime boss
by accidentally leaving it on a train (Lola was supposed to pick him up, but her moped
was stolen while she was buying cigarettes). After the doors of the train closed, he saw a homeless man pick up the bag of money but he was unable to get back onto the train before it left the station. Upon not seeing any trace of his money or the homeless man at the next station, Manni assumes the money is long gone.
Manni has to get the money within 20 minutes before his boss finds out, and plans to rob a nearby supermarket. Lola urges him to wait and tells him she will sort out the money. She decides to ask her father (Herbert Knaup), who is a bank manager.
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 flash-forward 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.
towards her father's bank. On her way, she causes a man (who is later shown to be her father's colleague) to be involved in a small car accident. When she arrives at the bank, Lola's father refuses to give her any money, telling her that he feels unappreciated at home, that he is leaving Lola and her mother for his mistress who is expecting his child and that he is not Lola's real father. Lola runs on to meet Manni, arriving a few moments after the deadline. Manni's robbery is already in progress; Lola decides to help him rob the store. The two flee on foot afterwards but find themselves surrounded by police, and a nervous police officer accidentally shoots Lola in the chest.
The scene fades out to show Lola and Manni talking in bed, with Lola questioning Manni about his love for her. Lola then says "Stop" and the film restarts at the point where she started running.
The scene again fades to Lola and Manni in bed, this time with the roles reversed: Manni questions Lola about her love for him.
, buys a single 100-mark chip, and finds a roulette
table. She wins two consecutive bets on the number "20", which gives Lola 126,000 marks, more than enough money to help Manni. She hitches a ride in the ambulance from the previous runs, as it stops. The ambulance is carrying the security guard from her father's bank who has apparently suffered a heart attack. She takes his hand, and moments later, his heart rate begins to return to normal.
Meanwhile, Manni sees the homeless man who took his money in the beginning of the film. Manni chases him down, inadvertently causing a car crash involving Lola's father, his business associate, and the man who stole Lola's moped in the first place. He retrieves his money but, the homeless man asks for Manni's gun in return. Feeling sorry for the homeless man, Manni gives him his gun. Lola arrives to find Manni stepping out of a car and shaking his boss's hand. The movie ends with Manni asking Lola what is in the bag she is carrying.
's film Vertigo
. Like that film, it features recurring images of spiral
s, such as the 'Spirale' Cafe behind Manni's phone box and the spiral staircase down which Lola runs. In addition, the painting on the back wall of the casino of a woman's head seen from behind is based on a shot in Vertigo: Tykwer disliked the empty space on the wall behind the roulette table and commissioned production designer Alexander Manasse to paint a picture of Kim Novak
as she appeared in Vertigo. Manasse could not remember what she looked like in the film and so decided to paint the famous shot of the back of her head. The painting took fifteen minutes to complete.
There are also several references to German culture in the film. The most notable is the use of Hans Paetsch
as a narrator. Paetsch is a famous voice of children's stories in Germany, recognized by millions. Many of the small parts are cameo roles by famous German actors (for example the bank teller). Also, two quotes by German football legend Sepp Herberger
appear: "The ball is round, the game lasts 90 minutes, everything else is pure theory," and, "After the game is before the game."
On several occasions the theme of free will vs. determinism is integrated into the film. The opening narration states the futility of asking questions, as one leads to another and we only travel in circles. Lola's interactions with other people are similar in that a small conversation or interaction with the people on the streets lead to other interactions. For example, the man on the bike can become a happy, married man or a bum. The concept of free will is also presented because she has three different realities to choose from.
. The sound of the camera flash warming up is repeated a final time at the end of the film, when Lola smiles at Manni's question about what's in her bag.
, and Reinhold Heil
, includes numerous musical quotations of the sustained string chords of The Unanswered Question
, an early 20th-century chamber
ensemble work by American composer Charles Ives
. In the original work, the chords are meant to represent "the Silences of the Druid
s—who Know, See and Hear Nothing."
The techno soundtrack established dialectical relation between motives of the movie: Rhythm, Repetition, and Interval among various spatio-temproral logics. This produces unification of contradictions like Time and Space or The cyclical and the linear.
Run Lola Run was filmed extensively in and around Berlin
, Germany
. Here are some of the locations:
, Best Film at the Seattle International Film Festival
, and seven separate wins at the German Film Awards
, the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes
reported that 92% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 79 reviews. On Metacritic
, another review aggregator, the film had an average score of 77 out of 100, based on 29 reviews, stating the film as having "generally favourable reviews". The Internet Movie Database, IMDb, shows Run Lola Run as having earned 8 out of 10.
In contrasting reviews, Film Threat
s Chris Gore
said of the film, "[It] delivers everything great foreign films should - action, sex, compelling characters, clever filmmaking, it's unpretentious (a requirement for me) and it has a story you can follow without having to read those annoying subtitles. I can't rave about this film enough -- this is passionate filmmaking at its best. One of the best foreign films, heck, one of the best films I have seen", while Jonathan Rosenbaum
of The Chicago Reader
stated, "About as entertaining as a no-brainer can be--a lot more fun, for my money, than a cornball theme-park ride like "Speed," and every bit as fast moving. But don't expect much of an aftertaste.".
The film was released on DVD
on December 21, 1999, and on Blu-ray
on February 19, 2008.
Crime film
Crime films are films which focus on the lives of criminals. The stylistic approach to a crime film varies from realistic portrayals of real-life criminal figures, to the far-fetched evil doings of imaginary arch-villains. Criminal acts are almost always glorified in these movies.- Plays and films...
thriller film written and directed by Tom Tykwer
Tom Tykwer
Tom Tykwer is a German film director, screenwriter, and composer. He is best known internationally for directing Run Lola Run , Heaven , Perfume: The Story of a Murderer , and The International ....
and starring Franka Potente
Franka Potente
Franka Potente is a German film actress and singer. She first appeared in the comedy After Five in the Forest Primeval and gained critical recognition in the action thriller Lola rennt . Potente received Germany's highest film and television awards for her performances in Run Lola Run and...
as Lola and Moritz Bleibtreu
Moritz Bleibtreu
Moritz Bleibtreu is a German actor.Bleibtreu was born in Munich, the son of actors Monica Bleibtreu and Hans Brenner, and the great-grand-nephew of the actress Hedwig Bleibtreu.Bleibtreu grew up in Hamburg...
as Manni. The story follows a woman who needs to obtain 100,000 German marks in 20 minutes to save her boyfriend's life. The film's three scenarios are reminiscent of the 1981 Krzysztof Kieślowski
Krzysztof Kieslowski
Krzysztof Kieślowski was an Academy Award nominated influential Polish film director and screenwriter, known internationally for The Double Life of Veronique and his film cycles The Decalogue and Three Colors.-Early life:...
film Blind Chance
Blind Chance
Blind Chance is a Polish film directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski. Made in 1981, the film was suppressed by the Polish authorities for several years, until its delayed release in 1987...
; following Kieślowski's death, Tykwer directed his planned film Heaven
Heaven (2002 film)
Heaven is a 2002 Film directed by Tom Tykwer, starring Cate Blanchett and Giovanni Ribisi. Co-screenwriter Krzysztof Kieślowski intended for it to be the first part of a trilogy , but died before he could complete the project...
.
Plot
Franka Potente
Franka Potente is a German film actress and singer. She first appeared in the comedy After Five in the Forest Primeval and gained critical recognition in the action thriller Lola rennt . Potente received Germany's highest film and television awards for her performances in Run Lola Run and...
) receiving a phone call from her distraught boyfriend, Manni (Moritz Bleibtreu
Moritz Bleibtreu
Moritz Bleibtreu is a German actor.Bleibtreu was born in Munich, the son of actors Monica Bleibtreu and Hans Brenner, and the great-grand-nephew of the actress Hedwig Bleibtreu.Bleibtreu grew up in Hamburg...
). He is a small-time criminal and has lost 100,000 marks belonging to his crime boss
Crime boss
A crime boss or boss is a person in charge of a criminal organization. A boss typically has absolute or near-absolute control over his subordinates, is greatly feared by his subordinates for his ruthlessness and willingness to take lives in order to exert his influence, and profits come from the...
by accidentally leaving it on a train (Lola was supposed to pick him up, but her moped
Moped
Mopeds are a type of low-powered motorcycle designed to provide economical and relatively safe transport with minimal licensing requirements.Mopeds were once all equipped with bicycle-like pedals , but moped has been increasingly applied by governments to vehicles without pedals, based on their...
was stolen while she was buying cigarettes). After the doors of the train closed, he saw a homeless man pick up the bag of money but he was unable to get back onto the train before it left the station. Upon not seeing any trace of his money or the homeless man at the next station, Manni assumes the money is long gone.
Manni has to get the money within 20 minutes before his boss finds out, and plans to rob a nearby supermarket. Lola urges him to wait and tells him she will sort out the money. She decides to ask her father (Herbert Knaup), who is a bank manager.
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 flash-forward 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.
First run
Lola starts running and encounters a punk with a dog in the staircase. The dog growls at her, causing her to sprint faster. Lola runs through the streets of BerlinBerlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
towards her father's bank. On her way, she causes a man (who is later shown to be her father's colleague) to be involved in a small car accident. When she arrives at the bank, Lola's father refuses to give her any money, telling her that he feels unappreciated at home, that he is leaving Lola and her mother for his mistress who is expecting his child and that he is not Lola's real father. Lola runs on to meet Manni, arriving a few moments after the deadline. Manni's robbery is already in progress; Lola decides to help him rob the store. The two flee on foot afterwards but find themselves surrounded by police, and a nervous police officer accidentally shoots Lola in the chest.
The scene fades out to show Lola and Manni talking in bed, with Lola questioning Manni about his love for her. Lola then says "Stop" and the film restarts at the point where she started running.
Second run
In the second run, the punk with the dog trips Lola, injuring her leg and making her limp slightly. She again causes a car accident involving the father's colleague. Lola arrives at the bank a few moments later because of her limp, which leaves enough time for her father's mistress to explain that she is pregnant by someone else. Lola hears more of the argument this time, and becomes infuriated. She robs her father's bank with a gun grabbed from the bank's security officer, escapes because the police mistake her for a fleeing hostage, and takes off with the money to meet Manni. When Lola reaches Manni, her call for his name is heard, but he is run down by an ambulance as he crosses the street to meet her.The scene again fades to Lola and Manni in bed, this time with the roles reversed: Manni questions Lola about her love for him.
Third run
The third time Lola is a split second faster, as she leaps over the punk on the steps. This time she does not cause an accident, and the business associate is able to pick up Lola's father. She misses her father completely and keeps on running. Lola enters a casinoCasino
In modern English, a casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions...
, buys a single 100-mark chip, and finds a roulette
Roulette
Roulette is a casino game named after a French diminutive for little wheel. In the game, players may choose to place bets on either a single number or a range of numbers, the colors red or black, or whether the number is odd or even....
table. She wins two consecutive bets on the number "20", which gives Lola 126,000 marks, more than enough money to help Manni. She hitches a ride in the ambulance from the previous runs, as it stops. The ambulance is carrying the security guard from her father's bank who has apparently suffered a heart attack. She takes his hand, and moments later, his heart rate begins to return to normal.
Meanwhile, Manni sees the homeless man who took his money in the beginning of the film. Manni chases him down, inadvertently causing a car crash involving Lola's father, his business associate, and the man who stole Lola's moped in the first place. He retrieves his money but, the homeless man asks for Manni's gun in return. Feeling sorry for the homeless man, Manni gives him his gun. Lola arrives to find Manni stepping out of a car and shaking his boss's hand. The movie ends with Manni asking Lola what is in the bag she is carrying.
Cast
- Franka PotenteFranka PotenteFranka Potente is a German film actress and singer. She first appeared in the comedy After Five in the Forest Primeval and gained critical recognition in the action thriller Lola rennt . Potente received Germany's highest film and television awards for her performances in Run Lola Run and...
as Lola - Moritz BleibtreuMoritz BleibtreuMoritz Bleibtreu is a German actor.Bleibtreu was born in Munich, the son of actors Monica Bleibtreu and Hans Brenner, and the great-grand-nephew of the actress Hedwig Bleibtreu.Bleibtreu grew up in Hamburg...
as Manni - Herbert Knaup as Papa
- Nina Petri as Frau Hansen
- Armin RohdeArmin Rohde-Filmography:- References :* Tobias Haucke and Timo Rieg : Bochumer Bekannte 2. biblioviel Verlag, Bochum 2003. ISBN 3-928781-82-0....
as Herr Schuster - Joachim KrólJoachim KrólJoachim Król is a German actor, known for his appearances in the films Run Lola Run, Maybe, Maybe Not and Anne Frank: The Whole Story.-Life and work:...
as Norbert von Au - Ludger PistorLudger PistorLudger Pistor is a German actor.Pistor was born in Herten. He has had roles in numerous German-language and English-language films including the Academy Award-winning Schindler's List...
as Herr Meier - Suzanne von BorsodySuzanne von BorsodySuzanne von Borsody is a German actress. She is the daughter of director Rosemarie Fendel and actor Hans von Borsody .She played Frau Jäger in the 1998 film Run Lola Run.- External links :*...
as Frau Jäger - Sebastian Schipper as Mike
- Julia Lindig as Doris
- Lars Rudolph as Herr Kruse
- Ute Lubosch as Mama
- Monica BleibtreuMonica BleibtreuMonica Bleibtreu was an Austrian actress and screenwriter, best-known in the German-speaking world for her German film, television and stage roles.-Life and career:...
as the blind woman - Heino FerchHeino FerchHeino Ferch is an award-winning German film and television actor.-Life:The son of a cargo vessel skipper, he was on stage for the first time in his life at the age of 15, while he was still attending grammar school...
as Ronnie - Hans PaetschHans PaetschHans Paetsch was a German film actor. He appeared in 52 films between 1939 and 2002.He was born in Altmünsterol, Germany and died in Hamburg, Germany.-Selected filmography:...
as Narrator
Themes
The film features two allusions to Alfred HitchcockAlfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
's film Vertigo
Vertigo (film)
Vertigo is a 1958 psychological thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring James Stewart, Kim Novak, and Barbara Bel Geddes. The screenplay was written by Alec Coppel and Samuel A...
. Like that film, it features recurring images of spiral
Spiral
In mathematics, a spiral is a curve which emanates from a central point, getting progressively farther away as it revolves around the point.-Spiral or helix:...
s, such as the 'Spirale' Cafe behind Manni's phone box and the spiral staircase down which Lola runs. In addition, the painting on the back wall of the casino of a woman's head seen from behind is based on a shot in Vertigo: Tykwer disliked the empty space on the wall behind the roulette table and commissioned production designer Alexander Manasse to paint a picture of Kim Novak
Kim Novak
Kim Novak is an American film and television actress. She began her career with her roles in Pushover and Phffft! but achieved greater prominence in the 1955 film Picnic...
as she appeared in Vertigo. Manasse could not remember what she looked like in the film and so decided to paint the famous shot of the back of her head. The painting took fifteen minutes to complete.
There are also several references to German culture in the film. The most notable is the use of Hans Paetsch
Hans Paetsch
Hans Paetsch was a German film actor. He appeared in 52 films between 1939 and 2002.He was born in Altmünsterol, Germany and died in Hamburg, Germany.-Selected filmography:...
as a narrator. Paetsch is a famous voice of children's stories in Germany, recognized by millions. Many of the small parts are cameo roles by famous German actors (for example the bank teller). Also, two quotes by German football legend Sepp Herberger
Sepp Herberger
Josef "Sepp" Herberger was a German football player and manager...
appear: "The ball is round, the game lasts 90 minutes, everything else is pure theory," and, "After the game is before the game."
On several occasions the theme of free will vs. determinism is integrated into the film. The opening narration states the futility of asking questions, as one leads to another and we only travel in circles. Lola's interactions with other people are similar in that a small conversation or interaction with the people on the streets lead to other interactions. For example, the man on the bike can become a happy, married man or a bum. The concept of free will is also presented because she has three different realities to choose from.
Connections between the runs
Throughout the film, Lola bumps into people, talks to them, or simply passes them by, and the sound of a camera flash warming up can be heard. Their resulting futures are then conveyed in a series of still frames. The futures are widely divergent from encounter to encounter. In one scenario, a woman whom Lola accidentally bumps into remains poor and kidnaps an unattended baby after her child was taken away by social workers. In another scenario the woman wins the lottery and becomes rich. In the third scenario, the woman experiences a religious conversionReligious conversion
Religious conversion is the adoption of a new religion that differs from the convert's previous religion. Changing from one denomination to another within the same religion is usually described as reaffiliation rather than conversion.People convert to a different religion for various reasons,...
. The sound of the camera flash warming up is repeated a final time at the end of the film, when Lola smiles at Manni's question about what's in her bag.
Soundtrack
The soundtrack of the film, by Tykwer, Johnny KlimekJohnny Klimek
Johnny Klimek is an Australian film and television composer, currently based in Los Angeles. He is known by association with German filmmaker Tom Tykwer, with whom he and longtime partner Reinhold Heil have collaborated on seven films, including Run, Lola, Run and Perfume: The Story of a Murderer...
, and Reinhold Heil
Reinhold Heil
Reinhold Heil is a composer and former member of Spliff and the Nina Hagen Band who has largely worked on film music but has produced pop music for Kim Wilde, Rosemarie Precht , and Nena...
, includes numerous musical quotations of the sustained string chords of The Unanswered Question
The Unanswered Question
The Unanswered Question is a work by American composer Charles Ives. It was originally the first of "Two Contemplations" composed in 1906, paired with another piece called Central Park in the Dark. As with many of Ives' works, it was largely unknown until much later in his life, being first...
, an early 20th-century chamber
Chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...
ensemble work by American composer Charles Ives
Charles Ives
Charles Edward Ives was an American modernist composer. He is one of the first American composers of international renown, though Ives' music was largely ignored during his life, and many of his works went unperformed for many years. Over time, Ives came to be regarded as an "American Original"...
. In the original work, the chords are meant to represent "the Silences of the Druid
Druid
A druid was a member of the priestly class in Britain, Ireland, and Gaul, and possibly other parts of Celtic western Europe, during the Iron Age....
s—who Know, See and Hear Nothing."
The techno soundtrack established dialectical relation between motives of the movie: Rhythm, Repetition, and Interval among various spatio-temproral logics. This produces unification of contradictions like Time and Space or The cyclical and the linear.
Locations
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. Here are some of the locations:
- Lola's apartment – The apartment block is located at 13-14 Albrechtstraße, Berlin-Mitte, near Friedrichstraße railway station.
- U-Bahn (underground) train overpass – The location is on the north corner of Falckensteinstraße and Oberbaumstraße.
- Bridge passageway – OberbaumbrückeOberbaumbrückeThe Oberbaum Bridge is a double-deck bridge crossing Berlin's River Spree, considered one of the city landmarks. It links Friedrichshain and Kreuzberg, former boroughs that were divided by the Berlin Wall, and has become an important symbol of Berlin’s unity....
- U-Bahn station in the middle of the road – It is the south entrance of Französische Straße U-Bahn station. The entrance is actually located on Friedrichstraße. Lola appears from Jägerstraße, runs across the road and then around the corner in to Französische Straße. The actual path Lola takes differs from run to run.
- The Nuns – North end of Mauerstraße.
- Lola and the Cyclist – Further south of Mauerstraße. The cyclist appears from Französische Straße.
- Shop Underpassage – The shop underpassage that Lola runs in Run 1 is on corner of Charlottenstraße and Französische Straße.
- Deutsche Transfer Bank – The bank is located at the corner of Behrenstraße and Hedwigskirchgasse, near the Opera. The actual location is Behrenstraße 37.
- Square Tile Pattern Pavement – Gendarmenmarkt and the Konzerthaus.
- The Supermarket – The supermarket is located at the south-west corner of the intersection of Osnabrücker Straße and Tauroggener Straße.
- Lola runs in front of lorry – The corner of Hinter dem Gießhaus and Unter den LindenUnter den LindenUnter den Linden is a boulevard in the Mitte district of Berlin, the capital of Germany. It is named for its linden trees that line the grassed pedestrian mall between two carriageways....
, in front of the Deutsches Historisches MuseumDeutsches Historisches MuseumThe German Historical Museum , DHM for short, is a museum in Berlin devoted to German history and defines itself as a place of enlightenment and understanding of the shared history of Germans and Europeans....
. - The Casino – The exterior of the casino is located on Unter den Linden, facing the Deutsches Historisches Museum.
- Lola gets shot – North end of Cuvrystraße.
- Manni getting arrested – Deutsche Oper U-Bahn stationDeutsche Oper (Berlin U-Bahn)Deutsche Oper is a station of the Berlin U-Bahn located in the Charlottenburg district on the line. It is named after the Deutsche Oper Berlin.-Overview:...
. - Herr Meier coming out of his garage – The location is 23-24 Wallstraße.
- The Ambulance and Glass – The intersection of Buchholzer Straße and Greifenhagener Straße. Lola and the ambulance start at the south end of the Greifenhagener Straße and travel North.
- The 2 Cars and Scooter Crash – Intersection Hussitenstraße and Max-Ulrich-Straße.
- Wishing Manni to wait – Shortly after Strausberger Platz, along Karl Marx Allee, running east. In the film the Fernsehturm is obscured by the trees.
Critical reception
The film was nominated for 41 awards, including the BAFTA Award for Best Film not in the English Language. It won 26. These included the Audience Award at the Sundance Film FestivalSundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
, Best Film at the Seattle International Film Festival
Seattle International Film Festival
The Seattle International Film Festival , held annually in Seattle, Washington since 1976, is among the top film festivals in North America. Audiences have grown steadily; the 2006 festival had 160,000 attendees...
, and seven separate wins at the German Film Awards
, the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
reported that 92% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 79 reviews. On Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, another review aggregator, the film had an average score of 77 out of 100, based on 29 reviews, stating the film as having "generally favourable reviews". The Internet Movie Database, IMDb, shows Run Lola Run as having earned 8 out of 10.
In contrasting reviews, Film Threat
Film Threat
Film Threat is a former print magazine and, now, webzine which focuses primarily on independent film, although it also reviews DVDs of mainstream films and Hollywood movies in theaters. It first appeared as a photocopied zine in 1985, created by Wayne State University students Chris Gore and André...
s Chris Gore
Chris Gore
Christopher Patrick "Chris" Gore is an acclaimed speaker and writer on the topic of independent film.Gore was born September 5, 1965 in Big Rapids, Michigan. He is the main writer and the founder of Film Threat, a project dedicated to covering independent and underground movies which he started in...
said of the film, "[It] delivers everything great foreign films should - action, sex, compelling characters, clever filmmaking, it's unpretentious (a requirement for me) and it has a story you can follow without having to read those annoying subtitles. I can't rave about this film enough -- this is passionate filmmaking at its best. One of the best foreign films, heck, one of the best films I have seen", while Jonathan Rosenbaum
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Jonathan Rosenbaum is an American film critic. Rosenbaum was the head film critic for the Chicago Reader from 1987 until 2008, when he retired at the age of 65...
of The Chicago Reader
The Chicago Reader
The Chicago Reader is an American alternative weekly newspaper in Chicago, Illinois, noted for its literary style of journalism and coverage of the arts, particularly film and theater. It was founded in 1971 by a group of friends from Carleton College...
stated, "About as entertaining as a no-brainer can be--a lot more fun, for my money, than a cornball theme-park ride like "Speed," and every bit as fast moving. But don't expect much of an aftertaste.".
The film was released on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
on December 21, 1999, and on Blu-ray
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
on February 19, 2008.
- Ranked #86 in EmpireEmpire (magazine)Empire is a British film magazine published monthly by Bauer Consumer Media. From the first issue in July 1989, the magazine was edited by Barry McIlheney and published by Emap. Bauer purchased Emap Consumer Media in early 2008...
magazines "The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema" in 2010.
External links
- List of locations used in the film from movie-locations.com