In my 20 years of life, there are numerous moments I wish I could undo or change. These changes would make my memories much easier to look back on. By simply changing any embarrassing, awkward, sad, or even infuriating moment, I would partially completely change the course of my life. However, even if we can't restart a situation, it doesn't mean we won't get a second chance. Furthermore, our second chances come not with a complete do-over but with a similar opportunity. Yet, in Run Lola Run (1999), directed by Tom Tykwer, Lola is somehow able to get not just a second chance, but a third chance at her happy ending. Essentially, the main theme surrounding Run Lola Run is time; the lack of time and how much time we can use. The first frames of the film illustrate how time is a monster. The hands of the clock go out of control. Continuously, Lola's animated self runs towards the clock monster inches from its teeth, racing through time. This image makes me think about how time controls us, we don't control time. We are simply pawns in the game of life and there are people along the way who stand out. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay They either keep us away from the lessons we should be learning or they bring us closer to our goal and who we should become. I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason and sometimes a time-based reason. Everything in your life can play out differently based on the choices you make every second. I believe this is how Run Lola Run is constructed, for many of Lola's runs, she reaches a destination within a specific time and makes decisions accordingly that change her path. If you had the chance to go back in time, would you change your destiny? What would you do differently? What is your goal? For example, comparatively, Lola makes slight changes to the decisions made in the penultimate race. These small changes give Lola more time or slow her down. On the last ride, if Lola hadn't distracted one of the drivers, the man in the car wouldn't have crashed into a car full of gang members on a mission to find Manny with the money. Manni wouldn't buy any more time to get his money back. Coincidentally, if Lola hadn't had her bike stolen in the first place, they wouldn't be in the situation at least to the extreme of robbing banks and grocery stores. Lola could have gone and gotten Manni and he wouldn't have lost his money. The climactic scene of this clip is the moment when Lola makes the decision to take the guard's bank and rob her father. Of course, robbing a bank and stealing money can lead to serious consequences such as prison, but that doesn't stop Lola. He is desperate to save Manni, even if it means betraying his father. On Lola's side, she no longer cares about the consequences but about saving her loved one. The top of this scene (38:39) is filmed with a handheld camera by someone with unsteady hands. This device is used to convey one or two different themes 1. The sudden movement of the camera to emulate the couple observed during surveillance by a specific person. 2. To add a more dramatic effect to the interaction between the two like in a soap opera. Their conversation sounds like it's straight out of a soap opera. However, I think it's a bit of both. Even after Lola arrives at her father's office and discovers that he is having an affair, theCamera movement therefore remains unstable, as the vision adds more suspense. The camera appears to simulate heavy breathing then, after the father slaps Lola, the camera movement begins to follow the action. Then, as Lola leaves her father's house, the security guard says, "you can't have everything." Now, Lola has a sudden change of attitude followed by taking the guard's gun and chasing her father. There is a sense of parallel editing or contrasting settings as we see Lola's past mistake in her previous run enter her new state of consciousness. The guard says, "you don't know how to use that thing," the camera pans to the gun as Lola takes the safety off. Throughout the film, there are also series of montages or continuity editing patterns in a series of flash images used to tell a story. In this case it is the history of the people that passes; the woman on the sidewalk, the man on a bicycle and the woman in the office. This stylistic choice is used to show that Lola is not the only one looking for a perfect ending and as she changes her outcomes she also changes those of others. Simulation of the butterfly effect which is a theory that A phenomenon in which a small perturbation in the initial condition of a system causes large changes in subsequent conditions. Finally, the director compared the POV reactions to the Axis shots and split the frame to show the direction of the shot. Which is Lola running to Manni with the money and Manni looking for Lola with the money before attempting to attack the market, the direction where Manni and Lola are facing each other (50:30) contrasts to seem as if Lola was listening to Manni, telling him to wait for her. This shot is also shot in slow motion, thus manipulating time and suspense, and we watch as the minute hand changes from 11:59 to 12:00. But, while Lola and Manni start running towards each other in slow motion with some sad relief, Manni is instead hit by the ambulance. The director cuts to Lola's reaction, the ball dropping and cuts back to Lola's reaction, following the action and suddenly everything goes back in time. Sound is also an important element in Run Lola Run, sound in general helps to increase the emotions of the vision parallel to the characters in the film. Run Lola Run is almost never without sound, in every frame an exquisite retro chase music during Lola's runs or even during her intense walks down the corridor. The background music gives us the sense of intensity and determination. The retro tone further adds to Lola's personality. Lola is a girl dressed in skater clothes with red hair and is given theme music which contrasts well with her look. The music throughout the film also directs our attention to the context. In an earlier scene, while Manni and Lola are running from the police, the song What a Difference a Day Makes, by Dinah Washington, plays in the background. “Twenty-four little hours. He brought the sun and the flowers. Where it used to rain. My yesterday was sad, dear. Today I am part of you, dear. My lonely nights are over, dear. Since you said you were mine. The lyrics follow us on the topic of time, whether it's the lack of it or how events can change your life in a matter of seconds. These elements revolve around the theme of time and decision-making, how those moments dictate the outcome of our lives, and the lessons we learn from them. During the last performance, the song Wish by Thomas D. is played. The lyrics “I wish I were a hunter looking for different food. I would like to be the animal that fits that mood. I would like to be a person with unlimited breathing, I would like to be.