The camera spirals back down into a city and then into Lola's house, where the camera stops on a red phone ringing and we see Lola pick it up and begin her conversation with Manni. The phone introduces the dominant colour in the film, which is red. This colour symbolises danger and urgency so adding to the viewer's apprehension. .
It is here we are introduced to Lola our modern day heroine. She is the key character in the film and her actions pre-empt what is to follow. When we first see Lola we are first drawn to her bright red hair, which highlights her individuality, through the film it becomes clear that she is independent and strong willed and she gets what she wants. We can see she is from a dysfunctional family. The audience is allowed to hear about her father's affair before Lola as she advances to the bank. Her mother is a drunk. Lola seems as though she can only rely upon herself and Manni is paramount in her life.
The beginning of the film clearly gives the expository material, and the narrative structure is very simple. We are first introduced to Manni who is working as a courier for a gangster. We are shown, through a series of flashbacks the cause of his predicament and eventually the effect. The same is also true for Lola. The flashbacks convey a lot of information and allow the audience to learn about the characters. The flashbacks have more impact than if we had just heard the dialogue, and through them we are able to understand the predicament the characters are in and are able to empathise with Manni. .
Manni is working for a gangster who has asked him to pick up some money from a drug deal. He does this and then waits for his girlfriend, Lola to pick him up. Due to an unforeseen incident while buying a pack of cigarettes Lola is late. This action results in Manni losing the money. .
He calls Lola with a problem, this is the motivation for the film, His boss is going to pick him up in twenty minutes to pick 100, 000 Marks from him, which he no longer has.