Techniques of Montage in Run Lola Run to Create Dialectical Meaning Run Lola Run (Tom Tykwer, 1998) is a film that is edited together in a way not necessarily for traditional continuity editing, rather to create meaning for the shots in the film. It is edited at a very fast pace, leaving many shots to be only one or two seconds long, with the main focus being on the film’s various attractions to get meaning across to the viewer.
This type of montage aligns specifically with Sergei Eisenstein’s theory of intellectual montage and dialectical montage in order to create the meaning it does, as well as the varying use of his ther techniques of film montage: metric, rhythmic, tonal and overtonal. Run Lola Run makes use of both Eisenstein’s theory of intellectual montage and overtonal montage distinctively in order to highlight the motifs of the film and their subsequent meanings as understood by the viewer.
Once these motifs are edited together as they are in the casino scene of the film (1:05:10 – 1:08:40), they create a new and dialectical meaning for the scene and in relation to the film as a whole, as thought to be very important in a film by Eisenstein. First, one must understand at least the basics of intellectual and overtonal ontage before they look into the film in specifics.
Intellectual montage is a concept created by Eisenstein and explained thoroughly in his essay titled “Beyond the Shot”. Eisenstein provides a basic definition of intellectual cinema early on in the essay: “a cinema that seeks the maximum laconicism in the visual exposition of abstract concepts” (83). Intellectual montage makes use of associationism, which describes conventions that are learned by a repeated association. In this case, these conventions are displayed in the form of images.
This sort of montage takes these recognizable images with ither a previously observed convention attached to it through culture or an easily attachable meaning, juxtaposes it together with another shot or image of the same sort, and then creates a meaning for those two images, as well as it often elicits a sort of emotional response from the viewer. Essentially, “the combination of two ‘representable’ objects achieves the representation of something that cannot be graphically represented” (83).
Eisenstein compares intellectual montage to the Japanese kanji hieroglyphs, explaining that they often use two graphic symbols put together to create a new meaning etween the two, “for example: the representation of water and an eye signifies ‘to weep” (83). He also compares this montage to the Japanese kubuki theatre, where the different theatrical elements and recognized conventions of these elements help to portray the characters’ emotions and the story (91).
Fundamentally, intellectual montage contains conflict, whether it be from inside the shot, between different film elements, or in the montage itself, because “the shot is a montage cell” (87). Then, there are also the other specific methods of montage. While these do include metric, rhythmic, tonal, and overtonal, his essay will be focused mainly on the previously mentioned intellectual theory and the overtonal.
The overtonal method of montage is essentially a combination of metric, rhythmic, and tonal methods being used simultaneously to create meaning: “overtonal montage resulted from the conflict between the tonal principle of the shot (the dominant) and the overtonal” (“The Fourth Dimension” 120). Therefore, it takes all the elements of the shot: the length of the shot, the rhythm, and the emotional meaning, focuses on whatever is the dominant principle of the shot, and creates conflict in order to establish a ore complex meaning. This sort of montage will be highlighted in Run Lola Run, and especially so in the casino scene.
Run Lola Run consists of many motifs throughout the film. For example, arguably one of the most important motifs, the clock, showcases the importance of time to the film and creates anxiety in the viewer as clocks are constantly shown so the viewer knows how much time is left. However, interestingly enough, in the casino scene, the clock is really the only motif that is not explicitly displayed. The scene does explicitly display the rest of the film’s motifs: spinning – through the spinning of he roulette wheel, Lola’s screams and the glass breaking, and the number 20.
All of these motifs have been previously defined in the film as well. The spinning is related to the film’s time. Often when something is spinning, whether it be the camera or Lola or an object, it reflects time as being slowed down or at least focused on. When the camera is tracking around Lola in the beginning while she decides who to go to help for, time is being slowed down before she begins her journey. During the casino scene, the heavy focus on the spinning of the roulette wheel places a focus on how much time s left and how time is spinning out of control.
Then, there is also Lola’s screaming causing glass to shatter, which is actually a mix of a graphic and oral motif, and therefore includes sound instead of just the visual. The screams involve Lola taking control and when the glass breaks, it generally means that she has broken the rules and something will come out of it. She screamed in the beginning in order to calm Manni down, she screams in her father’s office which triggers a response from him – albeit a negative one – and lastly, she screams in the casino, which will be touched on more later on. Finally, the last motif is the number 20.
This is shown in a variety of ways through the film, but it once again reminds the viewer of time. In each of Lola’s three attempts to save Manni, the clock begins at 20 minutes, and she happens to bet on the black 20 at the roulette wheel. While all of these motifs are showcased separately in the casino scene, they all come together especially through the use of Eisenstein’s intellectual montage. Eisenstein describes the use of intellectual montage as conflict (“Beyond the Shot” 88). They are different images that have different eanings that come together through conflict to create meaning in a scene, series of shots, or a single shot.
In the case of the casino scene in Run Lola Run, this happens many times with the motifs. As discussed above, the motifs used in this scene have been previously established and therefore already have conventions associated with them. In some cases, the motifs are juxtaposed directly against each other. For example, in shot 51 of the scene, the ball is shown spinning in the roulette wheel: something the viewer has seen before in this round of roulette as it feels like time is being stretched out. In the next shot, Lola begins to scream at the roulette wheel.
Since both of these previously established motifs are presented in shots right next to each other, it creates a new dialectical meaning together: she realizes she is spinning out of control and thus wants to take back control – her screaming is her way of taking control and making what she wants to happen, happen. The conflict in these two shots specifically help lead to the ball, a few shots later, landing into the black 20 for a second time. These motifs are not only juxtaposed against each other in this scene, ut also against other conventions we recognize from our psychology.
For example, in shot 67, there is a three second shot of the dealer looking visibly annoyed and confused, which is a facial cue we have learned over time. Then the next shot, which is twice as long, involves the ball in the black 20 spot once again while the wheel continues to spin around. In this case, one can infer that the dealer was not only annoyed by the screaming that happened prior to this, but also confused as to how the ball landed in the black 20 spot once again, as the chances of that actually happening are extremely low.