The Unconventional Way Of Storytelling - an Analysis Of Run Lola Run And Memento

Film as a medium for storytelling is not uncommon to us. These stories often have very similar storylines, ideas or concepts. What then, makes each film feel like a unique experience for the viewer? The way we tell a story, or, the syuzhet of a film, can greatly impact the way we experience and remember it. To further understand how syuzhet can help present a story in a compelling way, we will analyse two films that do not conform to the three-act structure that is commonly used for storytelling.

Run Lola RunThe first film is Run Lola Run (originally Lola Rennt), a 1998 German film directed by Tom Tykwer.

The film touches heavily on the concept of life being a game. At the start of the film, we see a quote by S. Herberger, “After the game is before the game”, which is the basic idea of Run Lola Run’s theme, and how the story is structured. Before the story begins proper, we even see a man in a soccer field who says "Ball is round, game lasts 90 minutes,” directly stating that the film is a game.

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Henry Jenkins, from USC School of Cinematic Arts, also compares these introductory scenes to a “filmed prologue to an interactive game”. The film’s structure ties in very well with its theme; three different scenarios in which Lola “plays the game” are shown, each producing drastically different outcomes due to a series of small changes. In this “game”, the player is Lola, whose goal is to get 100,000 marks within 20 minutes, and the playing field is her neighbourhood.

Through each round, Lola makes different choices based on what she has learnt from the previous round, much like how we learn from our mistakes each time we play a game and start over. Tykwer himself admits that Lola does seem to learn from round to round, although "Logically speaking it's impossible, of course-but to secretly play down such elements is the beauty of film”. The sjuzet of Run Lola Run is simple and can be broken down into a few main parts:Lola gets a call from her boyfriend, ManniLola goes to her father’s office to ask for moneyLola finds a way to get the money after he rejects her pleaLola meets ManniScene endsThis sjuzet is repeated three times, with small variables changing in each. As the general order of events do not change in each round, the audience has a clear understanding of the sjuzet. We could say that each round does follow the three-act structure, but the film as a whole does not. The fabula of the film, on the other hand, is unclear. Between each round, we see a cut of Lola and Manni in bed. It is unclear if these scenes are part of the main storyline, or if they are perhaps the only parts of the film that actually happened. The film’s open ending leaves the audience unsure about the actual fabula of the film as we do not know what is real and what is not. MementoThe second film is Memento, a Christopher Nolan film released in 2000, based on the short story Memento Mori. Memento primarily revolves around the idea of memory, and it’s unreliability. Quoting from the protagonist, Leonard Shelby (Lenny), who suffers from anterograde amnesia, "Memory's unreliable. . . Memory's not perfect. It's not even that good. (. . . ) Memories can be changed or distorted, and they're irrelevant if you have the facts. " This is the basis for the entire film.

What makes this film so brilliant is that Nolan constructs the film such that we experience the struggles of Lenny as we watch. Memento, unlike Run Lola Run, has an extremely complex sjuzet. The opening scene is a literal backwards running clip, that is followed by a series of black and white scenes, alternated with coloured scenes. Andy Klein, in a review on Salon, organised these events by numbering the black and white scenes from 1 to 22, and giving the coloured scenes - which run backward chronologically - letters from A to V. Below is a visual representation of the sjuzet and fabula according to Klein’s structure. By presenting the scenes in this way, Nolan is able to “deny the audience the same information the protagonist is denied,” successfully putting the viewer in the shoes of Lenny. Figuring out the fabula while watching the film (for the first time) is almost impossible. Memento is definitely a film that goes against the three-act structure, providing us with information from different part of the timeline, in a mixed up sequence. Its open ending, much like Run Lola Run, provides a space for viewers to imagine and create their own conclusions.

Run Lola Run Versus Memento

While Run Lola Run and Memento differ greatly thematically, they are substantially similar in how they adopt a unique structure to drive the story’s theme. They engage viewers by allowing them to experience the protagonist’s journey and struggles as they watch the film. However, the two films differ greatly in their perspectives. Run Lola Run is presented in a very objective, fairytale-like manner. It explores different possible outcomes, ending with the most ideal scenario, which would be highly unlikely to happen in the real world. The film also includes scenes which the protagonist does not see; for example, Lola’s father arguing with his mistress before Lola walks in. Memento, on the other hand, is presented in a very subjective view. We only see what Lenny sees, and we only know what Lenny knows. Viewing Lenny’s story backwards deprives us of the same knowledge as him, so if we do not know whether a character can be trusted, neither does Lenny. Run Lola Run and Memento are both iconic films that defied the common filmmakers’ storytelling structure. They show us that structure is an extremely useful tool for increasing a viewer’s experience, and how they come to understand the story.