When watching Run, Lola, Run (1998) in class on Wednesday I was very interested in the overlapping of the characters, the contrasts and the connections; especially by its construction and edits. While watching the film I took notes on the things that changed every time the scene began again. (I’m pretty sure it was obvious to all who watch this film, but I thought it was well done.)

The central character, Lola, is constantly on a run in order to save her boyfriend’s life from his Drug-dealing boss. But while she runs she interacts with many different characters, who at the time seem meaningless and trivial because we are all focused on the bigger picture: her getting the money in time to save her boyfriend. The whole concept of this made me think about the reality of life that Tykwer achieves because as we go on day by day we don’t realize those who surround us. We are all on a mission and its very easy to make it about us and forget about the world around us.

For instance, towards the first chunk of the film, Lola is just focused on one thing: running as fast as she can to save her boyfriend (Manni) and while she does so, her interactions with people seem careless and not important. But there is a big contrast from the first chunk and last two chunks, such that she is aware of the lady in her way, so she moves, aware that holding the gun while she escapes the bank she just robbed probably isn’t a good idea, so she chucks it. Overall, the additions and changes to the chunks, prove how life works. By this I mean, everything happens for a reason and this case its fate. Everything that is meant to happen, will happen.

Apart from this metaphor for life, the film was one of my favorites I have seen while studying film because it was a combination of things that we have read about like the concept of music in a film, editing, composing a frame, mise-en-scene, etc. All these aspects are what make a film relevant and purposeful because if they didn’t we wouldn’t watch them.