Sun and Concrete (2023)

• Year: 2023
• Released: 02 Mar 2023
• Country: Germany
• Adwords: 1 win & 5 nominations
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13273800/
• Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/sun_and_concrete
• Metacritics:
• Available in: 720p, 1080p,
• Language: German
• MPA Rating: N/A
• Genre: Adventure, Crime, Drama
• Runtime: 119 min
• Writer: David Wnendt, Felix Lobrecht
• Director: David Wnendt
• Cast: Franziska Wulf, Gerhard Schröder, Felix Lobrecht
• Keywords: coming of age, teenage boy, teenage rebellion,

7.7/10

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Sun and Concrete Movie Reviews

A Masterful Portrait Youth Culture

The film is an absolute blast to watch and I wholeheartedly recommend it, especially for young people. While I initially had some reservations after watching the trailer, I was also skeptical whether the film could live up to such high expectations. However, those doubts proved to be unfounded. The film does an excellent job of capturing the lives of young people in Berlin, creating a uniquely authentic atmosphere that draws you in. The city itself plays a critical role in the story, and as a viewer, you’ll have a blast accompanying the group on their journey. The dynamics between the actors are particularly impressive, as the cast is perfectly suited to their respective roles and embodies their characters in a convincingly realistic manner. I was particularly struck by the chemistry between the actors, which makes the film feel even more lively and authentic.

Throughout the film, we see the teenagers evolve and confront various challenges, and the choice of music and camerawork only adds to the excitement.

In conclusion, I cannot recommend the film enough. It is a masterful portrait of Berlin and a thoroughly entertaining cinematic experience. If you’re interested in exploring the lives and challenges of young people in difficult circumstances, this film is an absolute must-see.

On second viewing still phenomenal; one of the year’s best!

I loved the allegory which the computer robbery displayed. The youth in this film is a product of their environment and they act out of poverty and necessity, however they eliminate precisely *the* resource, which would catapult them out of poverty (=education). A vicious double. Very well written.

The soundtrack is monstrous (especially with Dolby Surround Sound). This is one of the main reasons I consider watching this movie for a third time in theatres. When Lukas doesn’t get into school at the beginning of the movie and he pulls out his MP3 player and walks through Gropius… that’s where Luvre47’s song “Aussicht Trist” plays and it perfectly encapsulates this concrete jungle. Crass, bleak and aggressive sound with a frustrated and fed up delivery from Luvre. One could also argue that it sounds like a modern “Aggro Berlin” track. Great choice to support the visuals of the concrete landscape.

In general, I found the songs that were integrated very fitting and managed to pull us back to the early 2000s. Also great eye for detail in general when it comes to world building and authentic display of the time frame the movie is set in.

The initial montage with these “fancy” and advertisement-esque effects were a bit too much though, IMO. Felt like “40+ year old director trying to reach the younger audience and thinks that these kind of effects would please the TikTok generation”. Kind of reminded me of that “how do you do fellow kids”-meme.

Some scenes were absolutely phenomenal acting wise. Lukas arguing with his father about the stolen computers, the first appearance of Lukas’s brother (Luvre47!), the private conversation between Lukas and his guidance counselor, Sanchez arguing with his mother, the whole sequence at the beginning with the fight between the Arabs and Turks… immaculate casting!

Scenes were dramaturgically and technically well written. I found that all the introductions of main characters were well done. When a new character appeared, one could immediately sense what kind of personality the character possessed.

I’m still not over the moon over Julius’s character, and do think he is an exaggerated caricature as opposed to the authentic and down to earth portrayal of the other main characters, BUT on second viewing he irritated me far less than on my first viewing. Still, to me the major weak point of the movie.

In some rare cases you could still notice the very German and mainstream-audience flavor of the movie (especially comedic relief jokes), but all in all it definitely leans more towards art house drama than crowd pleasing blockbuster. Still a strong 8/10.

Sonne und Beton – The hard German version of Stand by Me

Sonne und Beton is a movie based on the book with the same name by German comedian Felix Lobrecht. Despite the author’s upcoming in the same part of Berlin where the story takes place, Berlin-Gropiusstadt, the story is a fictional one. We are following a group of four friends in their young teens, Lukas, Gino, Julius and Sanchez, watching them with their daily struggles in one of the roughest parts of Berlin.

This film is best described with one word: raw. As most of the cast is comprised of every day people and barely any recognized actors took part in the production, the film as a whole and especially the actor’s performances feel very real and authentic. As a lot of German dialects are spoken, I suspect that this movie is not very easy to follow for most non-native speakers if you do not use subtitles. Even I as a native speaker had some trouble understanding a couple of sentences.

Overall, this film is quite brutal, honest but also thought-provoking through the portrayal of all the family problems in a poor part of German’s capital. The struggle between trying to get out of your bad childhood, maybe even pursuing higher education and the reality that may be limiting you is portrayed really well. It also hits on the topics of immigration, domestic abuse and drug use while still portraying some light-hearted humor in parts.

All in all, definitely one of the better films the German cinema has produced over the last couple of years and worth a watch!