[Cesar Chacon from El Paso,TX USA]

Run Lola Run is a film by Tom Tykwer, made in 1998; it was the third feature film of this author. The techniques used in it are very interesting to analyze. I chose to write about this movie because I really enjoy movies that emphasize that the decisions that we make influence not only our destiny but others’ as well. The scene that attracted me the most was the casino scene, because it is very different from the rest of the scenes. Lola was not planning to go to the casino, and for the first time in the movie she is going to a place where she does not know anybody.
At the end of the scene before the casino, the exterior of the casino structure is shown very briefly (Approx. four seconds). Lola looks upward to see the “CASINO” sign which is written with golden letters, it is also noticeable the large columns that support the balcony in which the sign is placed. In addition, four statues are visible on the top of the building.
When Lola enters the casino, the hand rail that guides to the cashier is the first thing that draws the attention, because it makes you follow the line from left to right to where the next shots are going to be. The camera is placed at the top of the steps. The colors inside the building are mostly desaturated, brown and golden colors predominate. The roof seems to be very tall, and luxury candles hang with a yellowish glow. The other lamps placed throughout the casino have the shape of the pole with a screen opening upwards.

Starting with the cashier. All of the characters in the casino (Except Lola) are dressed formally; they are wearing golden jewelry if any. They are wearing discrete colors, and most of the customs are black and white. On the other hand, Lola seems misplaced, because she is wearing very casual clothes, and the huge rings she is wearing are silver as well as her earrings. The chips on the roulette table stand out, because of their bright colors. Most if the people that are in the casino are people over 40 with few exceptions.

Lightning in the first shot natural and artificial lightning is visible. A ray of light enters the reception from the entrance that goes left to right, and there are three lamps set on the upper part of the shot. There is low-key lightning in the first shots when Lola enters the casino and just before entering the game room. When Lola is talking to the cashier, the key light is set on the right side of Lola, the light comes from an off screen space that hasn’t been showed yet. In that same shot, no additional filling light is used on the left side of Lola, thus, a shadow is projected on her left side. Later when Lola enters the game room she seems to come from a dark room to a bright room. Using an overhead shot, the director shows the different sources of light, the key light is on the back of Lola, the redness of her hair is highlighted which gives her importance; a fill light illuminates de roulette table in front of her. In a shot where Lola is standing next to the table, in the background to the left there is a stairway, and light is coming down the stairway from an off screen source.

The scene consists in approximately 81 shots. The first shot is a dolly to the right, which focuses on Lola standing in front to the cashier. When Lola is talking to the cashier, a subjective point of view is used to show their conversation. The camera that is focusing on the cashier is at the level of her eyes; but the camera that is taking Lola is at the level of the cashier’s shoulder. When Lola starts walking to the left, the camera is focusing on her and the things in the background and foreground surrounding Lola look blurry. Later, the editing allows the viewer to see how the dealer of the roulette table interacts with the security guards without using a single word. When Lola tells the guard that she is going to spin again, the camera centers Lola in the frame and zooms in to show her gesture. There is a few close-ups of the roulette, and in some of them, slow motion is used to add suspense, in others, there is a combination of close-up and zoom in. The pace is medium throughout the scene, but it speeds dramatically when Lola screams desperately. In that moment, the camera does a combination of a dolly backward with a zoom in to Lola. After that, the next quick shots show how Lola’s scream affects several groups of people and certain props (the glasses breaking). At the end a 42 seconds long take is taken first showing Lola next to the cashier’s window an then it moves toward the stunned gamblers, it passes really close to their heads and then tilts up when it gets to the painting of the woman facing backwards, to show the clock. According to the director’s commentary it was very hard to take that long take because the camera passes really close to the actors’ heads; they had to redo the shot for several times to get it right.

The sound in this scene differs from the rest of the movie. The non-diegetic music at first coincides with the editing (when Lola gets to the cashier the music stops suddenly), but then it starts playing again to emphasize suspense. The type of music is more spiritual compared to the techno music used in the rest of the movie soundtrack. The music still has drumbeats, but the tone is significantly lower. At some point, the music sounds like a chant, similar to Gregorian music. The conversations that we hear are in a much lower voice. Lola speaks more slowly, and does not yell at all. When Lola wins the first time the sound of the chips sliding through the table is amplified, also the chips of other players bumping into each other sound. The highlight sound of this scene is Lola’s scream, it is the one that she does the largest. It sounds almost like more than one voice. According to the actress, she had to take special measures like not eating anything and talking the less possible, to achieve that ear-wrecking scream. Right after the scream a brief silence is kept by everyone in the casino giving the moment an “after the storm” feeling. For the last shot, the sound of the chips that Lola places onto the cashier’s desk is amplified, then, the mystic music starts playing again, and the beats start to speed up until it jumps into the next scene to a more techno beat.

The film style of the scene is quite different from the rest of the movie, but it follows the same pattern especially when it comes to sound. Sound and editing are the main parts of the casino scene, but that does not mean that the others are less important. In the film style of the movie, color is a very important matter, because Lola’s colors always tend to stand out where ever she goes. However, it is a very energetic movie, but unlike other movies, the character’s fatigue is not much emphasized, on he contrary she is always willing to give more of herself to achieve her goal.

I would like to conclude saying that I really enjoyed this movie. The
narrative really breaks the usual expectations. I read several negative critics to the casino scene, but they did not affect my opinion at all. I think that the scene really expressed the character’s feelings. It was encouraging to see Lola’s frustration burst. To see that she would try to change her surroundings, to break any obstacle that would stand in her way; just to save the man she loved.