Run Lola Run is back in theaters Friday, on the 25th anniversary of its 1999 release. It has been restored and upgraded to 4k. If you still go to movie theaters, this is one to see there. As director/writer Tom Tykwer says during a recent interview in the linked article, the reaction of people watching the film has been a "sheer joy to watch". A very basic plot summary from the article:
In the film, Lola (Franka Potente) has 20 minutes to come up with enough money to get her boyfriend, Manni (Moritz Bliebtreu), out of debt with a gangster. The film portrays three attempts by Lola to find a solution on foot.
Every time she is unsuccessful, the film rewinds to the beginning and Lola tries again. The film's presentation of three different realities qualifies as an early depiction of the multiverse, where infinite universes exist simultaneously.
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I saw the film in 1999 when it first came out at a movie theater in Greenwich Village. I had no idea what it was about before going into the theater. A lawyer friend of mine and I had just finished a late afternoon lunch, and as we were getting ready to leave, he checked his phone and said there was a new movie playing nearby he wanted to see. It was about to start, and he said if we ran, we might make it.
So we ran -- a few blocks at least -- and got in. Coming attractions were playing by the time we got seated, and we were so out of breath from running, he never did have a chance to tell me what the movie was about before it started playing.
I can still evoke the dazed feeling I had when it was over and we stepped onto Second (or maybe Third) Avenue. The street was teeming with people going about their lives, and it seemed like I was spinning, with people swirling around me everywhere. It took me a few moments to get my composure back.
No, I wasn't high. I just knew that I had seen something completely different, something that normally would not interest me at all (watching someone run the same route three times, for almost two hours, to the same techno-pop song, wearing the same outfit, in German no less).
In the article, both the Director and Potente explain how the movie was made, the "multi-verse" aspect to it, something that recent films have also explored, and the sources he drew on.
The movie isn't Lola running every single minute. The Director/writer says, "Of course, we have a proper plot in our film, but it's also pretty absurd. If you watch Lola for the plot, go elsewhere."
This casino segment is one of the parts where the plot surfaces, quite enjoyably. It also gives you a flavor of the film.
As for why people re-watch certain movies and TV shows and episodes over and over, these psychologists say it's a healthy practice and explain the various types of emotional fulfillment it brings.
