Runner

About Runner

Runner is a Lithuanian film written and directed by Andrius Blaževičius, released in 2021.

Article

Runner (Lithuanian: Bėgikė) is a Lithuanian film written and directed by Andrius Blaževičius, released in 2021.

This dramatic thriller explores the themes of self-sacrifice, love, and toxic relationships, realistically portraying 24 hours of a toxic relationship, which eventually contaminates the entire city of Vilnius, Lithuania, all within a chaotic and frenzied chase.

Contents

Plot

After her boyfriend Vytas (played by Marius Repšys) experiences a psychotic episode and disappears, Maria (portrayed by Žygimantė Elena Jakštaitė) is determined to find and help him. Chasing every clue about his whereabouts, she embarks on a fast-paced odyssey through the city. Always one step behind and against all odds, she fights for both, her love and her freedom.

Cast

Žygimantė Elena Jakštaitė as Marija

Marius Repšys as Vytas

Laima Akstinaitė as Ona

Vytautas Kaniušonis as Marija's Father

Viktorija Kuodytė as Marija's Mother

Valentinas Krulikovskis as Petras

Emilis Aškelovičius as Pranas

Lukas Malinauskas as Jonas

Indrė Patkauskaitė as Jūratė

Production

Runner is the second feature film by Andrius Blaževičius, marking his second collaboration with producer Marija Razgutė (M-Films) after The Saint in 2016.

Formerly titled Paralysis, Runner was produced by M-Films (Lithuania) in co-production with Bionaut (Czech Republic). The film was financed by the Lithuanian Film Centre during the scriptwriting, development, and production stages, as well as through tax incentives.

Filming took place in Lithuania in the city of Vilnius during the summer of 2019.

Reception

The film was generally well received by critics. It garnered 67% positive reviews based on 390 reviews collected, on the website IMDb and 3.4/5 stars for 350 votes on the website Letterboxd.

Article from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0), where it is maintained by volunteer editors.

Notable quotes

“Run! Run, like the devil's behind us. Run, to where no one can find us. Be my compass.”
— Alessia Caracciolo, "Outlaws", Know-It-All (2015), Def Jam
“Now, here you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!”
— Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking-Glass, chapter 2.—Logical Nonsense: The Works of Lewis Carroll, ed. Philip C. Blackburn and Lionel White, p. 177 (1934). First published in 1872.
“The wise runner, in crowded company, will want to glance around him occasionally to study approaching traffic that may result in his being trapped by methods described above. So while "Don't look back!" and "Don't run wide on curves!" is good general advice, there are times when a runner must disregard them and think for himself.”
— Harold Keith, Sports and Games (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1941), p. 248
“All day he ran. He did not rest. He seemed made to run on forever. His iron-like body ignored fatigue. And even after fatigue came, his heritage of endurance braced him to endless endeavour, and enabled him to drive his complaining body onward.”
— Jack London, White Fang (1905).
“Wearing headphones is a contentious point. Most women runners I know don't wear headphones, and that's during the day, because they are concerned about their safety.”
— Esther Newman as quoted by Rick Kelsey, “Samsung apologises for advert showing woman running alone at 2am”, BBC, (28 April 2022)
“Woah, look over here We got a cute little ol' runner to the right Blue shorts, no shirt Whoo! You're looking good darling That's right, stay in shape”
— KT Oslin, "Younger Men", "80's Ladies" (1987)

Quotes via Wikiquote (CC BY-SA), each with its original source.