Modernism and Post Modernism

Run Lola Run

A young woman in Germany has twenty minutes to find and bring 100,000 Deutschmarks to her boyfriend before he robs a supermarket.

Director:

Tom Tykwer

Writer:

Tom Tykwer

Stars:

Franka Potente, Moritz Bleibtreu and Herbert Knaup

Budget:

 

1.75 Million

The film features two allusions to Alfred Hitchcock's film Vertigo. Like that film, it features recurring images of spirals, such as the 'Spirale' Cafe behind Manni's phone box and the spiral staircase down which Lola runs. In addition, the painting on the back wall of the casino of a woman's head seen from behind is based on a shot in Vertigo: Tykwer disliked the empty space on the wall behind the roulette table and commissioned production designer Alexander Manasse to paint a picture of Kim Novak as she appeared in Vertigo. Manasse could not remember what she looked like in the film and so decided to paint the famous shot of the back of her head. The painting took fifteen minutes to complete.
There are also several references to German culture in the film. The most notable is the use of Hans Paetsch as a narrator. Paetsch is a famous voice of children's stories in Germany, recognized by millions. Many of the small parts are cameo roles by famous German actors (for example the bank teller). Also, two quotes by German football legend Sepp Herberger appear: "The ball is round, the game lasts 90 minutes, everything else is pure theory," and, "After the game is before the game."
On several occasions the theme of free will vs. determinism is integrated into the film. The opening narration states the futility of asking questions, as one leads to another and we only travel in circles. Lola's interactions with other people are similar in that a small conversation or interaction with the people on the streets lead to other interactions. For example, the man on the bike can become a happy, married man or a bum. The concept of free will is also presented because she has three different realities to choose from.

Throughout the film, Lola bumps into people, talks to them, or simply passes them by, and the sound of a camera flash warming up can be heard. Their resulting futures are then conveyed in a series of still frames. The futures are widely divergent from encounter to encounter. In one scenario, a woman whom Lola accidentally bumps into remains poor and kidnaps an unattended baby after her child was taken away by social workers. In another scenario the woman wins the lottery and becomes rich. In the third scenario, the woman experiences a religious conversion. The sound of the camera flash warming up is repeated a final time at the end of the film, when Lola smiles at Manni's question about what's in her bag.

How has the word 'Post Modern' been used by different 'theorists'

There are many different theorists who believe in post modernism for example Jean Bauldrillard or Fredrick Jameson. These theories might be linked to art, history, philosophy or politics.  Bauldrillard came up with the idea of ‘Simulacra’ and ‘Simulation’. Bauldrillard says that simulacra is an image that makes no reference to reality and simulation is. Baulrillard ask "It is no longer a question of imitation, nor duplication, nor even parody. It is a question of substituting the signs of the real for the real"  An example of Simularca is the Gulf War. Bauldrillards exact words are that ‘The Gulf War did not take place’. He said that the Gulf war was not ineffectual. Other theories came up was. He also associated with marxism which is situationism. Other ideas that Bauldrillard came up with was the four ways an object can obtain value. The first is the objects functional value of an object; its instrumental purpose for example a pen is there for writing and fridge is there for cooling. The second is the exchange value of the object meaning the economy. Again an example of this is the pen may be worth 3 pencils. The third is the symbolism of the object; the pen is a symbol of someone’s education. Fourthly a sign of the object: a diamond ring may be a sign of class and taste.

Other theorists like Jean Francis Lyotard who was known for his articulation of postmodernism. Lyotard was also know for is opposition to universals, meta-narratives and generality. According to Lyotard a Meta narrative is a big story and is represented in a shortened explanation for everything in society, for example feminism and Marxism.  He argues that ‘Meta narrative or otherwise known as ‘grand narratives’, we have ceased to believe that narratives of this kind are adequate to represent and contain us all. We have become alert to difference, diversity, the incompatibility of our aspirations, beliefs and desires’. Meaning we have created our own realities. Other ideas of Lyotard are ‘moral relativism’ meaning we no longer know what is wrong and what is right. The book The Postmodern condition outlines meta narrative and the ‘grand narrative’ and also elements of the post-industrial economy and the related postmodern culture, which had risen at the end of the 1950s after the reform of western Europe. This resulted with the idea that Lyotard came up with; ‘Language games’

Lastly, Fredric Jameson who argued against post modernism, who worked a lot with Marxism. He also believed that Post Modernism was pastiche and quotes ‘people tend to get this confused with parody’.

Overall you can see there are many theorists who use Post Modernism to present their views and who have come up with different ideas for instance Bauldrillard idea of simulacra and simulation. There are also some theorists who argue against Post Modernism like Jameson who thought it was pastiche.