FILM · 1998 · GERMANY
Lola rennt
- Directed by
- Tom Tykwer
- Runtime
- 80 min
- Studio
- X Filme Creative Pool
75 archived facts 5 topics 1 source Last reviewed Nov 2026
Lola receives a phone call from her boyfriend Manni. He lost 100,000 DM in a subway train that belongs to a very bad guy. She has 20 minutes to raise this amount and meet Manni. Otherwise, he will rob a store to get the money. Three different alternatives may happen depending on some minor event along Lola's run.
75 Interesting Facts About Lola rennt
Interesting Facts (22)
- #001
Lola bets on the number twenty; each of the first and last stories runs twenty minutes, the same amount of time she has to get the money.
- #002
In the third sequence after the head-on car crash, a motorcyclist rear-ends a white BMW and goes through the windshield. Most viewers do not realize that this is the man who stole Lola's moped, so he finally gets his punishment.
- #003
Tom Tykwer hated the empty space on the casino wall and asked production designer Alexander Manasse to paint a picture of Kim Novak, who starred in Vertigo (1958). Alexander, however, could not remember what she looked like, so Tykwer suggested he paint her as seen from behind. Alexander finished the painting in fifteen minutes.
- #004
The blind woman from whom Manni (Moritz Bleibtreu) borrows a phone card is played by Monica Bleibtreu, the actor Moritz Bleibtreu's mother.
- #005
The spin in which the roulette ball lands on 20 was not a rigged shot; the crew filmed the ball dropping onto the wheel, and in one of the first takes it reached 20.
- #006
Hans Paetsch, who narrates at the beginning, is Germany's most popular fairy-tale narrator. His distinctive voice is easily recognized by anyone in Germany who grew up with fairy-tale records.
- #007
Director Tom Tykwer stated that if he made a sequel, it would be about the bum and what Manni did with the gun he gave him.
- #008
The script called for Lola, after running out of the house to meet Manni, to have crazy thoughts run through her head in voice-over, such as wondering whether she remembered to turn off the stove. Director Tom Tykwer decided this would work better with music and composed a song for the part in which actress Franka Potente speaks her crazy thoughts.
- #009
The film contains roughly 1,581 transitions (edits, dissolves, fades, wipes, etc.) in its 71 minutes of action (excluding the credits and pre-credits sequence). This equals an average shot length of about 2.7 seconds. Interestingly, the editing is relatively slower toward the end of the film, the opposite of the norm for most contemporary films.
- #010
Bolle was a real Berlin-based supermarket chain. It took the production team about five weeks to persuade the store to let them use the location for the robbery scene.
- #011
The shot in which the ambulance shatters the large pane of glass was achieved by detonating a small charge on the glass just before the ambulance struck it.
- #012
Writer-director Tom Tykwer worried that audiences would have trouble with the scene in which Lola and Manni speak silently to each other from opposite sides of a window yet can hear each other perfectly, but he noted that no one found it unusual.
- #013
While the producers struggled to edit the supermarket robbery scene, editor Mathilde Bonnefoy hit on the idea of using multiple takes of the same action one after another to give it a crazier feel. This is why Manni repeats the same lines over and over as he points the gun at the customers.
- #014
The written quote at the beginning of the film — "We shall not cease from exploration, And the end of all our exploring, Will be to arrive where we started, And know the place for the first time" — is from T. S. Eliot's poem 'Little Gidding'. The quote underscores the importance of the value of the journey in understanding the self, which is central to the film.
- #015
Before becoming a well-known producer, Jason Blum worked at Miramax, where he had the opportunity to buy and distribute this film but passed on it. He stated that Harvey Weinstein was furious when he learned of the film's international success and threw a lit cigarette in Blum's face.
- #016
The film's structure and some of its themes were inspired by Krzysztof Kieślowski's Blind Chance (1987). Director Tom Tykwer would later direct Heaven (2002) from a screenplay he co-wrote with Kieślowski before Kieślowski's death in 1996.
- #017
The driver of the white BMW is often mistakenly identified as Ronnie, Manni's criminal employer. However, the three men in the white BMW are the "BMW-typen" named in the acrobatics section of the closing title sequence (the type of men you typically see in an old BMW 3 Series). Ronnie, a crime boss, has the taste and the means for a much newer and more luxurious BMW 7 Series, as well as someone to drive it on his behalf.
- #018
Despite being the antagonist, Ronnie has not a single line of dialogue in the entire film.
- #019
The glass clock in the bank is broken by firing a small stone from a small air rifle.
- #020
The shot of the ambulance running over Manni was achieved by combining two shots: one of the ambulance driving, the other of Manni lying on the road.
- #021
The decoration on the cashier's wall belongs to a Slovenian banknote that was in circulation from 1992 to 2007, before being replaced by the euro.
- #022
The bag of money stolen by a homeless man bears Russian lettering: "Malossol Original". It is in fact a bag for Russian Caspian caviar under the brand "Malossol Original".
Production Story (32)
- #023
Franka Potente had the option of wearing sneakers in the running scenes where her feet are not visible. Because the schedule on this low-budget film was so tight, however, Potente did not want to spend precious time changing shoes and stayed in Lola's heavy boots throughout the film.
- #024
Director Tom Tykwer stated that if he were to make a sequel, the story would focus on the drifter character whose fate with the gun Manni gives him is left in question.
- #025
The idea for the film was born from an image that appeared in Tom Tykwer's mind of a red-haired woman running through city streets. He liked this image so much that he decided to make a film around it.
- #026
Famous producer Jason Blum turned down the opportunity to buy and distribute this film while working at Miramax. He later recounted that when Harvey Weinstein learned of the film's international success, he angrily threw a lit cigarette in Blum's face.
- #027
The film's structure and some of its themes were inspired by Krzysztof Kieślowski's Blind Chance (1987). Tom Tykwer later directed Heaven (2002), from a screenplay he had written with Kieślowski before Kieślowski's death in 1996.
- #028
It is included in the list '1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die', edited by Steven Schneider.
- #029
Tom Tykwer was bothered by the empty space on the casino wall and asked production designer Alexander Manasse to paint Kim Novak as she appeared in Vertigo (1958). When Manasse could not remember what Novak looked like, Tykwer suggested he paint her from behind. Manasse completed the painting in fifteen minutes.
- #030
In the crowd scene that forms the film's title, each letter was shot separately using the same 300 extras. Director Tom Tykwer spent about a month combining the shots in post-production, because the budget did not allow hiring the thousands of extras it would have taken to form the entire title in one take.
- #031
The scene in which the roulette ball lands on 20 was not a trick shot; when the crew released the ball onto the wheel, it came up 20 by chance in one of the first attempts.
- #032
Lola's frantic thoughts as she races out of the house to meet Manni were written as a voice-over in the script. Director Tom Tykwer decided the sequence would work better with music and composed a song in which Franka Potente speaks Lola's panicked thoughts.
- #033
Writer-director Tom Tykwer worried that audiences would object to the scene in which Lola and Manni whisper to each other from opposite sides of a window and hear each other perfectly, but he said no one noticed the oddity.
- #034
Excluding the credits and pre-credits sequence, the film contains roughly 1,581 transitions (cuts, dissolves, fades, wipes, etc.) over 71 minutes of action. That means an average shot length of about 2.7 seconds. Interestingly, the editing slows down relatively toward the end of the film, whereas most contemporary films do the opposite.
- #035
Bolle was a real Berlin-based supermarket chain. It took the production team nearly five weeks to get permission to use the store for the robbery scene.
- #036
The scene in which the ambulance smashes the large pane of glass was achieved by placing a small charge on the glass and detonating it just before the ambulance hit.
- #037
When the film crew struggled with the editing of the supermarket robbery scene, editor Mathilde Bonnefoy suggested using different takes of the same action back to back to create a more frantic feel. That is why Manni repeats the same lines over and over as he points his gun at the customers.
- #038
When the scene of Lola and Manni talking on the phone was shot, each actor was filmed at different times, but they really did talk to each other rather than reading lines into an empty receiver. The off-camera actor was on the phone in a nearby tent.
- #039
Some scenes were shot on standard-definition video rather than film. This is apparent from the differences in image quality.
- #040
The scene in which the ambulance runs over Manni was created by combining two separate shots: the ambulance driving and Manni lying on the road.
- #041
The blind woman from whom Manni (Moritz Bleibtreu) buys a phone card is played by the actor's real-life mother, Monica Bleibtreu.
- #042
Hans Paetsch, who narrates the film's opening, is Germany's most beloved storyteller. His distinctive voice is etched in the memory of everyone in Germany who grew up with fairy-tale records.
- #043
In a 2024 interview, Franka Potente said Lola's running scenes were very hard for her because she was not 'in shape' at the time. She smoked two packs a day and also had to wear Dr. Martens boots; she said running in those boots required 'twice the energy.' Asked why she smoked so much during the shoot, she threw her hands up and said, 'I was young!' (she later quit the habit).
- #044
Franka Potente had the option of wearing sneakers in shots where her feet were not visible. But given the fast pace of this low-budget film, she did not want to waste precious time changing shoes and kept wearing Lola's heavy boots in every scene.
- #045
The driver of the white BMW is often mistaken for Manni's crime boss Ronnie. In fact, as noted in the stunt section of the credits, the three men in the white BMW are 'BMW types' (the kind of men you would expect to see in an older-model BMW 3 Series). As a crime boss, Ronnie's taste and means run to a much newer and more luxurious BMW 7 Series, along with a driver to operate it.
- #046
Although Ronnie is the film's main antagonist, he has not a single spoken line throughout the film.
- #047
Director Tom Tykwer said that if he made a sequel, the story would focus on the punk character whose use of the gun Manni gives him is left a mystery.
- #048
The idea for the film was born from an image that came to Tom Tykwer of a red-haired woman running through city streets. He liked the image so much that he decided to build a film around it.
- #049
Famous producer Jason Blum turned down the chance to buy and distribute the film while working at Miramax. He later recounted that when Harvey Weinstein learned of the film's international success, he angrily threw a lit cigarette in Blum's face.
- #050
The film's structure and some of its themes were inspired by Krzysztof Kieślowski's Blind Chance (1987). Tom Tykwer later directed Heaven (2002), from a screenplay he co-wrote with Kieślowski before Kieślowski's death in 1996.
- #051
The number Lola bets on is twenty; the first and last stories each last twenty minutes, and that is also the amount of time she is given to find the money.
- #052
In the third loop, after the head-on collision, a moped rider crashes into the back of the white BMW and lands on its windshield. Most viewers do not realize that this person is the man who stole Lola's moped; thus he finally gets the punishment he deserves.
- #053
The colors red (Lola's hair, countless cars, the telephone) and yellow (the phone booth, the supermarket, the tram) appear frequently in the film. The director chose these colors to symbolize danger; the reds appear mainly in Lola's scenes, while the yellows appear in Manni's.
- #054
Yoshiaki Koizumi, a game designer at Nintendo, has said that this film was one of the main inspirations behind the idea for The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (2000). Just as in the film, the game's story revolves around rewinding time; the player relives the same days and events over and over until gaining enough experience to reach the goal.
Behind the Scenes (3)
- #055
In the crowd scene that forms the film's title, each letter was shot separately using the same 300 extras. Director Tom Tykwer spent about a month combining the shots in post-production, because the budget was not enough to hire the thousands of extras it would have taken to form the entire title in one go.
- #056
The shot from inside the roulette wheel was achieved using a snorkel camera.
- #057
Some scenes were shot on standard-definition video instead of film. This is apparent from the differences in image quality.
Characters & Cast (5)
- #058
When filming the scene in which Lola and Manni talk to each other on the phone, each actor was shot at a different time, but instead of simply saying their lines into a disconnected phone, they were actually talking to each other. The actor off camera was speaking on a phone in a nearby tent.
- #059
In shots where her feet were not visible, Franka Potente had the option of wearing sneakers. However, given the intense pace of this low-budget film, she did not want to waste valuable time changing shoes and continued to use Lola's heavy boots in all scenes.
- #060
The driver of the white BMW is often confused with Manni's crime boss, Ronnie. Yet, as noted in the stunt section of the credits, the three men in the white BMW are 'BMW types' (the kind of men you are used to seeing in an old-model BMW 3 Series). As a crime boss, Ronnie's taste and means run to a much newer and more luxurious BMW 7 Series and a chauffeur to drive it.
- #061
Although Ronnie is the film's main antagonist, he does not have a single spoken line throughout the film.
- #062
Franka Potente did no training at all for the physically demanding role. This was at the insistence of writer-director Tom Tykwer, who did not want Lola to have a toned physique.
Deeper Meaning (13)
- #063
Many spirals appear in the film, such as the staircase and the bar sign behind the phone booth, because director Tom Tykwer was an admirer of Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo (1958), which features spiral motifs.
- #064
The number Lola bets on is twenty; the first and last stories each last twenty minutes, and that is also the time she is given to find the money.
- #065
In the third loop, after the head-on collision, a moped rider crashes into the back of the white BMW and is thrown onto the windshield. Most viewers do not realize that this person is the man who stole Lola's moped; thus he finally gets the punishment he deserves.
- #066
Red (Lola's hair, countless cars, the telephone) and yellow (the phone booth, the supermarket, the tram) appear frequently in the film. The director chose these colors to symbolize danger; the reds appear mainly in Lola's scenes, while the yellows appear in Manni's.
- #067
Yoshiaki Koizumi, a game designer at Nintendo, has said that this film was one of the main sources of inspiration behind The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (2000). Just as in the film, the game's story revolves around rewinding time; the player relives the same days and events over and over until gaining enough experience to reach the goal.
- #068
Many spiral motifs appear in the film, such as the stairwells and the bar sign behind the phone booth. The reason is that director Tom Tykwer is a fan of Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo (1958), which is famous for its spiral motifs.
- #069
The written quotation at the beginning of the film – 'We shall not cease from exploration / And the end of all our exploring / Will be to arrive where we started / And know the place for the first time' – is from T.S. Eliot's poem 'Little Gidding.' This quotation emphasizes the importance of the value of the journey in understanding oneself, one of the film's central themes.
- #070
The two sentences at the opening ('The ball is round' and 'The game lasts 90 minutes') are famous sayings of the legendary German football manager Sepp Herberger.
- #071
The bag of money stolen by a homeless man has 'Malossol Original' written on it in Russian. It is in fact a bag used for Russian Caspian caviar of the brand 'Malossol Original.'
- #072
The decoration on the cashier's wall is a Slovenian banknote that was in circulation from 1992 to 2007 and used until the switch to the euro.
- #073
When Lola gets into the ambulance on the third run, a post-it note is visible just before she says, 'I'll stay with him.' The date 23.5.98 is written on the note, suggesting that the day the story takes place is May 23, 1998. May 23 is also Tom Tykwer's birthday (May 23, 1965).
- #074
The man often seen riding a bicycle in the film (Mike) is wearing a replica jersey of the lower-league German football team Wuppertaler SV.
- #075
Manni makes a call from a phone booth in Berlin. In the overhead shot at 00:10:10, a paperback copy of Paradise Lost can be seen in the booth.
Sources & editorial notes
Reference databases
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- IMDb
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