I loved this movie and thought it was a really creative story by Tom Tykwer. But I just finished watching Kieslowski’s “Blind Chance” (1981, released 1987) and realized Lola is either the biggest coincidence in fiction history, or Tykwer deliberately ripped off or paid Homage to Kieslowski.

Both movies are broken into 3 segments, each portraying a protagonist going through a moment in time but with 3 very different outcomes due to the protagonist’s choices and a little bit of luck.

Tykwer is a known fan of Kieslowski (he even directed the Kieslowski-written “Heaven”), and “Blind Chance” was one of K’s most defining films, so I can’t believe Tykwer wouldn’t have seen it. That would rule out coincidence. So the question is, did Tykwer do this as a tribute or was it a total ripoff?

There’s an interview with Kieslowski’s close friend Agnieszka Holland where she talks about “several films” that ripped off Blind Chance. She identifies one as “Sliding Doors” (1998) which she calls mediocre, a version of K’s idea but with all the depth and philosophical complexity removed. But she doesn’t name any others. Is Lola the other one she’s alluding to?