Post by klep on Jun 21, 2021 12:25:56 GMT -6
MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 6/21: Run Lola Run
LONGEST DAY WEEK!
When Lola (Franke Potente) picks up the phone at the beginning of the film she doesn't know what she's in for. She knows she was late to pick up her boyfriend Manni (Moritz Bleibtreu) from fencing some illicitly-obtained diamonds, but what she doesn't realize is how much trouble he got into after she didn't show. Suddenly she's left with twenty minutes to conjure up DM 100,000 to save hey boyfriend's life.
What follows is a frantic race against time as Lola runs to her banker father (Herbert Knaup), the only person she can think of who might be able to provide the cash. But it doesn't go well and she ends up being shot by police after a desperate attempt to help Manni rob a grocery store. But the film doesn't end there; instead we get to see Lola keep trying until she gets it all figured out.
The race is driven by a pulsing techno score that's a key touchstone for fans of the film, and it's edited with a frenetic - but still clear - pace that heightens the sense of urgency and gets our blood pumping. The twenty minute time limit keeps each loop tight and gripping with no downtime, and glimpses of the time are just infrequent enough to keep us worrying.
In all, Lola goes through three loops, each with minor variances that end up making significant changes to the outcome. In the first loop she's hustled out of the bank because her dad thinks his mistress is bearing his child so he has no further use for a daughter he claims isn't biologically his. But in the second loop Lola is delayed a few moments so her dad learns his mistress' child isn't his either which changes the scene when Lola arrives and ends up with her robbing the bank at gunpoint. And in the third loop another difference of a few seconds leads to her not even seeing her father because she cause a man driving to meet him to get in an accident.
Along the way Lola runs into a number of people and the film gives us flash forwards of their futures. In this way the film is exploring the idea that everything we do matters; our actions have effects which ripple outwards in ways that we can't predict or don't necessarily make logical sense. A few seconds of her encounter with Lola either way and a woman winds up a baby snatcher, a lottery winner, or a pious convert. Others may find true love or wind up in dire straits. In the end no one even knows Lola's actions saved Manni, and indeed they only did so in the most roundabout way so can we even attribute it to her at all or just to fate?
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 6/28: The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant
PRIDE WEEK!
This time for Pride Week we're finally getting to a film by Ranier Werner Fassbinder with The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant. Be sure to join us next week as we discuss this film, available on Criterion Channel and HBO Max and for rent at Amazon.
NEXT PICTURE SHOW PODCAST for 6/22: West Side Story
Next up the podcast is pairing the delightful new musical In The Heights with another musical focused on a neighborhood in New York City, the 1961 adaptation of the smash Broadway musical West Side Story. Come join us Wednesday for our discussion of West Side Story, available for rent at the usual places and free for Prime subscribers.
LONGEST DAY WEEK!
When Lola (Franke Potente) picks up the phone at the beginning of the film she doesn't know what she's in for. She knows she was late to pick up her boyfriend Manni (Moritz Bleibtreu) from fencing some illicitly-obtained diamonds, but what she doesn't realize is how much trouble he got into after she didn't show. Suddenly she's left with twenty minutes to conjure up DM 100,000 to save hey boyfriend's life.
What follows is a frantic race against time as Lola runs to her banker father (Herbert Knaup), the only person she can think of who might be able to provide the cash. But it doesn't go well and she ends up being shot by police after a desperate attempt to help Manni rob a grocery store. But the film doesn't end there; instead we get to see Lola keep trying until she gets it all figured out.
The race is driven by a pulsing techno score that's a key touchstone for fans of the film, and it's edited with a frenetic - but still clear - pace that heightens the sense of urgency and gets our blood pumping. The twenty minute time limit keeps each loop tight and gripping with no downtime, and glimpses of the time are just infrequent enough to keep us worrying.
In all, Lola goes through three loops, each with minor variances that end up making significant changes to the outcome. In the first loop she's hustled out of the bank because her dad thinks his mistress is bearing his child so he has no further use for a daughter he claims isn't biologically his. But in the second loop Lola is delayed a few moments so her dad learns his mistress' child isn't his either which changes the scene when Lola arrives and ends up with her robbing the bank at gunpoint. And in the third loop another difference of a few seconds leads to her not even seeing her father because she cause a man driving to meet him to get in an accident.
Along the way Lola runs into a number of people and the film gives us flash forwards of their futures. In this way the film is exploring the idea that everything we do matters; our actions have effects which ripple outwards in ways that we can't predict or don't necessarily make logical sense. A few seconds of her encounter with Lola either way and a woman winds up a baby snatcher, a lottery winner, or a pious convert. Others may find true love or wind up in dire straits. In the end no one even knows Lola's actions saved Manni, and indeed they only did so in the most roundabout way so can we even attribute it to her at all or just to fate?
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 6/28: The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant
PRIDE WEEK!
This time for Pride Week we're finally getting to a film by Ranier Werner Fassbinder with The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant. Be sure to join us next week as we discuss this film, available on Criterion Channel and HBO Max and for rent at Amazon.
NEXT PICTURE SHOW PODCAST for 6/22: West Side Story
Next up the podcast is pairing the delightful new musical In The Heights with another musical focused on a neighborhood in New York City, the 1961 adaptation of the smash Broadway musical West Side Story. Come join us Wednesday for our discussion of West Side Story, available for rent at the usual places and free for Prime subscribers.