[MAINTAINED BY: Prajjal, Suddhayan, Adit, and Sangbit]
What is the life of a film? It is nothing but Time.
Film is a narrative structure composed of Time and Space. Time, is the existence of the film or narrative or story which has occurred in a space, which we call Film Space. Like every space, the Film Space also has light, color, shadow, movement, image, sound etc. The film moves forward with them and exists as long as the time of the film exists. The existence of anything is termed as life generally. And thus, clearly, we can say that the existence of a film is its Time, so as life.
The actions performed by the images in the Film Space has pace and tempo. The pace and tempo forms the film’s conflict and its rhythm by organizing the time. The reality of a film formed by its Time and Space is an affected one. So in film, the rhythm is maintained mainly by editing and camera movement in the process of film making. Thus we can say that rhythm, is the management of the time and movement of the film images within the film’s Time. Appropriate sounds with the motion of the film images create a new dimension to the Film Rhythm.
We tried to look into the Temporal and Rhythmic aspects of Tom Tykwer’s 1998 film Run Lola Run in the following discussion.
HOW LOLA RUNS :
A film has frame, shot and image. By adding those, we constitute the film time and by organizing the time within those we form its rhythm. Image composition, sound/music, editing, motion all combined express the order and rhythm of the film narrative. In Run Lola Run these all elements present a rythmic presentation.
The movie starts with a gigantic pendulum swinging across the screen which was strung up with a gothic wall clock. Then we enter into a new space through the mouth of the clock with a fast paced movement of the camera. Thus we see the protagonist discussing about the conflict of the narrative. When Lola starts to think about the source of the money, we see the faces in photograph; while we find her, in a 360 degree camera movement. Then when she starts to run we enter into an animated space. Thus, first ten minutes of the film provide a audio-visual rhythm by frequent transition from photographic film to animated sequences, juxtaposition of the film images by internal montage and by several camera operations and editing technique which acquires motion by slowing or fasten. The film with its multiple motifs of clocks, spirals, and roulette wheels which symbolize the temporal prison the characters are locked in; and with a fast pace, that builds up the idea of time running, out weaves a gripping narrative built on the basis of rhythmic and cyclic motion, with the elements of backbeat techno music , editing, and pacing. Lola runs to the beat of a new urban rhythm over and over again until she finally succeeds in her mission.
Sources
- Tarkovsky, Andrei:, Sculpting In Time
- Backbeat and Overlap: Time, Space and Character subjectivity in Run Lola Run
- The Perception Of Time: An artistic Exploration of Rhythm within Frame
- The Rhythm In The Cinema
1.Lola’s Temporal Prison
In the film, which has a total run time of 81 minutes the protagonist is stuck in a loop like structure, where, she lives through three different outcomes of the same situation. The film is divided into three major portions or round, where our protagonist seems to be stuck in a closed circle of time. As Tom Whalen notes, “the closed circle of time, is Lola’s metaphysical problem”. The closed circle of time resembles a clock, which starts at the same point where it ends, structured like an infinite loop. With each round Lola’s awareness of the scenarios increase, but the loop cannot be escaped or broken. The temporal loop resembles a video game in the context of limited time the protagonist has, to save both her and her boyfriend’s life and in the first two probabilities the death of any one of them restarts the scenario from the last checkpoint. The trip to Manni ends in death, but that does not matter here, as soon everything is erased and we are back to the red telephone receiver that started Lola’s journey, until the final round where both of them manage to survive; to walk away into a new life.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/1213734
2.Rhythm in Lola’s Run
Tom Tykwer’s film Run Lola Run emphasizes on connecting the audience with a rhythmic approach, creating rhythms through actions, shots, sound, and edit. In the three parts or rounds of the film each spanning twenty minutes, the director uses the rhythm of the protagonist’s run through the city of Berlin, to grip the audience. Lola’s fast paced run builds up the tension in each portion and blends with the passage of time through space. The rhythmic run associates itself with the continuous and monotonous background music and builds up a sensory resonance in the audience propagating them towards enact Lola’s run inside of their own heads. Psychologists suggest that observing skillful action calls for an empathetic response ( Hayes and Tipper 2012).The fast paced monotonous rhythm of the protagonist’s run only seems to heighten this effect in us. The three sequences also create a rhythm of pattern of stasis – motion in each round consecutively before ending with a final stasis. In rhythm, the repetitive and the differential go hand in hand (Lefebvre 2004, p. 6), and the repetitions and differences in each of Lola’s runs helps in building a connection to the audience.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5250/storyworlds.6.2.0049
3.Rhythm in Music
Director Tom Tykwer uses more or less repetitive electronica music as background across the three rounds. The repetitive rhythmic nature of the music introduces us to major plot points in the three different probabilities. With the change in probabilities the music changes in tempo as the probabilities progress. The director synchronises changes in visual accents with slight change in the rhythm of the instrument to emphasize the major events. Apart from that the repetition in music influences our attention as the rhythmic patterns moves away from the listeners conscious awareness and focus is free to shift to changes in patterns and contours of the elements .Katherine Spring in her article titled ‘Chance Encounters of the Musical Kind: Electronica and Audiovisual Synchronization in Three Films Directed by Tom Tykwer‘ notes, “Together, the use of repetition and steady beat rhythms forms a backdrop against which shifts in musical texture, timbre, and tone are brought to the fore of listeners’ focal attention, seemingly engaging audiences in the sort of moment-to-moment listening that Levinson proposes”. By virtue of status, the musical pieces composed for Run Lola Run, and are determined to focus a listener’s attention on the momentary.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5406/musimoviimag.3.3.0001
4.Connections joining Temporal and Sonic Rhythm
Run Lola Run’s techno music not only grips the audience, but, also dictates much of it pace and rhythm. Techno music,which has no traditional beginning or end, and follows a repetitive sequence and additionally it adds to the pace of the film, Electronica or techno music, relates to the general idea of a fast paced motion, which is the heart of the film.,as Lola runs through the city. Michael Wedel in his essay notes, “Run Lola Run’s techno music with its backbeat rhythm can be seen as de-centering the experiential (as much as our analytical) focus on a temporality that is defined solely by the cause-and-effect narrative progression.”The continuous and looping music represents not only motion but also time which as per the film is in a never ending loop. Even though we can see in the final round Lola and Manni walk away with the money happily we can never be sure of the fact , if they have escaped the looping cycle of death and rebirth in a complete manner.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/9781444305708.ch6
5.Disruptive Motion
Motion of a film like Run Lola Run, presents itself in a complicated manner. Besides the rhythmic and continuous motion repeated in the three rounds,the film also breaks its rhythm in certain places. During the run, Lola encounters different characters that she interacts with. What follows, after each of these encounters is rather interesting, as we get an insight into the lives of all these people the protagonist encounters, in a series of snaps. Also the three rounds are connected by two interludes, where we see Lola and Manni lying together in bed, engaged in conversation. These breaks, from the fast pace of the film forms a rhythm of their own, and again each time the rhythm changes slightly. With the change in Lola’s fate, the ways she encounters the people on the streets is also changes every time. In the second round, where Manni dies the interlude, naturally plays out differently than in the first round, which ends in Lola’s death. These breaks in motion, provide moments of disruption in between the electronic music and the pace of the film.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14626268.2011.622282
6.The Never-Ending Loop
The events in the film, Run Lola Run, have a different narrative fashion. In this essay the author travels down the path of modern philosophy, where this theme is viewed through the lens of eternal recurrence as described in ancient texts. The main protagonist, Lola, runs into an unknown future to save her boyfriend’s life. The entire film as divided into different segments ( primarily three), relate to the cycle of oneness, as described in Hindu philosophy with the idea of unending cycles of recurrence without the moral basis, which plays by side with the idea of compressed time in the modern world which seems to have paced up with the urban flare. In today’s modern world, in the age of internet and post modern views , we are left with multiple possibilities where multiple interpretations and multiple endings can be seen. Therefore in this film, the theme of recurrence comes all the time questioning our understanding of the new world around us. This film has therefore the value of transcending the present into the future, as Lola runs – a future which is filled with excitement and fun.
Recurring Theory Lola Rennt
7.Time and Rhythm through Edit
Run Lola Run’s editing techniques contribute to the building of the film’s Time and Rhythm .The duration of shots are generally kept very short, so that the viewers don’t get enough time to reflect upon the occurrences, which aids in building a sense of intense curiosity. The shot duration during the telephone conversations tend to get shorter with passing time, referring to the hike in intensity and tension and reflecting upon the limited time Lola has left. After the call ends, several jump cuts are used, which seems to cut short Lola’s journey towards Manni and provide her with additional time. The film’s temporal flow which provides the factor of tension is supported by the rhythmic approach of the shots which resembles the movement of a clock or a pendulum which is openly suggested by the use of several visual motifs in the film.
RUN LOLA, RUN
