my favorite movies of 1998:

(1) Run Lola Run

(2) Happiness

favorite of 1998:

Run Lola Run

[German: Lola Rennt]

(Franka Potente, Moritz Bleibtreu, Herbert Knaup. Directed by Tom Tykwer.)

Lola (Franka Potente) runs and runs to find a way to get enough money to save her boyfriend … then relives the same 20 minutes over and over, making slightly different choices that could have big consequences.

Run Lola Run uses a dazzling array of techniques, including switching back and forth between film and video (low-resolution video is used whenever Lola isn’t part of the scene), animation, monochromatic flashbacks, and flash-forward sequences that reveal how Lola affects the lives of minor characters around her. This taut thriller is packed with so much excitement and meaning that it’s hard to believe the movie is only an hour and 20 minutes.

Stream Run Lola Run on the Criterion Channel (try a free trial), Amazon Prime, or these sites.

2nd favorite of 1998:

Happiness

(Philip Seymour Hoffman, Dylan Baker, Jane Adams, Jon Lovitz, Lara Flynn Boyle, Cynthia Stevenson, Ben Gazzara. Directed by Todd Solondz.)

This ensemble dramedy centers on a family with three adult sisters, one of whom is married with kids, as well as the sisters’ parents. The numerous plotlines all end up being directly or indirectly connected to the same family.

What ties the various stories of Happiness together is the sad realization that the characters’ lives are empty. Some of them are well aware of that and are desperate to fill their emotional voids. Others take longer to see it, and in the meantime have convinced themselves that their lives are successful. The movie leaves you feeling that the ugly side of humanity lurks just underneath the pleasant surface visible to the outside world, and that sexual urges keep getting in the way of genuine fulfillment.

Happiness is unrated, but was originally given an NC-17 rating. This movie isn’t for everyone, and maybe it isn’t for most people. It takes an unflinching look at depression, suicide, mass shootings, domestic violence, sex offenders, and — in some particularly excruciating scenes — pedophilia.

One of the lighter scenes is at the beginning, when Joy (Jane Adams) has just broken up with Andy (Jon Lovitz) at dinner:

In the aftermath of the breakup, Joy talks to one of her sisters (Cynthia Stevenson), who then talks about it with her husband (Dylan Baker), a therapist who will later admit that he himself is “sick.” He responds to his wife with a chilling thought …

Joy came by today. 

Mm, how’s she doing?

I don’t know, and frankly, I’m concerned. She’s not like me — you know, she doesn’t have it all. She pretends to be happy, but I can see right through her. She’s miserable. … I’m afraid to have to say it, but truly, it’s what I believe: she’ll always be alone.

We’re all alone.

I don’t know anywhere to stream Happiness, but you can check JustWatch to see if it’s been added to any sites.

Click here for the full list of my favorite movie(s) of each year from 1920 to 2020.