RUN LOLA RUN                                      

BY LEAH SHIFREL

Run Lola Run is a film that addresses the concepts of chance and the butterfly effect. Lola has a goal which she clearly sticks with throughout the film. Her boyfriend Manni left money he owes a drug dealer on a train, and the bag was picked up by a homeless man. Lola’s goal is to get the money Manni owes the drug dealer, and she wants to do this out of her love for Manni. All her actions in the film are to achieve her goal. Her methods are different from anything that is normal. There are no rules or guidelines. If people she cares about die, she gets to start over. If an outcome is undesirable, she starts again, much like in a video game. She gets three trials.

The butterfly effect occurs when a small action causes a large event. In Run Lola Run, this happens on numerous occasions. For example, Lola, for the duration of the movie, runs. When she runs, in all three trials she passes an old lady with a stroller. The first time she bumps into her, and the woman yells at Lola. Then we see the woman’s future in a flash forward, where her baby is taken away from her and she is an alcoholic. In the second trial, Lola passes the woman without bumping into her, and the woman is seen in a flash forward winning the lottery.

In the third trial, Lola passes the woman and we see in a flash forward that the woman ends up running away from her husband and finding religion. In each trial, just by having Lola encountering this woman in different ways, the woman’s future is completely altered.

Another example of the butterfly effect -- and there are several in the movie -- takes place when a young man on a bicycle pedals past her and asks if she wants to buy his bike. A flash forward shows him being beaten, going to the hospital and marrying his nurse. In the second trial, the man on the bike is shown pedaling past her. The flash forward shows him killing himself. In the third trial, the man on the bike races ahead of Lola. He is then shown stopping for lunch and meeting the homeless man who took Manni’s money. He sells the bike to him.

Chance is a consistent theme in Run Lola Run. We see that Lola has really good luck -- almost to the point of her situation being supernatural. In every action, there seems to be some sort of chance outcome. For instance, in every trial there is an ambulance and a pane of glass being carried by workmen. In the first trial, Lola has the money in her hands and is around the corner from Manni when she ends up by the  ambulance, which narrowly misses crashing into the pane of glass.

In the second trial, Lola passes the ambulance and asks to ride in it, which distracts the driver, causing him to crash into the pane of glass. In the third trial, Lola enters the ambulance from the back of the vehicle as it avoids the pane of glass.

Another example of chance occurs in the third trial when Lola places the same bet on a roulette table twice, winning the money she needs for Manni against all odds. In addition, in the second trial, Lola robs her father’s bank to get the money for Manni. The police are called and are outside the door, waiting to nab the thief. But because she looks young and innocent, they mistake Lola for a passing pedestrian and let her walk on.

Run Lola Run’s overarching message is that life is random and everyone deserves a second chance. This is clearly throughout the film with the butterfly effect and the recurring theme of chance.