19/02/2023 - BERLINALE 2023: German hitmaker David Wnendt goes on a badass bumpy ride through rougher-than-rough Berlin

l-r: Levy Rico Arcos, Rafael Luis Klein-Heßling and Vincent Wiemer in Sun and Concrete

“That’s exactly what happened. Except, maybe, when it didn’t.” In the summer of 2003, four hapless teenage boys in the middle of the rougher-than-rough Gropiusstadt housing estate in Berlin’s Neukölln face an array of hardships that spiral further out of control with each twist and turn of a very bumpy ride. Based on comedian-podcaster-author Felix Lobrecht’s bestselling autobiographical novel, German box-office hitmaker David Wnendt’s latest feature, Sun and Concrete [+see also:
trailer
film profile], opens in the Berlinale Special section of the 73^rd Berlin International Film Festival.

A telltale sign of the passage of time is when what once was seen as cutting-edge is gradually considered to be fairly standard. Cases in point: Trainspotting and Pusher, those mid-1990s trailblazers of “nerve-wracking”, “not-for-the-faint-hearted”, “araba-boxing-sonofabitch-I-swear-I’ll-fuck-up-your-face” staple descriptions that are still put to good use a quarter of a century later. Another case in point: Sun and Concrete, employing all of the above catchphrases in its publicity blurb, and wrapping things off with a tough enough “Just your average life as a teenager in the suburbs – this, too, is Berlin!”

Wnendt, famous/notorious for reanimating Hitler in modern-day Germany in Look Who's Back [+see also:
trailer
film profile], now brings Lobrecht’s book to the screen, co-scripting together with the author. We first witness Lukas, a seemingly astute young fellow with a penchant for writing (a likely alter ego of Lobrecht’s), being dismissed at the school security gate for not having his ID. Instead, he hooks up with his buddies Gino and Julius, who fancies a bit of weed, only to wind up in the crossfire of a gang war between Turks and Arabs, with some broken bones and a €500 debt into the bargain. Then, the cool new guy in class, Sanchez, comes up with a cunning plan: the school has just been provided with 50 brand-new computers, so why not snatch them? In short, your average life as a teenager in the suburbs. Now, if only Lukas had had his ID that day… Then Felix Lobrecht would surely not have had a bestseller in the making.

While we certainly may have been there, done that and even bought the “choose life” T-shirt, several virtues of violent fun can be found in this belated dive into all things badass. There’s Wnendt’s energetic handling of the images (quite gorgeously lensed by DoP Jieun Yi) and sound (packed with hard-hitting German hip-hop), keeping up its breakneck pace from literally the first to the last frame. There’s the entire ensemble, from the four charismatic leading youngsters – all of them first-timers – to various rappers of local prominence playing hoodlums, and on to a selection of big-name talent in the adult roles, who all handle their parts with brio. Not least, there’s the area itself, relentlessly captured on location – concrete, sun and all – which is very much the main character.

Set for a grand domestic opening in early March, the international screen life of Sun and Concrete is unconfirmed, as at the time of the Berlinale, press notes had only been made available in German.

Sun and Concrete was produced by Germany’s Seven Elephants and Constantin Film.

Photogallery 18/02/2023: Berlinale 2023 - Sun and Concrete

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David Wnendt, Felix Lobrecht, Franziska Wulf, Levy Rico Arcos, Vincent Wiemer
© 2023 Fabrizio de Gennaro for Cineuropa - fadege.it, @fadege.it