User Reviews

"Sonne und Beton" is a fairly new German movie, a 2023 release that stays minimally under the two-hour mark and has made some pretty impressive waves recently. Maybe it would even be the favorite at the German Film Awards this year if it wasn't for this successful war-themed film that has triumphed in America even, but we will see how many awards this one here can take. Four nominations is pretty solid and as for the big category, the second and third are also announced, it can still become a really successful night then. We will see. The international title here is the literal translation, namely "Sun and Concrete". The film premiered at the prestigious Berlin Film Festival and looking at the amount of people who watched it and factors like the film's imdb rating, it has definitely not disappointed one bit. If I am not mistaken, it is based on a book written by Felix Lobrecht and he is among Germany's most successful stand-up comedians at this point, so he surely has taken his career to the next level with the success of this film. I am not an expert on him, but I think that many segments from the book are also based on his own memories of growing-up in this rather southern area of Berlin. It is my city as well, so the film did have a bit of a personal note for me, even if I cannot say that I recognized many areas here or that it brought a great amount of nostalgia. Then again, this (Gropiusstadt) was not the area where I grew up. Had this been the case, I maybe would have seen it otherwise, but probably not even then. Also, this area is definitely one where you would not want to grow up and I am fairly sure that Martin Gropius is more proud of a certain museum being named after him than this pretty ghetto area of Berlin.

However, before I go into detail about the plot and everything else here that is directly linked to the story, let's keep looking a bit more at the basics: The writer and director is David Wnendt. This name is even for us Germans difficult to pronounce with how it starts. But yeah, you can say that Wnendt in the first half of the 2010s has really worked only on German films that really easily made it into the most known from my country. Kinda interesting that the films that started all this centered around female characters. After 2015, it has gotten a bit quiet around him, but with this film here, he is definitely back with a bang. And he is still a few years under the age of 50, so we can probably expect more interesting releases from him for another 25 years. I am curious what will come, even if I am not as big on him as many others are and one of his films I even despise and see no quality in whatsoever, but this film we have here is alright, even if not really nothing beyond that either, but that is of course just my opinion. As always with his works, he also took care of the screenplay himself. It is definitely no coincidence that the actors you see in here are not famous at all. Maybe, if at all, you have seen one or two faces in other projects, but for this you also would have to be quite the German film buff already. For me it was one maybe, not more. The actor who portrays protagonist's father. This film here I could see maybe getting remembered in a similar fashion like "Absolute Giganten", a German film from approximately a quarter of a century ago. I cannot even say why the film reminded me of that, but somehow it did. Of course, the protagonists are a few years younger here than in the other film I just mentioned, but still.

I cannot even say the names of the cast members here, the young actors I mean, but yeah I guess they did an alright job. The one that stays in the mind the most for me here would be a character I found extremely unlikable, namely the boy that the initial two pick up early on and the protagonist is not really happy about this and as the story progresses, we also understand why. I mean he really gets the main character into serious trouble. He is beaten up by the Arabs because of the other's provocation. And when the boys then return with their older Turkish friends for revenge, then look at how cocky he is. His behavior really causes a lot of disaster to the main character. The word "disaster" is not even an exaggeration there. Well, I should at best call the Turks "friends" maybe because there is this one scene when we find out they stole money from the Arabs and the main character is the one who has to live with the consequences as he is threatened by the Arabs, one in particular, that he has to come up with the money and return it and the leader of the gang of Turks is also far from helpful there, but denies everything instead. What a champ. Anyway, it is a pretty shocking film. Great deal of blood here and physical injury in general. Bones are broken and this includes fingers and arms and basically you can say that every character in here, no matter how boastful he may be, always has people above him that scare him somehow. It is pretty sad in fact. There are moments that will make you smile because of the regional impact or because they feel shocking yet authentic at the same time, but overall it is a full on drama. And stuff like the furniture guy pick-up line can only distract from that for a brief moment. It was still entertaining. I guess this line shows who is a really good translator or the opposite and I am kinda curious what America or the ones who come up with English subtitles will do with it.

But yeah, the guy I criticized quite a bit because of what he does with/to the main character is also supposed to be seen as one of the good guys I assume towards the end when we have a real moment of friendship between the boys as they go the hospital to visit one of their own who jumped out of the window and tried to commit suicide after knocking out his violent father with a glass bottle. We understand the boy will live, but we do not know about the man. It is not too important. What becomes crucial here, however, is the idea that the area where you live is one that really shapes you. The streets turn you into who you really are. The violence the boy experienced himself at the very beginning may not have taken him over really at the start when he does not attack the guy who hurt him despite having the chance. But he makes an impact in another area, namely burglary and theft when he is really the driving force behind stealing these new computers for the school. But even this he also only does because he needs the money to pay people who have been threatening him that they will do horrible acts if he does not pay. We also get a look into the family lives of the protagonist and others. Just take the (older) boy who is the leader of the Arab gang and what happens when this kid's family sees the two boys together. The reaction of this other nerdy boy character there earlier was quite funny too, how he talks to his brother it was I think. Or take the main character's father and his words how his son should deal with the situation when he is threatened. Those words could not be any more different what his own brother tells him is the best way. No surprise that the main character is struggling so hard with the overall situation. The brother's act towards the end then is also among the most memorable in an actually pretty sad way because it proves that you cannot even trust your family and that personal agenda trumps everything. Well, he had his finger broken too and maybe his little brother would have helped him had he asked, but then the younger brother also would have lost a lot of respect for his older brother and the latter could not allow something like this to happen, so he basically steals the computers from his own brother and the phone conversation there was almost on the funny side with how ironic it is what the older brother has to say there, as if he gives his younger brother even a bit of a life lesson this way.

I guess by now you understood that I liked this film without loving it. It did feel shorter than it was and I stayed curious what would happen next, so Wnendt (and Lobrecht) had drawn me in here. Nice job. I have not read the book this is based on, so I cannot talk about similarities and differences between the two media, but it's not a must anyway. Oh yeah, one more thing I must mention here is really how horrible it must be or have been back then to work as a teacher in this district of Berlin. Honestly, I cannot even say if things have improved since when this film is set (Lobrecht's youth I suppose), but there are definitely parts of Berlin that you maybe want to stay away from. Anyway, as for the teacher, you could also see what all these verbal and even physical humiliations have turned him into as he sounds like a bit of a racist on one occasion. Can you blame him? The one thing he was nonetheless is dedicated and he tried to make an impact, see at least one of his students successfully get out of the area and perhaps study one day. Maybe it was also more for him to see that he achieved something than necessarily for the student(s) itself. If he knew that it was the protagonist who stole the computers... Talk about shattered perceptions then. But he never finds out. So yeah, the helpless, powerlessness of it all could not be any more visible with all of them basically: the teachers (who even get bullied by the principal(s)), the police officers as well and also the parents. The moment these three groups are not directly and immediately present in the lives of these kids, they are literally forgotten and sometimes even when they are present. The police are depicted as especially incompetent here and not capable of dealing with certain situations at all. The ghetto kids won you could say. I think it is a film that is solid overall, but also very depressing. Accurate maybe too, the exaggerations are there, but they kinda make sense. I think this one is worth seeing. I give it a thumbs-up and this was never really in doubt.

Even as someone who grew up and still lives in similar (but nowhere near as drastic) areas, it was already A LOT to take in. The language, the climate, the dynamics - it's all quite exhausting and chaotic. I don't want to sound like the biggest "Alman", but it's really like a jungle: eat or be eaten, daily fight-or-flight, constantly on alert, constantly on the run, constantly in conflict.

After the movie I was emotionally overwhelmed and exhausted. And that speaks for the movie.

Cinematically, it's all pretty much "ok" to "decent". Many experimental and dynamic shots/sequences, the music use is very dope and even if it is quite noticeable that many scenes are improvised (imo the editing gives it away; seems like it's a best-of from several takes), it rather adds to the flavor of the film and isn't much of a nuisance.

I found that the color grading was a very appropriate and brave choice. It greatly adds to the "height of the summer" motif and gives everything a "fever dream" feel.

Found the characters (except for Julius, who was the only character that seemed like an overblown caricature to me) extremely three-dimensional, unique and multi-faceted - all of them were very interesting and I could've watched them talk and just "be" for a lot longer.

Generally speaking: very good cast. Not only the main characters (except for Julius), literally everyone was really well cast: the school principal, the class teacher, Lukas's father (and also his girlfriend!), his brother Marco (Luvre47!), Cem, all the Arabs and Turks, in general the boys from the street/schoolmates, Marek (Olexesh lol), the policemen with that Berlin dialect... very immersive and authentic performances. I think acting was the movie's biggest highlight.

I think the integration of many faces whho have experienced this world themselves was super important for the film. Again, authenticity is the key point.

On several occasions I was tearing up and was very touched. Not even necessarily in the obvious scenes like Gino's kamikaze mission or when Lukas's father wanted to kick him out, but instead during scenes in which the lack of perspective and the unfair suffering of these young people was evident. How the cruel universe put them into this horrible and unlucky situation without an exit. And despite this: they still continued to live their lives, continued to laugh, somehow knew how to help themselves.

I want to stress again: this was not only the script and directing of the film, but especially the phenomenal acting.

But please, for the love of God, explain to me how someone could write such an unlikable and exhausting character like Julius and include him as one of the main character. At least give him ONE positive quality. Like, why they even hang with him lmao? Everything he says and does is borderline psychopathic and idiotic.

I don't think I've ever watched a movie in which a character consistently angered me so much. My enjoyment of the movie actually suffered from this. To me, this is the biggest flaw of the movie.

The actor who portrayed Julius was also the only one in the whole cast where you had the feeling that he plays a role and that he does in fact not know the real world the movie is set in. The other actors were clearly more authentic and with them you had the actual sense that they were just some "kids from the block". Not sure who failed: the script/direction or the actor - but I think the former.

What I liked most was the authentic, truthful, brutal and sober portrayal of a time and place that the author himself experienced firsthand and which obviously shaped him throughout his life. He didn't brighten anything up - he said it exactly like it was. No one's winning in this movie. The Germans are horrible. The Turks are horrible. The Arabs are horrible. The school is horrible. The police is horrible. Everyone. No one's winning. Everyone has a point, but no one's winning. Because simply put: the system fails them all.

I'd say that authenticity was really what bound this film from start to finish.

As a longtime listener of Felix's Podcast, I've already heard hundreds of stories from Gropiusstadt and Neukölln, but seeing it all illustrated and visualized (even if some of it was certainly slightly exaggerated) put it into a whole different perspective. I have found a new respect for Felix; how he has developed despite his youth, how he has made it out of this socio-economic mess that Gropiusstadt was (and still is) and of course how he has become one of the most successful personalities in the German entertainment industry. He seems like a very resilient and intelligent person and I really hope that he's genuinely proud of this movie. Of course it isn't his work alone, but one could tell that this project was very important to him and he played a major role in it.

The film will be a "Kulturschock" to many and will cause a feeling of extreme foreignness to most people, because the fewest who will watch this movie will have experienced a district like "Gropiusstadt". But as Felix himself said, this is not a film for privileged suburban kids who are supposed to walk through the world more enlightened after watching the film, but a film for all those who have grown up in such a world and are now heard, seen and maybe even celebrated. Black Panther for Gropiusstadt.

After we left the theatre, three blonde female students stood behind me at the parking ticket machine and talked about the movie. They were diehard Felix-Fans and loved the podcast, but it was evident that they come from a completely different background, because they were literally *shook* and *devastated* after seeing the film - they were beyond overwhelmed. In German we say "Kulturschock sein Vater".

I was very surprised by this film. According to the trailers I expected a very Germanized blockbuster (even though Felix propagated something else in his podcast for months), but this was almost more of an arthouse drama which could have come from A24 or someone like Sean Baker. This movie, in my humble opinion, leans more towards La Haine, City of God or George Washington and has little to none mainstream appeal (ultimately because of the brutal and unforgiving portrayal and the subsequent "cultural shock" many will experience).

To me, this is a strong 8/10. For the sake of the overall score I feel like giving it a 10/10.

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 is finally a film Germany can be proud of again. It is Coming of Age, but it is not the typical German complicated-love-rescue-at-the-last-second-happy-end plot. The stories of the four teenagers Lukas, Gino, Sanchez and Julius are exemplary for so many individual fates that take place and have taken place in districts like Neukölln here. Topics such as violence within and outside families, drug abuse and poverty are neither left out nor glossed over. Some scenes are difficult to watch, especially if you have never been confronted with such problems. But that is what makes it so important. No one should close their eyes anymore. Every person and their associated actions and thinking can be understood in this film. They all have reasons why they are the way they are.