Run Lola Run

Some of the most effective artistic productions are those which can seamlessly integrate a commentary on their own particular medium into their narrative and aesthetic content, and Tom Tykwer's film Run Lola Run is prime example of this phenomenon. Though the film is eighty-one minutes long, the story only takes place over the course of twenty, but these twenty minutes are repeated in a series, with each retelling demonstrating how small actions culminate in dramatically different conclusions. Examining Run Lola Run with an eye towards the small details which result in these different conclusions reveals how the film challenges the viewer's assumptions regarding time, narrative consequences, and the nature of reality as it relates to the medium of film itself. Ultimately, Run Lola Run suggests that the experience of time and narrative is not based on the conceptualization of a single, unbroken thread, but rather temporal segments...
[ View Full Essay]