Betoniyö (2013)

A fourteen-year-old boy in a stifling Helsinki slum takes some unwise life lessons from his soon-to-be-incarcerated older brother.

Director:

Pirjo Honkasalo

Writers:

Pirjo Honkasalo (screenplay), Pirkko Saisio (screenplay)

Stars:

Johannes Brotherus, Jari Virman, Anneli Karppinen

7 wins & 9 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Johannes Brotherus	...	Simo
Jari Virman	...	Ilkka
Anneli Karppinen	...	Mother
Juhan Ulfsak	...	Man
Alex Anton	...	Jusa
Iida Kuningas	...	Veera
Pauli Poranen	...	Taxi driver
Mauno Paajanen	...	Twiggy
Rea Mauranen	...	Woman
Teijo Eloranta	...	Man with grey hair
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Tommi Hiljanen	...	Bartender
Hannele Nieminen	...	Waitress
Arto Oskar Reunanen	...	The drunkard in the metro
Timo Välisaari	...	Tsali

Storyline

Concrete Night opens in a cramped, concrete-jungle home. The elder of the two brothers is getting ready to go and serve his prison sentence. During his last 24 hours of freedom, his little brother follows the brother he admires through the fateful sights of that night.

---

Plot Keywords:

gay interest | teenage boy | coming of age | parent child relationship | mother son relationship | 

---

Genres:

Drama

---

Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [Finland]

Country:

Finland Sweden Denmark

Language:

Finnish

Release Date:

1 November 2013 (Finland)

Also Known As:

Betongnatt

Filming Locations:

Helsinki, Finland

Box Office

Budget:

€1,620,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Plattform Produktion, Magic Hour Films ApS, Oy Bufo Ab

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Black and White Black and White (color sequence)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Pirjo Honkasalo intended to film the novel already 10 years earlier and the project was already as far as that she had chosen the cast. However, other commitments with document films postponed this project. Among those chosen then was Jari Virman, who plays one of the leading roles in this film.

---

Goofs

The man photographs Simo with a camera in horizontal orientation, yet when Ilkka views those photos they appear to be in portrait orientation.

User Reviews

Tried to hard

Even that I'm a big fan of unknown movies, this one couldn't convince me at all. This story about two brothers and their mother living in a city somewhere. One committed a crime and has to pay for it. The younger brother soon to be left alone with their mother, who lives in some sort of fantasy and has a drinking problem. The younger brother coming of age and wanting to have his brother's approval.

The biggest problem I had with this movie is the way the director wanted to make it look sad. The black and white filming, the sad buildings where they live, skies being dark all the time, sparse lighting at night. The lighting coming from aside instead of from above. A rabbit walking on the city streets at night. A toad being near one of the characters. Water or rain falling down nice visible in the light, like in slow motion. Very little talk. It was all too much for me. The story could have been told in a other way, making the same points.