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Run Lola Run | Year: 1999 Classification: Foreign Film - German Directed: - Tom Tykwer Actors/Actresses: - Franka Potente - Moritz Bleibtreu Clearly the best movie of 1999. 1999 was a good year for the movies. The Sixth Sense, the Blair Witch Project, American Beauty. Oh, yes, there was this little German film that few had heard of before the Sundance festival: LOLA RENNT (English title: RUN LOLA RUN). Directed by Tom Twyker, whose past releases in this reviewers opinion aren't really notable, and starring Franka Potente, Run Lola Run brought new respect to German filmmaking, which has previously been (fairly) characterized as deliberate, slow paced, and self-absorbed in a bad way. Run Lola Run is about action. From 10 seconds into the opening credits through to the end -- punctuated only with a few brief intermissions to let you catch your breath -- the director grabs you and drags you along a whirlwind journey. Three times. You'll enjoy the ride each time. There's one moment, when you begin the rollercoaster ride for the second time, when you'll say to yourself "oh no, I'm going to have to watch this again. This is going to hurt." And within 8 seconds Twyker shifts gears on you and shows you how Lola's journey changes others and herself in different ways each time. I don't want to spoil too much of the plot, so I'll give you the barest outline: Lola's boyfriend Manni has lost 100,000 Deutschmarks that his gangster boss is coming to collect in 20 minutes. Lola has to run across town to find 100,000 DM, and reach Manni, before time runs out. The soundtrack is unparalleled. The filmmaking is superb. The acting is flawless -- every supporting actor strikes the perfect note. This is the movie I would want to be stuck on a desert island with. If you get the DVD version, you'll also get one of the most interesting directors commentaries available. I recommend this movie to anyone and everyone that is human. Strong performances, incredible momentum, exhilerating "Run Lola Run" is the first german film in years, that became a huge hit outside the teutonic territory, and rightly so. "Lola rennt" (original title) is an enormously entertaining fun ride that starts at full speed and never lets up. Unlike most films, this one tells a story of 20 minutes in 80 minutes. The normal approach in movies is just vice versa. The film can do this by telling the same story three times. Each time, small details vary and that leads to an entirely different conclusion of the story. This gives the film some weight in the intelectual arena as well and makes it more than a technical triumph. The cast is another plus. Franka Potente is now something of a star in Germany, as is director Tom Tykwer. The media is already hailing him as a possible saviour of the german film, which puts a lot of pressure on him. "Lola" is a picture that succeeds in being entertaining and thought-provoking. There is little more one can expect from a movie. Gut gemacht, Herr Tykwer! QUIRKY, ENERGETIC, BLAZING PULSE-POUNDER To the beat of an incessant techno/deephouse soundtrack, Lola runs, and then runs some more. I couldn't possibly think of another movie with such sheer cinematic buzz, it's cut like an MTV video: blink and you may miss a visual gag. The theme is doozy but interesting -- a slicing of the same reality in time into three perspectives. Blending an innovative mix of animation, still photography, slow motion, and normal cinematography, it illustrates how the smallest change in what a person does can alter the rest of their life, not to mention the lives of others, including complete strangers they pass on the street. Ironic, creative, and simply riveting -- a fabulous kinetic pleasure of a rental. The breathless high-octane soundtrack should be in your dance collections too. Buy Run Lola Run at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on Run Lola Run Search with the Priority Search Engine on Run Lola Run This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
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