Before she played Marie in 2002's The Bourne Identity, Frank Potente had the lead role in a German, independent movie called Lola Rennte or Run Lola Run in English. Written and directed by Tom Tykwer (Cloud Atlas), the intriguing concept shows how one's fate could be altered simply by changing one thing they do on any given day. Both a critical and audience-rating success, it has earned a kind of cult following all over the world. Twenty- five years after its initial release, Sony Pictures has decided to offer it in 4K for the first time and it is out in stores now for purchase.
The film starts with Lola getting a frantic phone call from her boyfriend, Mannie (Moritz Bleibtreu; The Experiment) who, because Lola was late picking him up, accidentally left the 100,000 Deutschmarks in a bag on a train which was taken by a homeless man. He now has twenty minutes to come up with the money before a drug-dealing thug kills him. Not knowing what to do, he calls Lola hoping she can help. Since she was late because her moped was stolen, Lola tries to put a plan into action that requires her to run across the city, hence the title.
What follows is almost the same scenario with various outcomes, not only for Lola but for the people she comes in contact with. In all three vignettes, the adventure starts with Lola running out of her apartment and down the stairs, where Tykwer switches from live-action to animation. Once on the street, the film again becomes live-action as we watch Potente race, first to her father for help and then to Manni. Impressively, Potente reportedly trained for months to race through the German streets without breaking a sweat.
While the execution of the idea is a little on the unusual side, the idea itself is interesting. What if our actions and interactions changed the outcome of the scenario? Is our fate able to be changed by our actions and those we come in contact with and does it change those individuals' fates as well? Often debated and somewhat controversial, Tykwer does a good, yet quirky, job of getting his point across. He also offers something fresh in a world full of sequels, reboots, and whole unoriginal stories.
As for the technical aspects, the video and audio quality are better than average with the former offering some impressive pictures. While some of the Dolby Vision content could be seen as lower quality, much of that is purposeful. Conversely, some scenes have well-defined details and striking color saturation.
The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 has great depth and dynamic range for the most part. The music is robust throughout the film and the dialogue is easily heard. The extras are ported over from a previous Blu-ray release except for 2 new ones added especially for this 4K version. The extras are NEW!: Audio Commentary with Director Tom Tykwer and Editor Mathilde Bonnefoy, NEW!: Making-Of Featurette, Audio Commentary with Director Tom Tykwer and Actor Franka Potente, Still Running Featurette, "Believe" Music Video, and the Theatrical Trailer.
Run Lola Run is a thinker worthy of discussion and dissection in film classes everywhere. It also has repetitive moments that, while necessary, sometimes feel slightly overdone and boring. It is only after the credits roll that one can appreciate what Tykwer was trying to get across the entire time.
As stated, this is not the same old movie we've seen over and over again (Ironic?) and for this reason and Potente's wonderful performance, this is one movie worth owning so you can watch every few years and be reminded of its message.
Grade: B+
