Title: Run Lola Run (English)

Lola Rennt(German)

Language: German (Original)

Year of Release: 1998

Director: Tom Tykwer

Actors: Franka Potente , Moritz Bleibtreu

Awards: The film was nominated for 41 awards, 26 of which were won. These included the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival, Best Film at the Seattle International Film Festival, and seven separate wins at the German Film Awards

Verdict: 4/5 (Awesome! Must Watch)

Have you ever wanted to change your destiny? What happens when you alter some things in your present? How does that impact your future? How far can you go to save the one you love? Is it possible to earn $100,000 in 20 minutes?! Sounds impossible...but it's not so. Check out this awesome German Flick, "Run Lola Run" for all the possible answers. And you will end up admiring much more than you will realise.

The story begins with Lola receiving a call from her boyfriend Manni who tells her about an impending danger to his life. And to save himself, he needs $100,000 in 20 minutes which has to be delivered to his boss. Lola forseeing a possibility of Manni making some stupidity warns him from doing anything and pleads him to wait for her. And she drops the phone and runs....runs....runs.

Probably that's the maximum story I can divulge, anything more would be stupidity and anything less doesn't serve the purpose of this post. Coming back to the story, its divided into three parts which each ending in a different way. So, the movie is all about, what happens when Lola arrives after 20 minutes, just before 20 minutes and right at 20 minutes. The story brings forth an important perspective that the road to your destiny is paved by your present actions. The brilliance of Run Lola Run lies in its ability to surprise you at every stage. The style of film-making, soundtrack, editing and narration are awesome and mind you calling it "awesome" is denigrating the fast paced action and the adrenaline it boasts of. Of all the people associated with this film, Tom Tykwer(director and writer), Franka Potente (Lola) and Mathilde Bonnefoy (Editor) need special mention.

Tom Tykwer relies on the pace and narration of the story, so much so that, the entire story rests on Lola and her bumping into several people. With a clever mix of animation and themes like time limit, Tom scores the maximum in leaving a great impact on the audience. Honestly, I wouldn't have stopped raving about this film, had I seen this 2 years ago while I was in college. I say so, because you rarely get to such a film where there's no threat of a terrorist attack or someone threating to blow up a bus/building! It's a concept driven by love and doing anything for the ones you love.

Franka Potente (who later appeared in "Bourne Identity") is more than good in her role. She captures your imagination with her bleached hair and a zeal to earn 100 grand in 20 minutes. Watch her in one of her runs when she manages to get the money from the bank, it's possibly one of the best shot sequences in the flick. She's what I would call a perfect diro's actress! And at the end of the day, the most important thing is, she delivers a stunning performance!

Mathilde Bonnefoy, the editor of the movie is another asset. It's not easy to show three acts back to back with the same beginning but a different ending. With her brilliant editing, Mathilde makes sure that we as audience, don't fret about the repitition of certain scenes.

I have always wondered why our Indian film-makers don't make such genuine fast paced action flicks. Although they have over the past few years, it's still a long way to go before they reach a stunner! Perhaps some sensible people should watch this "Run Lola Run" over and over again....I would hate them to the core if they rip the entire movie and give it a local name, but some budding sensible film-makers, I believe have the conviction to do what's right. And hopefully we will get to see a truly stylish and genuinely good action flick sometime in future.

Watch this film over and over again....it won't fail to surprise you. One of my favourites!