Tom Tykwer’s Run Lola Run: Postmodern, post-human or post-theory?

Tom Tykwer’s Run Lola Run (1998) almost single-handedly revitalized German cinema’s international standing, especially in the United States, with its dazzling aesthetic. But on account of its visual richness and a seemingly playful blend of filmic techniques, as well as its depiction of complex human interaction in the big city, the film has been heralded as a postmodern text in which the happy ending has to be viewed as ironic. This article contends that such readings wilfully disregard the celebration of human spirit that underpins Lola’s efforts to save her boyfriend, Manni. It proposes that the film is, in truth, a modern fairy tale that does not seek to deflect us away from the problems that face us in the modern world, yet reinforces the value of optimism and hope as we seek to create the world as we would like it to be. Moreover, in the wake of events on 9/11, one could argue that the message of Run Lola Run has acquired even greater importance at the beginning of the twenty-first century when we need, perhaps, to take a less abstract view of the world and get on with living life.