Lola Rennt (1998)

Maybe it’s because I saw this movie when I was a video game-playing, MTV Generation high school student, but Lola Rennt (or Run Lola Run for English-speaking audiences) continues to be one of my favorite movies of all time. It’s an unrelenting, 81-minute thrill ride that has all of its ducks in a row.

The plot is quite simple- Lola, Franka Potente (whom fans of the Bourne trilogy will recognize) gets a call from her boyfriend Manni (Moritz Bleibtreu). Manni has been working for some powerful crime bosses and got his first test. He received a payment of diamonds for some luxury cars and exchanged the diamonds for cash. Unfortunately, he left the satchel of cash on a train and he’s got 20 minutes to come up with 100,000 Marks or his boss will kill him. With this, Lola leaps into action and the audience can only hold on for the ride.

Fueled by an almost non-stop, toe-tapping, if not foot-pounding, electronic soundtrack and adrenaline-inducing action, Lola Rennt manages to be a little bit of everything. It’s a thriller for sure, as we’re constantly reminded of how much time is left on the clock. It’s also an emotional drama, as we see short side scenes where Manni and Lola share their insecurities with each other. Last, but by no means least, Lola Rennt is a thinking man’s film, touching on themes of free will vs. determinism and the importance and insignificance of money.

Probably the most intriguing aspect of the film is its three-part structure. We actually watch Lola make three different attempts at her run. Are our characters stuck in a time loop? No. Director Tom Tykwer is merely out to show how every single decision we make from departing Point A, every little thing that we do, can snowball into a drastically different result when we finally reach Point B. For some, it’s far too heady a concept for an action film but most people will be transfixed by it. Tykwer’s set up demands repeat viewings so you can catch all the little details and how they change with each of Lola’s runs.

Lola Rennt will thrill you, shock you, give you a few warm fuzzies and make you think all in 81 minutes. This is a movie that knows not to overstay its welcome because it knows that you’re going to need to go back and watch it again. The slim runtime perfectly allows for that. Pretty impressive for a foreign film that will require you to read subtitles (I abhor overdubs and advise against such lazy viewing tactics). In fact, the characters and action do most of the speaking through their actions. You could probably watch this film without the subtitles and understand most of it.

The film never passes judgment on Lola and Manni’s involvement with organized crime but it also doesn’t condone it. In fact, it’s only used as mechanism to set up the action. Moralists might complain but they’ll be missing the point. In time of crisis, all that matters is keeping your head above water.

A tour de force that you won’t soon forget, Lola Rennt is easily one of the best foreign films I have ever seen. Had I not taken German in high school, I probably never would have discovered this film. What a scary thought! Watch it, love it and watch it again!

RATING: 4.5

Munich* (2005)

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!

This is a very challenging film to watch. It’s violent and intense but also emotionally jarring. The main characters display a wide range of emotions and mental states. From cold and calculating to outright paranoid, this film really has a good sense of itself.

In 1972, several Palestinian/Arab terrorists executed Israeli athletes during the Summer Olympic Games in Munich, Germany. The world was shocked and the event is well-documented in history. What is not so well-documented is Israel’s response to the slaughter. Several former Israeli operatives have come forth over the years and told accounts of top-secret Israeli hit squads. Israel has denied any such accusation and continues to maintain that no such assassin teams ever existed, yet refuses to declassify many government files related to these operations, which cover a good stretch of time throughout the 60s, 70s and 80s.

Munich is based on a book written by a former member of one of these “never existed” hit squads assigned to kill specific PLO supporters believed to be members of the terrorist network behind Munich. Eric Bana stars as the leader of the team as they move throughout Europe over the course a few years, following information in the hopes of finding another of their targets. Along the way the team shares tender moments with each other and slowly become disillusioned with their task.

While they initially view their mission as simply wiping out enemies, they discover the human side of their targets, encountering their intended victims’ friends, families and children. This makes it all the more difficult to carry out their mission as they begin to ponder how the bad guys seem so normal when taken out of context of blind faith and the Munich massacre. Some critics and moviegoers complained that this portrayed a sympathetic view of terrorists and was irresponsible for director Steven Spielberg to do so.

It’s called character development, people- deal with it. These moments and nuances call to mind the saying “One man’s terrorist is another man’s hero.” It helps hammer home the point that, in situations like Munich and its aftermath (and even today), both sides of the battle are engaged in shady tactics and both sides have blood on their hands. There is no justification for this kind of activity, no matter how badly you want to think there is.

Eventually, things begin to fall apart for the team, as members are killed and those remaining realize that they are now being hunted by Palestinian hit squads. Bana’s character especially plunges into extreme paranoia. He examines everything around him, looking for signs of the very same booby traps and setups his team had been using to eliminate their own targets. In the end he questions what good his mission did- sure he took out targets that were believed to have masterminded terrible bloodshed, but those assassinations resulted in little more than emboldening his foes even further in their cause.

Munich is a solid film, though it runs a tad longer than the average Joe can tolerate, and provides a unique study of violence begetting more violence and what some people are willing to do in the name of God. I think it was worthy of an Oscar nod, despite being a dark horse for winning.

RATING: 3.75 out of 5