Goals and Traits
The protagonist in “Run Lola Run” is Lola herself. Manni is Lola’s boyfriend who works for a no nonsense boss, Bonnie. Lola is an ardent heroine who is faced with trials throughout the film in attempt to save her boyfriend, Manni from a daring situation. This goal for Lola remains the same throughout the film because the narrative commences again and for the second time, she is seen running out of her door in attempt to save her boyfriend’s life, her life, and ultimately their love. In this film, Lola is depicted as empathetic because in Run 3, she gets a lift in the ambulance where she compassionately helps to save a heart-attack victim’s life (Tykwer in Run Lola Run). Lola is also unveiled as an audacious character who daringly robs a bank and escapes to save her boyfriend. Lola is also represented as a heroine and independent because her boyfriend depends entirely on her and despite coming from a dysfunctional family where the father is ready to desert her and the mother is a drunkard, it is apparent that she has to rely on her own.
- Counterforces and Goals Change
Lola’s biggest counterforce is the past as the film shows several flashbacks where she is seen making three different runs to save her boyfriend. In the second and third subsequent runs, Lola two distinct possibilities to save her boyfriend after failing in the first run. Although the counterforces change the course of her actions, they do not change her. When she fails in the second attempt, she considers the third and last possibility which she tries to do everything right but ultimately fails again. The counterforces are shown in similar event that take place in the different settings. For instance, in Run 1, Lola gets shot by the police at the supermarket where they were trying to rob in order to raise the 100,000 marks. In Run 2, Lola robs the bank and escapes successfully to meet Manni (Tykwer in Run Lola Run).
- Resolution
The complexities and ambiguity surrounding this film’s resolution only leaves Lola’s question unanswered. This is because of the fact that she fails in every of her attempt to save her boyfriend. Besides, it was the intention of Tom Tykwer to leave Lola’s question unanswered. Despite her desperate endeavors and commitment to help her boyfriends in three different runs, she fails to save her boyfriend. This is certainly not a happy ending because at the end of her efforts, she fails to fulfil her goal.
In Run Lola Run, Tykwer structures the film in a multilinear narrative contrary to the mainstream Classical Hollywood Cinema narrative form. This is because, he considers free will, fate, and chance as the only ways of understanding human existence where none is dominant than the other (Film Education, 1). Therefore, he endeavors to unveil Lola’s predicament in her struggles to help save her boyfriend to find the money and their love. She only got a phone call, which prompted her quick reaction to save her boyfriend’s life and assures her boyfriend that she would find the money within 20 minutes. The only chance she had was the 20 minutes to save boyfriend from the situation and while she failed, she considers a series of possibilities trying to resolve the situation in two different runs, which shows her agility and willingness to do as she pleases to save the situation.
Works Cited
Film Education. “Run Lola Run.” Film Education (2010): 1-13.
Run Lola Run. Dir. Tom Tykwer. Perf. Franka Potente and Moritz Bleibtreu. 1998. X-Filme Creative Pool.