Review of Sun and Concrete

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.