Monday, June 26, 2000 - Ecstacy

Saw a couple of films this weekend worthy of comment. Sunday I watched "Run Lola Run" (in German the title was "Lola Run," which I find to be less annoying.) Though it was a credible film, certainly entertaining, I can't really recommend it. The problems the film has are typical of the independent film industry in general these days, and worth identifying.

An interesting concept, three alternate endings based on slightly different courses of direction, though it's been done before. That's nothing to be ashamed about, since lots of things have been done before. And the film employed innovative editing, and even used animation, which is usually entertaining.

But I could almost see the thought process as Run Lola Run was being developed. Hey, let's make a film in which the main character is running the whole time. Let's give it three different courses of direction. Let's make her kind of punk looking with dyed red hair and a tatoo on her stomach, which you never really see. Let's make her run, even though there's obviously mass transit all over the place. Let's make her boyfriend look like a film-school dropout as well! Let's give it a cool techno soundtrack. That will make it a real crowd-pleaser and give use something else to sell as well. Let's do whatever needs to be done to get this thing into Sundance.

What you end up with is a fairly predictable film that uses flashy editing to draw the attention of the festival reviewers, who must see scores of film a day. But the characters are rather faceless, interchangeable, forgettable, and will appear outdated in a few years. The film's already fading from memory.

Maybe I would have enjoyed it more if I had listened to the original German. The English voices were very bad. I'm not sure this would have made a big difference, though.

In contrast, I saw the 1935 film "Ecstacy" with Heddy Lamar. Terrible sound, scratchy print, big spot on the center of the lens the whole film. They used very little dialogue and that 30's music throughout. This was probably due to limitations of the time.

But you know, I was completely captivated by this film. The use of the camera and lighting to convey mood I found to be striking. I'm not surprised it was banned in the U.S. back then, since the whole film epitomized desire. People make a big thing about the nude scene, which was refreshing. Indeed it wasn't really necessary. The film would have been able to make it's point as well without it, though it was a very useful plot development. The film certainly would have been just as charged without it. The piano scene got me so jealous! It's amazing how much you can convey with poor materials and little to no sound. Lack of money is no excuse for not making a work of art.

Alas, the de-evolution continues.

-George