Run Lola Run Distinctively Visual Essay
Through the use of distinctively visual in various texts, composers effectively communicate their ideas and concepts of certain aspects by inducing the audience to vividly imagine and interpret and thus shape meaning. The author uses the distinctively visual technique to emphasise the ways that an individual reacts to a certain aspect of life and how individual human experiences affect their perspective and interpretation of the world. The German film Run Lola Run by Tom Tykwer and the world war one poem Aftermath by Siegfried Sassoon is a visual depiction of individual’s response to significant characteristics of life. The character Lola in Run Lola Run is a postmodern hero, an existentialist, who overcomes obstacles to rescue her love from peril. Whereas the world war one poet and soldier Sassoon recalls the traumatic
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experiences of the war and seeks to remind and remember the audiences of the harsh and brutal consequences of the war. Both composers use distinctively visual to convey their perspective of a substantial characteristic of life as Tykwer uses visuals to interpret and shape meaning and Sassoon uses words to visualise an image in audiences’ mind and generate meaning.
Tykwer uses cinematography to convey that the distinctively visual in Run Lola Run shapes our insights about the tyrannical nature of time and its negative effect on human experiences.
Lola’s biggest obstacle throughout the film is time as it is the controlling and restless force that limits the time for Lola to gather the large sum of money and save Manni. This is evident through the motif of the non-diegetic ticking sound of a clock starting in the opening scene and carried through the film. This suggests to the audience that Lola is running out of time as it is unstoppable and is overpowering Lola’s determination of saving Manni contributing to Lola’s overall experience. Also, Lola’s bright and vivid red hair colour represents her power in contrast to the controlling force of time. Through the use of these techniques, it is apparent that Lola is racing against time and is a slave to it as she is unable to escape the presence of time thus the audience is forced to acknowledge its negative effect on life. Therefore, the tyranny of time and its negative effect on human experiences is explored through the use of distinctively visual in Run Lola
Run.
In Aftermath, Sassoon uses distinctively visual to specify the severe agonising human experiences of the soldiers in the war and how they respond to it. Sassoon who was a soldier fighting in world war one; experienced the brutal reality of physical and mental adversity initiated by the unacceptable environment in the battlefield. This is shown through the use of sensory imagery in “do you remember the rats and the stench of corpses rotting in front of the front-line trench”. Sassoon creates a disgusting, foul imagery of the trench filled with death, decade, and filth to shock the audience and reveal the cruel existing circumstances of the war. This crucial image formed by the poet’s words confronts and evokes a sense of empathy of the audience towards the soldiers and highlights the soldiers’ and his own pessimistic response to it. Thus, Sassoon illustrates the harmful experiences of the soldiers using the distinctively visual technique.
Tykwer demonstrates how an individual’s free will against determinism moulds their perspective and interpretation of the world in a distinctively visual way. Lola overcomes the obstacles of life by rejecting and rebelling against the rigid rules of reality which accelerate her to reach her destination of saving Manni. This is illustrated through the over the head shot of the ball moving in the opposite direction of the movement of the roulette in the third final run. Tykwer uses the symbolism of the ball as Lola and the roulette wheel as the philosophical pre-determined fate of her. This illustrates how Lola is superior and is determined to fight and win against the determinism of postmodernism as gender roles reverse as she is now the compassionate hero who redeems her man. Another example is when Tykwer uses Lola’s scream as a symbolism of her manifestation of her free will and strength which causes the ball to stop rotating at the number she placed a bet on. These highlights how Lola is an existentialist who perceives that an individual’s actions determine their fate. Hence, Tykwer uses distinctively visual to emphasise the various ways an individual reacts to certain aspects of life.
Through Distinctively Visual, Sassoon presents his negative perspective of the war as his admonishing human experience has imposed him to alter his perspective of the world. Sassoon makes the audience aware of his opposing mindset of warfare by presenting the ‘aftermath’ of the war and admonish them to never forget the soldiers’ irreparable experience. For example, in the last line of the poem: “look up, and swear by the green of the spring that you’ll never forget”, Sassoon is imperative as he is commanding the audience to never forget the soldier’s harrowing experience. Sassoon’s tone of desperation and symbolism of spring alluding to a new start provokes a vision in audience’s mind by comparing the two worlds of the trench warfare with the ‘green of spring’. The illustration of the image of spring in audiences’ mind could also refer to ‘new life’ as children, demonstrating his request to inform the newer generations of the devastating outcome of the war, to prevent the repetition of history. Thus, through Aftermath, Sassoon communicates his pessimistic perspective of warfare as a causality of his disastrous human experiences in a distinctively visual way.
Consequently, authors use distinctively visual in an aim to manipulate the way images are explored and interpreted, critically affecting an individual’s perspective of the world as a consequence of their individual experiences. In the film Run Lola Run and in the Poem Aftermath both composers Tom Tykwer and Siegfried Sassoon effectively communicate their perspective of the world by creating visuals in audience’s mind and evoke a sense of response from them. Tykwer and Sassoon used distinctively visual to emphasise the way that an individual responds to significant aspects of life manipulated by their human experiences and interpretation of the world.
experiences of the war and seeks to remind and remember the audiences of the harsh and brutal consequences of the war. Both composers use distinctively visual to convey their perspective of a substantial characteristic of life as Tykwer uses visuals to interpret and shape meaning and Sassoon uses words to visualise an image in audiences’ mind and generate meaning.
Tykwer uses cinematography to convey that the distinctively visual in Run Lola Run shapes our insights about the tyrannical nature of time and its negative effect on human experiences.
Lola’s biggest obstacle throughout the film is time as it is the controlling and restless force that limits the time for Lola to gather the large sum of money and save Manni. This is evident through the motif of the non-diegetic ticking sound of a clock starting in the opening scene and carried through the film. This suggests to the audience that Lola is running out of time as it is unstoppable and is overpowering Lola’s determination of saving Manni contributing to Lola’s overall experience. Also, Lola’s bright and vivid red hair colour represents her power in contrast to the controlling force of time. Through the use of these techniques, it is apparent that Lola is racing against time and is a slave to it as she is unable to escape the presence of time thus the audience is forced to acknowledge its negative effect on life. Therefore, the tyranny of time and its negative effect on human experiences is explored through the use of distinctively visual in Run Lola
Run.
In Aftermath, Sassoon uses distinctively visual to specify the severe agonising human experiences of the soldiers in the war and how they respond to it. Sassoon who was a soldier fighting in world war one; experienced the brutal reality of physical and mental adversity initiated by the unacceptable environment in the battlefield. This is shown through the use of sensory imagery in “do you remember the rats and the stench of corpses rotting in front of the front-line trench”. Sassoon creates a disgusting, foul imagery of the trench filled with death, decade, and filth to shock the audience and reveal the cruel existing circumstances of the war. This crucial image formed by the poet’s words confronts and evokes a sense of empathy of the audience towards the soldiers and highlights the soldiers’ and his own pessimistic response to it. Thus, Sassoon illustrates the harmful experiences of the soldiers using the distinctively visual technique.
Tykwer demonstrates how an individual’s free will against determinism moulds their perspective and interpretation of the world in a distinctively visual way. Lola overcomes the obstacles of life by rejecting and rebelling against the rigid rules of reality which accelerate her to reach her destination of saving Manni. This is illustrated through the over the head shot of the ball moving in the opposite direction of the movement of the roulette in the third final run. Tykwer uses the symbolism of the ball as Lola and the roulette wheel as the philosophical pre-determined fate of her. This illustrates how Lola is superior and is determined to fight and win against the determinism of postmodernism as gender roles reverse as she is now the compassionate hero who redeems her man. Another example is when Tykwer uses Lola’s scream as a symbolism of her manifestation of her free will and strength which causes the ball to stop rotating at the number she placed a bet on. These highlights how Lola is an existentialist who perceives that an individual’s actions determine their fate. Hence, Tykwer uses distinctively visual to emphasise the various ways an individual reacts to certain aspects of life.
Through Distinctively Visual, Sassoon presents his negative perspective of the war as his admonishing human experience has imposed him to alter his perspective of the world. Sassoon makes the audience aware of his opposing mindset of warfare by presenting the ‘aftermath’ of the war and admonish them to never forget the soldiers’ irreparable experience. For example, in the last line of the poem: “look up, and swear by the green of the spring that you’ll never forget”, Sassoon is imperative as he is commanding the audience to never forget the soldier’s harrowing experience. Sassoon’s tone of desperation and symbolism of spring alluding to a new start provokes a vision in audience’s mind by comparing the two worlds of the trench warfare with the ‘green of spring’. The illustration of the image of spring in audiences’ mind could also refer to ‘new life’ as children, demonstrating his request to inform the newer generations of the devastating outcome of the war, to prevent the repetition of history. Thus, through Aftermath, Sassoon communicates his pessimistic perspective of warfare as a causality of his disastrous human experiences in a distinctively visual way.
Consequently, authors use distinctively visual in an aim to manipulate the way images are explored and interpreted, critically affecting an individual’s perspective of the world as a consequence of their individual experiences. In the film Run Lola Run and in the Poem Aftermath both composers Tom Tykwer and Siegfried Sassoon effectively communicate their perspective of the world by creating visuals in audience’s mind and evoke a sense of response from them. Tykwer and Sassoon used distinctively visual to emphasise the way that an individual responds to significant aspects of life manipulated by their human experiences and interpretation of the world.