Birgit Grosskopf's hard-hitting debut feature film depicts four cigarette-smoking, alcohol-drinking, troublesome adolescents, who wander in between the concrete skyscrapers of downtrodden West-German suburbia. These uncouth youths are surprisingly not boys but girls, with attitude, quick-tempers and foul-mouths, who violently vent their scorn on any unfortunate soul who gets in their way. Surrounded by a society that is obsessed with health and sex, the alienated foursome are left to prick-tease their male peers and pick fights with their female rivals. Grosskopf's fine direction is coupled with a witty yet gritty script that contains daring sexual humour and brutal imagery. This is a fascinating and coldly told tale of friendship, abandonment and the beauty of youth, minus the innocence.
