Wow this is a curious film.
Run Lola Run is a 1998 German thriller film directed and written by Tom Tykwer. It is a story about Lola, who got a call from her boyfriend, Manni saying that in his careless lost a huge amount of money to a homeless man that he was suppose to deliver and and this might cost him his life. In panic he decides to rob a store for the money if Lola can not help him within 20 minutes. Thus, Lola tries her best to get that money but ultimately fails and dies only to relive the moment to try something different to save her boyfriend.
Run Lola Run uses a lot of editing techniques which include crosscutting, montages, shot reverse shot, jump cuts, temporal continuity to name a few.
Cross cutting aka parallel editing is an editing technique where two scenes are played on screen simultaneously which suggests to the audience that the two scenes are happening at the same time, this can be seen very often throughout the movie, such an instance would be when Manni was about to rob the shop, he looks at the off-screen clock outside and a section of the screen shows the clock he's looking at, this shows the audience that the scenes of the clock and Manni are happening at the same time.
Montages is an editing technique where multiple separate shots/images are shown to form a continuous whole, this is most commonly seen when Lola runs past certain pedestrians that future is shown through a montage of images that show their lives story afterwards. Shot reverse shot on the other hand is a technique where person A is looking at another person off screen (person B) and then the next scene will be person B that person A was looking at, implying that both of them are looking at each other even though it is two different scenes.
Jump cuts is an editing technique where two sequential shots of the same scene are put together to have the subject move abruptly having it appear like the subject moved forward in time. This editing technique can be used to speed up a scene or have the scene feel very hectic and unstable. This can be seen in one of Lola's most famous scene where after getting the phone call from Manni starts to panic; jump cuts are used here to showcase how much turmoil she's in.
Temporal continuity is an editing technique which suggests to the audience that a scene is still happening despite the shot changing to something else. This technique can be seen when Lola knocks the female pedestrian, even though the shot changes to a montage of black and white images showcasing the remaining life of that pedestrian, the music continues to play which causes the audience to infer that Lola is still running despite the change of shot, and sure enough, the next shot is Lola continuously running.
Sound is also very important in the editing of this film. Non-diegetic music were added to the movies intense moments which gives the audience a sense of excitement to go along with the hectic visuals. This is very apparent in scenes where Lola is running; a constant loud music is playing at the background which in the case there wasn't any music, the scene wouldn't have the same feeling.
All this editing gives a sense of continuity throughout the movie that helps deliver the narrative of Lola trying to save Manni. Even though there are different timelines where Lola tries different things to save Manni, a sense of continuity is maintained from the transition between the timelines suggesting that Lola learned something from her previous try. For example on Lola's first run, she was taught by Manni how to unlock the safety of a gun as she never used one before and on the second run, where she threatens her father, she swiftly unlocks the safety of the gun she's holding as if she has learned it from her previous run.
