Run Lola Run(1999)

Sony Pictures Classics

R
Rated R for some violence and language
1h 20m

Release Date: Jun 18, 1999 | Limited

After a botched money delivery, Lola has 20 minutes to come up with 100,000 Deutschmarks.

Releases

Original Release | Jun 18, 1999

25th Anniversary | Jun 7, 2024

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Box Office Results

All Releases (2)
Total US & Canada:
$7,647,184
Total International
$5,973
Total Worldwide:
$7,660,911

Total US & Canada:
$7,955,490
Total Worldwide:
$7,955,490

Current Showtimes

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Director & Top Cast

Tom Tykwer
Director

Franka Potente
Lola

Moritz Bleibtreu
Manni

Herbert Knaup
Vater

Nina Petri
Frau Hansen

Armin Rohde
Herr Schuster

Joachim Król

Norbert von Au

Ludger Pistor

Herr Meier

Suzanne von Borsody

Frau Jäger

Sebastian Schipper

Mike

Julia Lindig

Doris

Lars Rudolph

Herr Kruse

Andreas Petri

Sanitäter

Klaus Müller

Croupier

Utz Krause

Casino-Manager

Beate Finckh

Casino-Kassiererin

Volkhart Buff

Krankenwagenfahrer

Ute Lubosch

Mutter

Technical Specifications

Sound Mix: Dolby Digital

Aspect Ratio: 1.85 : 1

Other Details

Country of Origin: Germany

Language: German,English,Japanese

Summaries

Plot Summary

A ringing telephone. Lola picks up and begins talking to Manni. Manni is in a telephone booth and questions her about where she has been since she was supposed to be waiting for him at the spot they had planned on. She tells him some guy stole the moped she was on while she was in the store and that it happened so fast, she couldn't catch up to him. Manni begins to cry. He tells Lola that he made a big mistake and claims they're going to kill him. Lola asks him what happened, and he begins to recollect the events. He says everything was going as planned; the car transactions went well, he got the diamonds he needed and crossed the border successfully, his encounter with a dealer went well, and he got the money he needed: 100,000 marks. All that was missing was her waiting for him at the spot. He walked to the train station and got on, but a bum bumped into him and fell. He helped the bum up, but two security guards got on the train. On instinct, he got off leaving the bag of money on the seat. He did not realize it until a minute or two later. He tried to go back to get the money but was stopped by the two security guards. The train left with the bag of money and the bum opened it, immediately grabbing it for himself.Manni tells Lola he would not be in this situation if she had been there on time. He tells her to come up with 100,000 marks in twenty minutes because that is all the time he has left before he has to meet Ronnie, his boss, and turn in the money or else he will kill him. He begins to tell her that over and over again until Lola screams "Stop" so loud, a few glasses on her TV set break. She finally tells him that she will come up with something in twenty minutes. She tells him to stay where he is and she will get him the money. He gets desperate and spots a store across from his phone booth and tells her that he is going rob it because that's the only way he can come up with that much money in twenty minutes. Lola tells him again not to move from there. Images of possible people flash in her head until she finally decides on her dad.First Run: She begins to run through the city, and she bumps into a woman and her baby in a carriage. In a series of photo shots, it depicts the woman's future. Her baby is being taken away by social services and she ends up taking someone else's baby in a park. The camera returns to Lola running. Meanwhile, her dad and a woman is having a conversation in his office at a bank. The woman is telling him that she cannot go on lying and doesn't know who she will wait for a man who doesn't want to be with her. Lola continues running and encounters a guy on a bike who, while riding next to her, wants to sell her the bike for 50 marks. She says no. In a series of photo shots, his future is shown. He gets beat up by some men, and his bike is taken away. He ends up in a hospital where he meets a nurse, and they get married. It goes back to Lola crossing in front a car that barely misses her. The man driving stares at her and doesn't see another car coming, crashing into it.Manni is still in the phone booth. He is talking to someone and asks the person what he is supposed to do with 500 marks. He hangs up and returns the phone card to the blind lady he borrowed it from, but she doesn't take it. Meanwhile, Lola's dad and the woman are still talking, and she tells him he has to decide whether or not he wants to be with her because she's pregnant. Lola finally reaches her dads work and is running to his office but accidentally bumps into a clerical worker. Again, in a series of photo shots, her future is shown. She gets into a car accident, is paralyzed, and then commits suicide. Lola finally reaches her dad's office and asks him for help. She tells him she needs 100,000 marks or her boyfriend will die. He starts to ask questions about her boyfriend, and she tells him It doesn't matter in a scream so loud; she breaks the glass wall clock. He then walks her out and tells her he is leaving her mother and marrying another woman. He also tells her that he is not her father and throws her out. Lola is dazed for a little bit then exits the bank. A lady approaches her and asks her what is wrong, but Lola asks for the time and begins to run again.Manni is on the phone with someone and seems frustrated. He walks up to the store he plans on robbing and looks inside. Meanwhile, Lola is running and repeating over and over for Manni to wait for her. Manni makes up his mind and enters the store. Lola gets there too late because he is already pointing a gun and telling the cashiers to open the cash registers. She bangs on the window glass and asks him why he didn't wait for her. He tells her she got here too late. He then asks her if she is with him. At first, she just wants to leave, but she then grabs a bag of glass bottles from a lady nearby, goes into the store, and hits the security guard on the head. She grabs the gun from the guard and covers for Manni while he gets the money from the registers. They take off running, but the police block them. They run the other way but get blocked from that direction as well. Manni throws the bag of cash at the police. While looking up at the bag, the cop accidentally fires his drawn gun and hits Lola in the chest. She falls back, and Manni goes to her. She thinks back to when she and Manni were in bed together, and she questions his love for her. She then says, "Stop", and the movie goes back to the beginning.Second Run: She hangs up the phone and begins running with her dad already in mind. She bumps into the same woman and her baby. This time, in the series of photo shots, the woman wins the lotto and is happy. Lola continues to run and encounters the man on the bike again, but this time his photo shoots depict him as a bum and a drug junkie. She keeps running and instead of crossing the car, she jumps over it. The man still crashes into the other car because he is staring at her. She continues to run and bumps into the homeless guy with the bag of cash. She obviously does not know he has the money and keeps running. Meanwhile, her dad and the woman are having the same conversation. She asks him if he wants to have a baby with her even though it might not be his. At that moment, Lola enters the bank. This time, as she is running to her dad's office, she doesn't bump into the clerical worker. She gets to the office and finds them arguing.This time, he is telling the woman he cannot leave his sick wife and three kids. He tells Lola to leave them alone and go home, but she tells him she needs money. The woman tells her she should be ashamed for barging in on them. Lola calls her a stupid cow and her dad slaps her across the face. Lola begins to throw objects at her dad and leaves on her own. As she exits, the security guard tells her she can't always have what she wants. She walks back but takes the guards gun with her. She reaches her dad again and tells him to go with her, but not before she shoots at the wall next to his head to let him know she is serious. She holds the gun to his head as they're walking out. The clerical worker tries to stop them, but Lola tells her to get lost.This time, in the clerical workers photo shots, she meets someone within the bank who likes to play dominatrix with her. Lola and her dad reach the front of the bank and tells one of the tellers to bag 100,000 marks. However, he only has 88,000 marks has to go downstairs to get the rest. He returns, and Lola tells him to put the money in the garbage can. She takes the bag and leaves. The police have the bank surrounded already. She just stands there staring at them, but the police tell her to get out of the way. They think it is someone else holding up the bank, so she begins to run to Manni. Manni is looking into the store he is going to rob. Just as he makes up his mind to go in, Lola calls to him. He turns around to go to her, but as he is crossing the street, he gets run over by an ambulance. This time, as he is lying on the street, he flashes back to when he and Lola are in bed together and asks her what she would do if he died. They go back and forth on the issue until Lola finally tells him he isn't dead yet, and the movie returns to the beginning again.Third Run: Lola hangs up the phone for a third time and starts to run through the city again. She encounters the woman with the baby, but this time doesn't bump into her. This time the woman's photo shoots depict her having a religious awakening. She encounters the guy on the bike but this time he doesn't try to sell her the bike and instead pulls into a sausage stand. The bum with the money is there and offers to buy the guy a drink. The bum tells him that some unexpected things can happen, and the guy tries to sell him the bike for 70 marks. Meanwhile, Lola is running and this time stumbles on the hood of the car. She and the driver recognize each other. He is Mr. Meyer, her dad's associate. He asks her if everything is okay. She replies no and continues running.Meanwhile, the bum ends up buying the bike and riding it throughout the city. Lola's dad and the woman are conversing, and the woman asks him if he wants to have a baby with her. He says yes but then is interrupted by his secretary on the phone. She says Mr. Meyer is outside waiting for him, so the dad goes to him. Just as they're pulling off, Lola reaches the bank. She sees them and yells for them to stop. Meanwhile, Manni is getting out of the phone booth and returns the phone card to the blind lady. She tells him to wait and turns to look out on the street. Manni follows her gaze and notices the bum on the bike riding through the street. Manni recognizes him and chases after to him. He almost gets run over by Mr. Meyer, but Meyer swerves and hits another car head on. Meanwhile, Lola is still running and thinking about what to do. She almost gets run over by a truck, but she spots a casino and goes in. She gets a 100-mark chip and places her bet at a roulette table. She wins 3,500 marks, but she bets it all again on the same number. As the roulette wheel is spinning, she starts to scream really loud and breaks champagne glasses that people are holding. She wins the 100,000 marks she needs and takes off again to find Manni. Meanwhile, Manni stops the bum by pointing a gun at him and takes the money. The bum then asks for the gun, and Manni gives it to him.Lola gets into the back of an ambulance in which a sick man is there. His heart rate is irregular. She claims to be with him and holds his hand. His heartbeat regulates. She gets out of the ambulance and calls out for Manni, but he isn't there. Then she sees him getting out of a car about a block away with Ronnie. They shake hands, and Manni begins to walk towards her. He asks her if everything is okay, and they begin walking together. After a minute or so, he asks her what is in the bag she is carrying, and the movie ends in a photo shot.

Storyline

Lola receives a phone call from her boyfriend Manni. He lost 100,000 DM in a subway train that belongs to a very bad guy. Lola has 20 min to raise this amount and meet Manni. Otherwise, he will rob a store to get the money. Three different alternatives may happen depending on some minor event along Lola's run. — Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Lola's boyfriend Manni works as a runner for a mobster and leaves a bag full of his employer's money on a subway train. Frantic, he calls her and says that unless he can come up with the money in the next 20 minutes, he'll have to rob a grocery store to get it. Lola heads to her father's bank to see if he can help her. At this point, the film shows three possible outcomes of Lola's attempt to get the money - not all of which necessarily result in a happy ending. — garykmcd A woman (Potente) races against the clock to meet her boyfriend (Bleibtreu), who has fallen foul of his gangster boss and needs big money, fast. The film plays out in three scenarios, which demonstrate the repercussions of tiny choices and missed opportunities. The film explores the events that fate alone controls and displays the constant "what if's" that occur every moment and that can easily change the happenings of the next. The film follows the events between a woman, Lola, and her boyfriend, Manni, who she desperately tries to save from death by helping him obtain a huge amount of money he carelessly lost. It takes you on three different journeys with Lola, all controlled by fate, showing you what would happen in each, and all the "what if's" that provide the foundations for each outcome. — 2 more All