Run Lola Run: Symbolism By: Hareet, Yashmeet and Zach

What is Symbolism?• Symbolism is the act of

representing ideas through symbols or investing things with a symbolic meaning or character

• In other words, symbolism is used in film to imply thoughts, feelings, or ideas in the characters that aren’t stated outright

• Motif: a symbol repeated for a larger meaning; in order to form a pattern or theme

Example: Red, Green and Yellow• The colour red is prevalent through out the film and

is used to represent danger, bad news or death• eg. red telephone, Lola’s hair, the ambulance, the

plastic bag (first scene), as well as many background objects

• Passion and love also seem to be symbolized by red, judging by Manni and Lola’s scenes in bed

• This vibrant colour also seems to act as it does in a stoplight and signals the stopping or end of each run

• eg. Manni throws RED bag to the police: Lola gets shot and first run ends

• Manni gets hit by a RED ambulance: second run ends

• Yellow surrounds Manni, representing the more slower nature of his actions, akin to a yellow stoplight

• eg. phonebooth, supermarket, Manni’s yellow tinged hair

• The colour green shows up many times in the movie (green pants, the green bag of money, the green police cars and uniforms),representing “go” or the start of a new “run”

• eg. Lola gets shot but has a GREEN blood stain: second run begins

• Lola drops the now GREEN bag after Manni gets hit: third run begins

• Lola is surrounded by the colors red and green, representing the frantic “stop and go” style of her actions, as opposed to the cautious yellow surrounding Manni

Example: Clocks• From the opening scene with a

clock that swallows the camera to the various watches/other versions of clocks in the film, it’s obvious that the clocks represent the frantic quality of Lola’s situation and her time running out

• Some of the clocks have mouths with teeth that “eat” Lola, such as in the first 10-15 minutes of film, suggesting that the clocks, or “time” itself, is working against her/is the enemy

Example: Nuns• In each run, Lola reaches a group of nuns

at one point, right before she meets the red-shirted guy on the bike

• The nuns represent the religious overtones in the film, more specifically that their is a greater force at work (God?) and that Lola is initially working against it

• On the first two runs, Lola runs straight through the two lines of nuns and takes matters into her own hands, which ultimately ends with her and Manni dying

• On the last run, Lola leaves it up to fate and decides to gamble for the money, after running AROUND the group of nuns, resulting in a happy ending for both Manni and Lola

Example: Lola’s Screaming• During periods of extreme stress

Lola screams in an abnormally high-pitched voice

• eg. screams at Manni in the beginning, in her Dad’s office and in the casino

• Lola’s screaming symbolizes her attempt to regain control over the chaotic events she is experiencing and to turn things into her favour (at the casino)

• By screaming and stopping the circular roulette table in the third run, she is essentially stopping the cycle she is stuck in and freeing herself

• This leads directly into the next symbol...

Example: Glass• Every time Lola screams, she ends up breaking

some glass, such as the one covering her dad’s clock or the bottles at the casino

• This glass is a representative of her dad’s and the casino users’ vulnerability and by shattering the glass, she is shattering what they stand for (their world)

Example: The Number 20• Lola has 20 minutes to save

Manni and obtain the money, the first and last run are both 20 minutes long in real time and she bets on the number 20 twice in the casino

• The number starts off like any other, just a measurement of the time she has to save Manni, but develops into this all encompassing number that represents her faith when she ends up betting her and Manni’s lives on it

Significance of the Symbolism• We think that the reason these symbols are so

important is that, Run Lola Run, more so than other movies, thrives off of symbols; they make the movie what it is

• They add a certain depth to the cinematic experience that helps flesh out the main theme and truly embed it in our heads, especially on repeated viewings, when the symbols become more obvious

• Without the symbols, any attempt at rationalizing the film could be thrown out of the window and figuring out the theme would be a lot harder without the aforementioned symbols