Das Fräulein (2006)

Das Fräulein (2006). 1h 21m | Not Rated

“Fraulein (2006)u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eA remarkable, small, deeply felt, just slightly offbeat film about what must have been a common and terribly real and depressing reality. Several women from the former Yugoslavia are living in German speaking Switzerland, and the old ties, old animosities, and new ties and friendships, are poignant and delicately worked out.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSometimes low budget films revel in their lack of polish, as if announcing they are rebellious. u0026quot;Frauleinu0026quot; is really not at all an underground film, but rather just a serious one working within some limitations of money and time. And they make the most of it on every level. Above all, the main actresses–the older woman running the little restaurant and the young woman with some undisclosed inner trauma–are searingly right on. The one is repressed and responsible and a bit lifeless, living to survive, and proud to be surviving. The other is a little wild and unpredictable, full of life but with a recklessness that seems unwarranted. At first.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBoth women are sad and lonely, and that leads to their needing each other, though both are so stubbornly independent they have trouble coming together as friends. When they do, in small ways, the screen lights up and you keep thinking, yes, yes, at last. You understand how hard it is to find true companionship, and even when you do, it doesnu0026#39;t work out quite right. Still, they both offer cracks in each otheru0026#39;s worlds, and we get sucked in for the joy of it, and the eventual disappointment.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eA surprising film, very moving, and yet quietly so. Give it a chance to get under your skin. At first, watching just the older woman, you think this is some East Berlin throwback and itu0026#39;s just sad and slow. But itu0026#39;s all for a good end, and things complicate. And the two women, once you get to know them, will win you over.”