"We are young. We are strong." deals with the pogroms in Rostock- Lichtenhagen during the early Nineties when hundreds of refugees and Vietnamese people became victims of a violent mob of right-wing youth and neo-Nazis rampaging through the quarter and setting their house on fire. It focuses on a small group of teenagers that takes part in the events and depicts their lives during these hateful days.
In my eyes the movie delivers a good impression of the atmosphere and the general mood that let to this crime. It shows a group of disorientated teenagers, mostly not certain yet of their own identity, that tries to find their place in the world and turns evil. Unfortunately, the events are not depicted in all their brutality and failure regarding the police and other offices. Even though I get that the director wanted to focus more on the personalities, I still think that speaking about these points would have suited the film well. Apart from that it reminded me of "La Haine" quite often and is a very atmospheric film that sets an interesting tone for its plot.
All in all this is one of the better German movies and it deals with events that are crucial to understand the younger German history. It shows us that we can't always count on the average people and that we should carefully reflect our actions in advance.
In my eyes the movie delivers a good impression of the atmosphere and the general mood that let to this crime. It shows a group of disorientated teenagers, mostly not certain yet of their own identity, that tries to find their place in the world and turns evil. Unfortunately, the events are not depicted in all their brutality and failure regarding the police and other offices. Even though I get that the director wanted to focus more on the personalities, I still think that speaking about these points would have suited the film well. Apart from that it reminded me of "La Haine" quite often and is a very atmospheric film that sets an interesting tone for its plot.
All in all this is one of the better German movies and it deals with events that are crucial to understand the younger German history. It shows us that we can't always count on the average people and that we should carefully reflect our actions in advance.