Runaway Reels

Runaway Reels

The Day: February 9, The Location: The Oberbaum Bridge, Berlin,The Crew: Channel [V] and Frank Griebe

WE spent four enchanting hours with Frank Griebe the man behind the lens that shot Run Lola Run. We met at the bridge, one of the many spots where Lola runs through in the movie, of course. He spoke to us about how the movie was made, how long it took, little bits of shooting trivia, and his favourite scenes.

The most thrilling part, however, was when we shot our own version of the movie presenter Peeya playing Lola (unfortunately, she did not have a red wig, but she did have red gloves to compensate for it) with my cameraman Hemant, and Frank Griebe shooting. It was a memorable experience directing them. We all ran, in fact. Many times. And what a run it was! “Run Frank Run” he said, after the eighth time we made Frank run. One cannot but marvel at Franka Potente’s stamina and energy (though Tom Tykwer, the director, let us out on a secret “she has nasty habits, she smokes too much, she eats all the wrong things and hates sports). But then, she is obviously a wonderful actress and he a fine director.

Location Number 2 the scene where Lola and Manni run away after looting the supermarket and then get surrounded by the police and Lola is shot at. Just a long cobbled street and nothing else. Peeya played Lola again, Frank filmed her, making it look as close to the original. What was sorely missed was Manni, the policemen, and, of course, Tom Tykwer, and the orange packet of money, luckily being substituted by my orange bag.

Lola Rennt or Run Lola Run is one of Germany’s most exciting films of the ’90s. The director Tom Tykwer, sends his heroine, Lola, on a wild hunt through the streets of Berlin. She has 20 minutes to get 100,000 DM to save her boyfriend Manni’s life. Lola runs for her life, Manni’s life, her love, to find the money. Somehow. Somewhere. One of the most powerful, dynamic and well-made movies I have seen with a brilliant soundtrack, Run Lola Run is director Tom Tykwer’s third feature film.

My team and I spent a very enjoyable one hour with him in Berlin. Tom Tykwer, that is. One of the most humble human beings I have met, this man made his first movie when he was 11 years old. Shooting re-makes of his favourite movies like Invasion of the Body Snatcher was his favourite pass-time. He was rejected by all the films schools he applied to, but that did not deter him from dreaming and dreaming big, the result being two feature films, many short films and now Run Lola Run, one the most talked about plots right now.

Unlike most directors, Tykwer is not very taken in by the magic of Hollywood, he told us. Because for him it’s totally an unfamiliar place a place he doesn’treally know. A film like this could have been shot anywhere, but Berlin is a place he knows like “the back of his hands”. “Lola knows all the shortcuts to get the money in the fastest possible ways” the reason he chose Berlin as his location. How the films looks is of course not only the director’s credit. Having also shot Tom Tykwer’s earlier two films, Tykwer and Griebe make a wonderful team having made three feature films and four short films together.

So, Frank did whatever we wanted him to. Really a fun guy to be around and very humble. And yes, he promises to come to India if we give him a good script and a great director. Not too much to ask for, is it?

-- (Sreeya Sen is a producer with Channel [V])