Recently, I watched the very entertaining German film, Lola Rennt which translates to Run Lola Run. Directed by Tom Tykwer and staring Franka Potente and Moritz Bleibtru. This film tells the story of a woman that gets a call from her boyfriend, Manni. The call consists of how Manni is in great trouble because he lost 100,000 rubes that he owes Vater, whom he is meeting in 20 minutes. This film tells the story three times with different series of events that occur. It is very clever in the way of storytelling because it tries to keep ideas fresh through out each sequence. By changing the story only so much, it allows the chance for this idea to occur but not be boring.
I always enjoy watching this movie for it is like finding consistency among chaos. In other words, this film is able to take such great risks but not let those risks be distracting, such as in the French Film Breathless. In many films that try to take a different approach to telling a story often end up being more nonsensical rather then entertaining the audience.
I think that this film is a very good example of blending four of the elements of cinema. The music has a very active presences in the movie because it changes with each time the story is told. It also helps the break the fourth wall with the audience for the fast paced beat has an impact on the audience. For example, the person sitting next to me was nodding their head unconsciously. The cinematography helped tell the story through shots that helped demonstrate the distance that Lola had to travel to achieve her goal. Muse en scene was very strongly depicted in this movie in so many ways. For example, costumes to show class difference between Lola and her father, and the big sheet of glass that was being carried around by the men. Lastly, editing was very vital to the storytelling because without it, the film would not have been as successful. Editor Mathilde Bonnefoy made many strong choices in this film editing to display time and emotion.
The phone hangs up, shot of Lola and she is off. Bonnefoy created a vocabulary that would make the transition from past, future, and present understandable to her audience. The beginning of each sequence all had the same shots. Once that is complete, the story was “given permission” to change. By doing this, it establishes that until that point, the same events have occurred and after that point, things will be different. This is also the same with the conclusion of each sequence, where the ending would occur and then a dissolve into red to the bedroom scenes would take place.
The red bedroom scenes demonstrate the two shot, insert shot, and nondiegetic shot . It even has a pattern of saying something and then a reaction. When the scene is finishing, there is a reestablishing shot, dissolve and then back in real time. This is the only section of the movie where the format is the same. When scenes are repeated, the same scene is used but not the same exact shot for shot. For example, when the women is telling Lola’s father that she is pregnant, the first time it is scene, the shot is a medium close up shot, while the final time it is seen, the shot is a medium shot.
The job of the editor is to connect a sequence of shots to tell a story. This is very visible because when Lola would have random run in to strangers, a series of still photographs would flash on the screen. When each sequence would occur, the photos would be different. It is interesting because the fact that each picture is just enough to give information to the audience to put the elements together to tell the sub story.
The final two things I want to mention about the editing is shot length. The duration of time that the shot is on screen can make things very interesting. For example, before Lola runs into the woman with the carriage, helps establish that this run is not four blocks and that it is necessary that she does actually run. While on the other hand, I really like the series of shots that occur while she is trying to think of who would give her the money. The fast pace stimulates the speed her mind is trying to process this. Lastly, This film does a good job showing that a transition has to fully occur to be successful. For example, near the end of the first segment, Lola is running while Manni is about to enter the grocery store. The screen goes into a partial wipe transition and shows both characters and there movement. I just loved this moment.
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