7. Run Lola Run (1998)
To Germany we go for this superb, gripping little thriller directed by Tom Tykwer in 1998 that is three stories in one 80 minute burst of energy. The story is simple- Lola, a striking redhead woman gets a phone call from her boyfriend Manni who is at a phone-booth- Lola has 20 minutes to acquire 100,000 Deutschmarks or else Manni will be killed by a gang boss. From that point on, Lola runs, runs, runs and runs some more in her pursuit of this money. Its an ingenious conceit, and the film takes place in real time; we end up seeing three different eventualities of the scenario. It may sound gimmicky, but the film is definitely a see what sticks exercise; the film is full to the brim with exciting cinematic techniques. The idea has been done before, admittedly, with Krzyzstof Kieslowskis Blind Chance, but whereas that film is more of an exploration of the nature of fate, this is a straight-up thriller thats more akin to a videogame- Lola has three lives, and gets closer to completing the task with each life she loses. This, combined with the dizzying array of visual techniques means that the film can only be described as a true original- it may borrow the loose idea of showing three eventualities around a certain event, but the way the film deploys this idea, and what the idea hinges around, has never been done before and will likely not be done again in the near future.