Tough Enough (2006)

Simply Perfect

Fresh and Exciting

Absolutely Fantastic

Blistering performances.

"Knallhart" or "Tough Enough" is a German 90-minute (without credits) movie from 10 years ago. Director is Detlev buck, one of Germany's most known filmmakers these days. Lead actor is played by David Kross, before his international breakthrough in the Oscar-winning "The Reader". In this German movie here, he plays a teenager who is forced to move from the richer district of Berlin to the poorer when his mother breaks up with her sugar daddy. At his new school, he quickly gets into trouble with the local "mob" and his classmates force him to pay money on a regular basis. He also makes friends, but still it is a slow descent into crime as he is forced to steal the money. Not much later, he gets into contact with real criminals and he starts delivering drugs for them. As a reward, he does not only get paid properly, but they also help him against his bullies. But the longer the film goes, the more it becomes obvious that they are not his true friends.All in all, this was a pretty decent movie and the final scene with Michael, Erol and the others was truly gripping. Everything before that is fine too and this is certainly one of my favorite Detlev Buck films. Even Jenny Elvers is bearable in here and only has 1 or 2 not-so-good moments. Kross I am not the greatest fan usually, but he is okay too and physically works fine as well for the role with his innocent face. My favorites here are the supporting actors though, who all play their parts realistically. If you get in touch with the wrong people in Berlin-Neukölln, stuff like that can actually happen. Kida Khodr Ramadan gives a good performance as always, but everybody else is convincing too. Very gritty dive into the world of Berlin's organized crime that may be closer to us than we think and hope it isn't. Go check it out. The film also managed a great deal of awards attention and was picked as second-best of the year at the German Film Awards only beaten by "Das Leben der Anderen", which went on to win Germany an Academy Award.

Knallhart is in many points a typical German movie to me. The premise of a troubled teenager moving to a new flat in a low class Berlin environment and dealing with violence, drugs and apathy is nothing new. The movie tries to portrait the depressing surrounding in long pictures of the main actor walking through the city in washed out colors. The surrounding and the characters to me seem typically German and unbelievable ... overacted or over-scripted (the mobile phone beating videos were implemented heavy to meet with modern day German news headlines as a very cheap catch). Acting wise the movie was pulled down by the incredibly untalented Jenny Elvers in the role of the lead actors mother. Several other characters are badly acted like the German dealer in the cellar or the Austrian cocaine dealer (this scene is a perfect example for overdoing things by cutting to the baby every 10 seconds.... yeah, its depressing but how come non-German movies like "Ex Drummer" or "London to Brighton" manage to be gripping and getting the message across with far less effort??). Oh and talking about "London to Brighton".... like "KNallhart" its a 2006 movie but I really wonder about the strong similarities. The setting, the telling of the story by beginning at the end and then resolving it, the open ending, the environment and long city shots, the idea of the the main actor being forced to murder a person he hates although its not in his nature... can all this be coincidence??However the movies are classes apart.... the use of music was really bad in Knallhart and made it hard to feel for the main actor or the plot because it hardly ever transported the visual emotion. It rather sounded like the were selling a modern soundtrack or something. I think a 7.5 average rating is definitely too much for a movie with this many flaws. Even the editing was pretty weak at times... so do yourself a favor and watch "London to Brighton" or "Ex Drummer" if you want a movie gritty and getting you emotionally involved with great cinematography in a depressing underclass-environment rather than this pretentious German effort.

When a young mother and her 15 year old son have to move from the posh end of town to the run down end of town things aren't going to get better anytime soon. Used to living on the up-side getting used to the down-side is a little hard after all. With mom not being the absolute best role model available it is clear that the son can't be that either. And so the story rolls.Knallhart, also known as Tough Enough, is thus a drama film and a fairly good one at that. The realism factor is very high and it is hard not to feel a certain amount of pity for the characters as they evolve through the film. Musical background is fitting for a modern film and feels right, acting isn't half bad. Overall an enjoyable watch, if a little depressing to see yet another one bite the dust.8 out of 10 broken futures

I caught Knallhart at the 2006 Chicago International Film Festival, where it drew massive applause as the credits rolled.Intense, realistic coming-of-age story set in the poor, predominantly Turkish suburb Neukoeln in Berlin. David Kross is spot-on as precocious, soft-spoken, world-weary 15 year old Michael, struggling to survive in the new world he's been thrust into after his mother's wealthy boyfriend shoves them out on the street. He seems unfazed through his constant violent run-ins with a local gang, as well as increasingly dodgy messenger assignments he gets through a friendship with the local drug lord, holding his stoic gaze until the escalating events eventually break him, and yet show his true strength and character. The movie is extremely gripping, gritty, and real; the camera is intimate with its characters, letting the audience marinate in the heaviness of a situation. The Soundtrack is notably powerful, weighty, and fitting, as is often with quality German films (Head On, Run Lola Run, Princess and the Warrior). Definitely recommended.