Run Lola Run Essay

1513 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The change and prospects of digital technology in movies

This essay will primarily focus on the 1998 independent German film Run Lola Run, directed by Tom Tykwer. Essentially, this analysis will look at how Run Lola Run transgresses the normative boundaries of genre; integrating elements of interactive gameplay into the narrative, like that seen more commonly in videogames. This essay will also look at how the film exhibits postmodernist qualities.

Run Lola Run, utilises an unusual cross media narrative that includes a videogame structure and film plot in a ‘stop and rewind’ format or ‘replay story’. The ‘replay’ story in essence allows for the protagonist to ‘do over’ previous scenarios in order to change their present. Previous examples of this have included: Back to the Future (1985), Groundhog …show more content…

Strinati touches upon the subject of music, referring to how postmodern texts go beyond those that are perceived as the ‘norm’ – which in this case, is seen in cinema.

‘They are concerned with collage, pastiche and quotation, with the mixing of styles which remain musically and historically distinct…’

This can be true of Tykwer’s Run Lola Run, where the techno music of the 1990’s was unlike the music heard in the mainstream charts; emerging as an underground subgenre of popular dance music. Tykwer himself was aware of the explicit use of this subcategory of dance music in his film and understood the link that it held with the kinetic energy of the storyline, taking full reigns of the implementation of the music within the film.

“The music (...) was also very important to me. I think, write and cut in a very musical way - so it was obvious that I’d want to take care of the soundtrack too. (...) The very idea of anyone else composing music for any film of mine is like a nightmare to me. The wrong music can screw up a film completely. In a film, music intensifies

Show More
Related

  • Always Running By Luis Rodriguez Essay

    1042 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the book Always Running written by Luis J. Rodriguez we meet the author at a young age, We accompany him as he grows into the Veteran gang lifestyle. Throughout the autobiography, Luis, a young Chicano who survived ¨La Vida Loca¨ in South San Gabriel gives voice to an unheard cry and illuminates the cycle of poverty and violence of gang wars. His families instability and the discrimination they received due to their ethnicity gives him a desire to hurt others and seek understanding in a deviant way. Rodriguez speaks on many of the issues we still see in our Latino communities today, The lack of resources; financially and emotionally. He narrates his own internal and external battles to gain respect, belonging, and protection.

    Read More

  • Koyaanisqatsi

    2549 Words  | 6 Pages

    music to analyse—in fact, the music runs almost constantly throughout the film without very little

    Read More

  • Dazed and Confused

    2219 Words  | 5 Pages

    The film elects to use a soundtrack comprised of only popular music from the 1970s. Frith writes, “The sociologist of contemporary popular music is faced with a body of songs, records, stars and styles which exists because of a series of decisions, made by both producers and consumers, about what is a successful sound” (Frith, 134). I reference this quote because it is important to note that this film was released in 1993. The people who are responsible for choosing the soundtrack have the luxury of knowing what music is able to ...

    Read More

  • Run Lola Run

    1317 Words  | 3 Pages

    "Every second of every day you are faced with a decision that can change your life. The difference between life or death can be decided in a split second" (IMDb). Run Lola Run is an excellent 80-minute German film written/directed by Tom Tykwer and edited by Mathilde Bonnefoy that has a four part "What if" style genre. The movie just throbs with kinetic energy mixed with a case of Monster Energy Drinks. It is so fast-paced that it is like a roller coaster that is unstable with each twist and turn. Run Lola Run will captivate your mind and spirit with beautiful and free form flashes of anticipation, panic, passion, desperation, hesitation, fear and fervor that when all combined is quite invigorating and will significantly exhausts its viewers. The formula editor Mathilde Bonnefoy uses to manage the complex rhythms in this film not only dazzles viewers with the pacing, but it also maintains an extensive focus on what Lola is doing and why she is doing it.

    Read More

  • Postmodern Film

    2291 Words  | 5 Pages

    The postmodern cinema emerged in the 80s and 90s as a powerfully creative force in Hollywood film-making, helping to form the historic convergence of technology, media culture and consumerism. Departing from the modernist cultural tradition grounded in the faith in historical progress, the norms of industrial society and the Enlightenment, the postmodern film is defined by its disjointed narratives, images of chaos, random violence, a dark view of the human state, death of the hero and the emphasis on technique over content. The postmodernist film accomplishes that by acquiring forms and styles from the traditional methods and mixing them together or decorating them. Thus, the postmodern film challenges the “modern” and the modernist cinema along with its inclinations. It also attempts to transform the mainstream conventions of characterization, narrative and suppresses the audience suspension of disbelief. The postmodern cinema often rejects modernist conventions by manipulating and maneuvering with conventions such as space, time and story-telling. Furthermore, it rejects the traditional “grand-narratives” and totalizing forms such as war, history, love and utopian visions of reality. Instead, it is heavily aimed to create constructed fictions and subjective idealisms.

    Read More

  • Music Composers: Hans Zimmer

    1994 Words  | 4 Pages

    For this essay I will be looking at the work of Hans Zimmer to discuss how music in film engages the viewer and evokes emotion and pulls the viewer toward the film. Hans Zimmer is a German born music composer. Hans Zimmer’s love of music stems from his childhood when he learned how to play various instruments. Before Zimmer began composing music for films he was in a well-known band. The band was called The Buggles whom were famous for their song Video Killed the Radio Star. After the Buggles Zimmer played in other bands but never had another hit. As Zimmer has progressed as a film composer so has his list of nominations and awards. Zimmer has won 4 Grammy Awards and 2 Golden Globes and many more for his outstanding film scores. The reason I chose to write this essay on Zimmer was that his genres and music score are extremely versatile ranging from animations to comedy to dark thrillers. This is important to highlight as it shows Zimmer can create almost any atmosphere with his music whether it be sad or creating tension that all cause us to engage with the film. Zimmer's use of themes and introduction of different instruments allowed him to create these wonderful engaging film score. In this essay I will look at three films by Hans Zimmer these are The Holiday Rush and Rain Man.

    Read More

  • Human Trafficking Depicted In The Movie Taken

    908 Words  | 2 Pages

    For example, once the director introduces a soundtrack that makes the viewer get an essence of being there in the moment and following the protagonist throughout his whole adventure while seeking for his daughter. For example, when the director includes the soundtrack titled, “On the Boat” it gives the audience the feeling of thrill, the music combines both the concept of action and hope, the reason being that it makes the viewer want the protagonist to accomplish his goal on retrieving his daughter to safety while also getting the whole action

    Read More

  • Analysis of German Film Run Lola Run

    913 Words  | 2 Pages

    Run Lola Run, is a German film about a twenty-something woman (Lola) who has 20 minutes to find $100,000 or her love (Manni) will be killed. The search for the money is played through once with a fatal ending and one would think the movie was over but then it is shown again as if it had happened ten seconds later and changed everything. It is then played out one last time. After the first and second sequence, there is a red hued, narrative bridge. There are several purposes of those bridges that affect the movie as a whole. The film Run Lola Run can be analyzed by using the four elements of mise-en scene. Mise-en-scene refers to the aspects of film that overlap with the art of the theater. Mise-en-scene pertains to setting, lighting, costume, and acting style. For the purpose of this paper, I plan on comparing the setting, costume, lighting, and acting style in the first red hued, bridge to that of the robbery scene. Through this analysis, I plan to prove that the purpose of the narrative bridge in the film was not only to provide a segue from the first sequence to the second, but also to show a different side of personality within the main characters.

    Read More

  • Distinctive Visuals in Run Lola Run

    1192 Words  | 3 Pages

    Therefore, the distinctive visual techniques employed by the composer provide a vehicle for the respondent to understand the ideas and themes prompted by people and their experiences. Tykwer’s film, Run Lola Run demonstrates the effect of the distinctive visual in Lola’s exploration of the themes of chance and time, whilst Mackellar’s poem ‘My Country’ provides the audience with an evocative experience of the Australian environment.

    Read More

  • Run Lola Run

    754 Words  | 2 Pages

    Run Lola Run is a film set in Berlin , Germany. This film gives you the idea of running with Lola on her journey to come up with one hundred marks in twenty minutes to save her boyfriend Manni’s life. Tom Tykwer uses many film techniques that usually are not used in movies , making this film not like every other Hollywood movie. Techniques such as the use of flashback and flash forward , this giving the film an idea that just by one slightest move or event can change your move in different ways. Other techniques that made this film interesting and attention grabbing is the use of animation, cross- cutting, birds eye view and medium shot.

    Read More

  • Divided We Fall

    1132 Words  | 3 Pages

    The music suited the movie very nicely. By the type of music playing, you could determine what sort of scene was coming up, either fast and light...

    Read More

  • The Use of Sound in Coppola’s The Conversation

    2672 Words  | 6 Pages

    As an audience we are manipulated from the moment a film begins. In this essay I wish to explore how The Conversation’s use of sound design has directly controlled our perceptions and emotional responses as well as how it can change the meaning of the image. I would also like to discover how the soundtrack guides the audience’s attention with the use of diegetic and nondiegetic sounds.

    Read More

  • Postmodernism in Pulp Fiction

    1676 Words  | 4 Pages

    The film Pulp Fiction was an immediate box office success when it was released in 1994 and it was also well received by the critics, and celebrated for the way it appeared to capture exactly a certain pre-millennial angst and dislocation in Western capitalist societies. The term post-modernist, often used to refer to art and architecture, was applied to this film. The pulp fiction refers to popular novels which are bought in large numbers by less well educated people and enjoyed for their entertainment value. The implication is that the film concerns topics of interest to this low culture, but as this essay will show, in fact, the title is ironic and the film is a very intellectual presentation of issues at the heart of contemporary western culture and philosophy.

    Read More

  • Music In The Film, Phantom Of The Opera

    1453 Words  | 3 Pages

    Sound is what brings movies to life, but, not many viewers really notice. A film can be shot with mediocre quality, but, can be intriguing if it has the most effective foley, sound effects, underscore, etc. Sound in movies band together and unfold the meaning of the scenes. When actors are speaking, the dialogue can bring emotion to the audience, or, it can be used as the ambient sound. Music is one of the main things to have when filmmaking. The use of Claudia Gorbman’s Seven Principles of Composition, Mixing and Editing in Classical Film gives audiences a perspective of sound, and, how it can have an impact on them.

    Read More

  • The Magic of Music in Film

    1111 Words  | 3 Pages

    There are thousands of movie composers in the music industry, a few who triumph and whose work is well known to almost half of the world. One example of that can be the famous Maestro John Williams. John Williams is the musician for Jaws, Harry Potter, Star Wars, Jurassic Park, E.T and lots more. But there is a piece which everyone recognizes, and that is the theme from the movie Jaws. Imagine Jaws without the music. People would not feel scared; they would laugh at the plastic shark. And that is why music is one of the most important elements in cinema. John Williams in a late interview said this: “The music is part of a whole, which if I try as a composer to take that part of the whole, like in a concerto. I would not succeed, because the attention would go only for the music and not for the picture” (John Williams Interview). In Jaws, the music blends with the picture and acting; there are no imbalances. The picture and the music need to be in perfect harmony. Therefore, in Jaws, every time the daring melody comes out; the audience knows something bad is going to happen, and the music may anticipate a particular situation, but without the music overpowering the actors and sound effects.

    Read More

More about Run Lola Run Essay

Open Document