History Film / RunLolaRun

* AnAesop: The first loop, wherein Manni obtains the money by robbing others, ends with Lola's death. The second loop, wherein Lola obtains the money by robbing others, ends with Manni's death. Only the last loop, in which both Lola and Manni obtain the money on their own through honest means, ends safely for both of them.

* BigWhat: A furious Lola gives one to the woman in the bank in the second loop before she robs it.

* ButterflyOfDoom: The minor variations in the interactions Lola has with strangers along her three runs create enormous differences in their futures. If the events resetting are to be seen as a form of time travel, then this trope applies.
* CallBack: In the third loop, the intercom tells Lola's father that Meyer has arrived at the bank, and he cuts his mistress off before she can tell him the child she is pregnant with is not his, as she told him in the second loop.

* KarmaHoudini: Though they're portrayed as the heroes of the piece, Lola and Manni need the money in the first place as they are both accomplices in a diamond smuggling operation. However, in the third loop they get away scot free (and with almost 130,000 marks of extra pocket money!).

* PetTheDog: In the third loop, Manni gets his money back from the homeless man, but then the man asks, "What about me?" Feeling sorry for him, Manni gives him his gun.

* SexlessMarriage: Lola's "parents." To get around it, Lola's father has a mistress, but in the second loop, said mistress is revealed to have cheated on him.

* TheUnfairSex: Although both of Lola's parents are cheating on one another, her mother is portrayed innocuously and gets through the entire film free of any hurt or harm, but her father is portrayed as a selfish and callous asshole, tricked about the parentage of his mistress's child, robbed by his own daughter at gunpoint, and severely injured in a traffic accident, ''in that order''.

-->'''Papa:''' Besides, I could never have fathered a freak like you...
-->'''Lola:''' Yeah but you did, jerk!
-->'''Papa:''' [[TheReveal No I didn't!]]

-->'''Manni:''' [''...''] And then a man with these really big green eyes shows up at the door... And he's so super cool and compassionate, and he'll listen to you talk your heart out all night long until your ears drop off ... Then you'd hop into his lap, cross me off your list, and that'll be the end of me!
-->'''Lola:''' But Manni... you're not dead yet.

* IncitingEvent: If Lola's moped hadn't been stolen, none of the events of the film would have happened.

* ForWantOfANail:
** If Lola's moped hadn't been stolen, none of the events of the film would have happened.
** The differences in the three timelines are caused by how she deals with a punk and his dog on her way down her apartment building's stairs, which causes a ripple effect that sends her in a completely different direction in each timeline:
*** In the first sequence of events, Lola is forced to move around the two. She is neither faster nor slower and distracts Mr. Meyer by running in front of his car, causing a car accident with Manni's boss. She then arrives after her father learns his mistress is pregnant. This leads to him disowning Lola and makes her go to help Manni. Lola arrives late and Manni crosses the street as an ambulance passes by behind him and starts a robbery, which Lola is forced to join.
*** The second sequence sees her get tripped down the stairs, spraining her ankle, which slows her down for a few seconds. This time she jumps over Mr. Meyer's car, once again causing a car accident with Manni's boss. She then arrives after her father learns that his mistress is pregnant, but also that he is not the father. Lola doesn't knock and overhears all this, making her angry enough to take him hostage and rob the bank. She gets to Manni before he can go into the store, but he gets run over by the ambulance when he doubles back across the street.
*** The final sequence sees her just jump over the dog, which makes her a little faster than the first loop. Because she is faster she runs into the nuns early, slowing her down significantly and forcing her to run out in front of the bike thief, who doesn't try to sell the bike to her and instead stops at a street grill where he sells the bike to the homeless man. Because Lola was slowed down significantly she trips over the hood of Mr. Meyer's car, forcing him to brake and avoiding the car accident altogether, meaning he gets to the bank before Lola does and drives off with her father. Because her father isn't there she has to improvise, eventually leading to her winning big at the casino. Meanwhile, because he now has a bike, the homeless man passes by Manni at just the right time for Manni to notice him, leading to Manni chasing after him instead of trying to rob the store.
** In a more focused manner, when Lola impacts someone's life, the audience sees a [[{{Blipvert}} quick few polaroids]] of how their life changed as a result of the incident, leading to wildly varying outcomes.

* HappyMarriageCharade: Lola's "parents," who are both cheating on each other. Even Lola's dad's ''mistress'' is cheating on him.

* SplitTimelinesPlot: The film runs through three timelines in order, with each succeeding one predicated on a specific event turning out differently than the one before it.

* AntiVillain: Arguably Lola and Manni, who are both apparently unrepentant smugglers, though shown sympathetically.

* BrokenAesop: The first loop, wherein Manni obtains the money by robbing others, ends with Lola's death. The second loop, wherein Lola obtains the money by robbing others, ends with Manni's death. Only the last loop, in which both Lola and Manni obtain the money on their own through honest means, ends safely for both of them. Unfortunately they both happen to work as professional criminals, so at the end of the day they're still living immoral lives and likely learned nothing from the experience.

* ChekhovsSkill: ZigZagged. When Lola takes part in the armed robbery in the first loop, Manni tells her how to turn the safety catch of a gun off. In the second loop she "remembers" this for when she stages her own robbery at the bank.
* ColourCodedForYourConvenience: The colours of red and yellow appear in the film a lot to signify danger. Examples of red include Lola's hair, the phone, the ambulance, several cars, and a shop front Lola runs past early on in the loops. Examples of yellow include the phone booth, the tram, and the supermarket.
* ContrivedCoincidence: The homeless man just happens to ride the bike past Manni at the phone booth.
** Also, Lola nearly gets hit by a lorry, which happens right outside the casino in the third loop.

* DeathByAmbulance: By the same ambulance that destroys the SheetOfGlass, running over [[spoiler:Manni.]]

%% Flashback is being used so ambiguously (the movie is quite surreal) that for now it needs to be commented out.
%%* {{Flashback}}: Each run is separated by an interlude involving Lola and Manni having conversations while lying in bed, presumably in the past.
* FamilyRelationshipSwitcheroo: "Besides, I could never have fathered a freak like you..." "Yeah but you did, jerk!" "[[TheReveal No I didn't!]]"

** The differences in the three timelines are caused by how she deals with a punk and his dog on her way down her apartment building's stairs, which causes a ripple effect that sends her in a completely different direction in each timeline. In the first sequence of events, Lola is forced to move around the two. The second sequence sees her fall down the stairs and injure her leg, which slows her down until the pain subsides and thus a little late than the previous loop. And the final sequence sees her just jump over the dog, which makes her earlier than the first loop.
** In a more focused manner, when Lola impacts someone's life, the audience sees a [[{{Blipvert}} quick few polaroids]] of how their life changed as a result of the incident.
* GoldenEnding: A very rare non-videogame, non-interactive-media example: by refusing to give up trying, Lola is finally able to get an ideal ending for Manni and herself.

* HappyMarriageCharade: Lola's "parents," who are both cheating on each other. Even Lola's dad's ''mistress'' cheated on him.

* {{Jerkass}}: Lola's father. In the first loop, he refuses to give Lola the money she needs to save Manni's life (rather worryingly seemingly not knowing who Manni is despite Lola having been his girlfriend for over a year), instead telling her to go home and go to bed, reveals rather coldly that he's leaving Lola and her mother to be with his mistress, and that [[FamilyRelationshipSwitcheroo he's not really Lola's father]] before ordering the security guard to throw her out. Just before TheReveal, Lola even calls him a jerk. In the second loop, he tells Lola to get a job when she needs the money to save Manni, and smacks Lola in the face for insulting his mistress.
* JustInTime: In the second loop, Lola arrives at the intersection literally ''three seconds earlier'' than in the first loop, which is just early enough for Manni to hear her and not go rob the supermarket. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, he's then hit by the ambulance.]]

* OnlyOneName: Lola, Manni, Ronnie, Meyer... pretty much every named character, really.

* PeggySue: Has elements of this; the first time Lola runs through the day, she can't use a gun and doesn't know where the safety catch is. The second time, she flicks it off with practiced precision. Oddly for this sort of plot, it may extend to other characters. The security guard at the bank seems aware of the loop by the third iteration. Which possibly makes sense if you consider the theory that he is the biological father of Lola, who is described as a "cuckoo's egg" (i.e., either adopted or the result of infidelity) earlier in the movie.

* RecycledInSpace: The American independent film ''Film/AndThenCameLola'' is ''Run Lola Run'' [[AC:with lesbians]]!
* RuleOfCool: Do we really care ''why'' Lola is looping and ''why'' she is able to learn things from certain loops and ''why'' her screams can shatter glass? No, not really. It's just cool.

** Lola's ability to shatter glass by screaming is almost certainly a ShoutOut to ''Literature/TheTinDrum''.

* WealthyEverAfter: In the final loop, [[spoiler:Lola wins 129,600 Marks, the approximate equivalent of 66,000 euros, at the casino to make up for the money Manni lost at the start of the movie. However, Manni ''also'' manages to recover the lost money and get it to his crime boss without any further problems.]]

* MakeMeWannaShout: Lola's screaming can shatter glass.

!!This film provides examples of:

* BadassNormal: Besides her constant running, Lola performs some pretty intense stunts in her rush to solve her problem, including sliding effotlessly off the hood of a moving car.

* AnimatedCreditsOpening: The [[https://www.artofthetitle.com/title/run-lola-run/ opening titles]], and some scenes during the movie, are [[ArtShift changed into animated footage]]. For example, during one of the runs, Lola trips on the stairs past the kid with the barking dog, the fall shown is animated and then it turns back into live-action when she lands on the floor.

** Also, Lola nearly gets hot by a lorry, which happens right outside the casino in the third loop.

* AlcoholicParents: Hinted at with Lola's mother. Her father's mistress describes her as "drunk from morning to night", and the one time we actually see her, she has a drink in her hand before noon.

* AnimatedCreditsOpening: The opening of the movie, and some scenes during the movie, are [[ArtShift changed into animated footage]]. For example, during one of the runs, Lola trips on the stairs past the kid with the barking dog, the fall shown is animated and then it turns back into live-action when she lands on the floor.

* AnimatedCreditsOpening: The opening of the movie, and some scenes during the movie, are [[ArtShift changed into animated footage]]. For example, during one of the runs, Lola trips on the stairs past the man with the barking dog, the fall shown is animated and then it turns back into live-action when she lands on the floor.

After his girlfriend Lola's scooter is stolen, Manni, a courier for a crime boss, accidentally leaves 100,000 Deutschmarks on the subway, where it's stolen by a homeless man. He's dead if he doesn't bring it in, so he decides to rob a grocery store in order to make up for the loss. He helpfully informs Lola of this 20 minutes beforehand. Lola, whose father is a wealthy banker, decides to see if she can get Manni's money for him.

* GoldenEnding: A very rare non-videogame, non-interactive-media example: by refusing to give up trying, Lola is finally able toget an ideal ending for Manni and herself.

* JustInTime: In the second loop, Lola arrives at the intersection literally ''three seconds earlier'' than in the first loop, which is just early enough for Manni to hear her and not go rob the supermarket. [[spoiler:Unfortunatetly, he's then hit by the ambulance.]]

''Lola rennt'' (known as ''Run Lola Run'' in English-speaking countries) is a 1998 German film starring Creator/FrankaPotente and Creator/MoritzBleibtreu. Unique and varied, the film is difficult to assign to any specific genre. Instead, think of this movie as a video game style exploration of love and fate that blends animation sequences with live footage, except that it's techno, fast, and features a red-haired German woman who spends most of the movie running.

* GoldenEnding: A very rare non-videogame, non-interactive-media example: by refusing to give up trying, Lola is finall able toget an ideal ending for Manni and herself.

* Golden Ending: A very rare non-videogame, non-interactive-media example: by refusing to give up trying, Lola is finall able toget an ideal ending for Manni and herself.

* JustInTime: In the second loop, Lola arrives at the intersection literally ''three seconds earlier'' than in the first loop, which is just early enough for Manni to hear her and not go rob the supermarket.

** The differences in the three timelines are caused by how she deals with a punk and his dog on her way down her apartment building's stairs, which causes a ripple effect that sends her in a completely different direction in each timeline.
*** In the first sequence of events, Lola is forced to move around the two, the second sequence sees her fall down the stairs and injure her leg, and the final sequence sees her just jump over the dog.
** In a more focused manner, when Lola impacts someone's life, the audience sees a quick few polaroids of how their life changed as a result of the incident.

* KarmaHoudini: Though they're portrayed as the heroes of the piece, Lola and Manni need the money in the first place as they are both accomplices in a diamond smuggling operation. However, in the third loop they get away scot free (and with 100,000 Marks!).

* ChekhovsBoomerang: [[spoiler: Lola's glass-shattering screams. Used twice early on, then she uses it in the casino on her second bet and it seems to give her the win and earn her the money she needs to help Manni.]]

* DeathByAmbulance: By the same ambulance that destroys the SheetOfGlass, running over [[spoiler:Manni]].

** When the phone lands after Lola tosses it away in the first loop, a cartoon image of [[spoiler:the croupier from the casino in the third loop]] appears briefly. Right afterwards Lola is trying to decide where to go the camera spins around her as people flash by, this foreshadows the [[spoiler: roulette win in the final loop]]. You can even hear [[spoiler:the sound of a roulette ball landing in a pocket]] when she finally decides on her father.

** In the second loop of the film when Lola robs the bank, you can see the security guard having chest pains. [[spoiler: In the third loop, Lola hitches a ride in the ambulance and finds the same security guard having suffered a heart attack.]]
* ForWantOfANail:
** If Lola's moped hadn't been stolen, none of the events of the film would have happened.

* MediumAwareness: In the third loop, [[spoiler: Lola arrives at the bank just after her father has left. While she's watching him drive away, the security guard comes outside for a smoke and says "About time you showed up." He and Lola then have a moment of contemplation as they realize what he just said.]]

--> '''Manni:''' [''...''] And then a man with these really big green eyes shows up at the door... And he's so super cool and compassionate, and he'll listen to you talk your heart out all night long until your ears drop off ... Then you'd hop into his lap, cross me off your list, and that'll be the end of me!
--> '''Lola:''' But Manni... you're not dead yet.

* RecycledInSpace: The American independent film ''Film/AndThenCameLola'' is ''Run Lola Run'' [[AC: with lesbians]]!

* RuleOfThree: The film's three loops. The first time, they get the money by robbing the supermarket, but Lola is shot in the chest. The second time, she gets the money by robbing her father's bank, [[spoiler:but Manni is run down by the ambulance.]] The third time, [[spoiler:she wins big at a casino and Manni recovers the money he lost at the start of the film.]]

* ShootTheShaggyDog: The second loop's ending. [[spoiler: Lola managed to get the money so Manni's boss won't kill him, and she reaches him in time to stop him from robbing the supermarket, but then Manni gets run over by an ambulance as she reaches him.]]
* SheetOfGlass: In the second loop, the ambulance Lola tries to hitch a ride on runs through a pane of glass. The delay causes the driver to hurry and [[spoiler:run over Manni in the street.]] In the third run, the ambulance is able to stop in time.
* ShoutOut:

* YourCheatingHeart:
** Lola's parents are both cheating on each other.
** Lola's father's mistress appears to be having his baby. Except...
** In the second loop, Lola's father's mistress is revealed to have cheated on him, as though she is pregnant, he is not the father.

''Lola rennt'' (known as ''Run Lola Run'' in English-speaking countries) is a 1998 German film. Unique and varied, the film is difficult to assign to any specific genre. Instead, think of this movie as a video game style exploration of love and fate that blends animation sequences with live footage, except that it's techno, fast, and features a red-haired German woman who spends most of the movie running.

''Lola rennt'' (known as ''Run, Lola, Run'' in English-speaking countries) is a 1998 German film. Unique and varied, the film is difficult to assign to any specific genre. Instead, think of this movie as a video game style exploration of love and fate that blends animation sequences with live footage, except that it's techno, fast, and features a red-haired German woman who spends most of the movie running.