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The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

A young woman has come to Switzerland from Bosnia, and gets a job at a cafeteria run by a joyless martinet woman from that region, and another woman from that region is a coworker. Friends and relatives of the latter two women are also in the mix, while the young woman dances in clubs and has various lovers. She seems happy compared to the two glum older women-but she has seen the then-recent war in her country and has her own dark secrets which are revealed.The young woman tries and succeeds in bringing happiness to the cafeteria owner, but much of the movie is confusing, and was probably not meant for a non-European audience who probably would understand the protagonists' situation better. The movie just didn't cut it for me.

"Das Fräulein" or "Fraulein" is a Swiss/German co-production from 2006, so this one had its 10th anniversary last year already. It is the most known work by director Andrea Staka and she is also one of the several writers in here. The film received a pretty solid deal of awards recognition and it is a relatively brief film at only roughly 75 minutes. This is also a positive factor actually because the film dragged on more than just a few occasions and I never managed to develop any interest in the female protagonist (played by Mirjana Karanovic) or any of the supporting players. One reason may be that I do not really know any of the actors in here, another would be that I have never been to Switzerland and it is more of a Swiss than a German film for sure. But there are also Eastern European components to this one, but this already becomes visible pretty quickly if you read the actress' names.As for the film itself, it is certainly more on the bleak and realistic side than just for pure entertainment purposes. This is on the one hand good, but on the other hand also a disadvantage as they need to elaborate more properly in terms of character studies and plot developments and this is quite a challenge. i would say it is a challenge that the filmmaker here unfortunately did not succeed with as I not only did not develop any interest in the central characters, but also as after seeing the film I cannot really come up with one definite reason why you should check this one out, why this was a convincing watch. So I certainly do not agree at all with all the awards the movie won and as I see Staka is still making films these days it seems I hope she managed to step her game up in the last game. This one here gets a thumbs-down. Not recommended.

Three women of three different generations, all of Balkan heritage, live their lives lost and homesick in Switezerland. Ruza is a Serb, Mila Croatian and Ana probably urban Bosnian Muslem. But this gentle, thoughtful movie doesn't go there. This is not about ethnic hatred and intolerance, and the bloody war in former Yugoslavia, at least not in any direct way. These three women and their plight bring closer the curse of immigration. The desire for better or safer life, deeply intertwined with loss of roots, belonging and even sense of self. Three women touch each other's lives, and continue their arduous journey called life. Director Andrea Staka doesn't use cheep, tawdry means. She just tells a story as it is. Mirjana Karanovic, Ljubica Jovic and Marija Skaricic, three marvelous actors perfectly cast in this gem of a movie.

This German/Swiss co-production (filmed in Switzerland)is about three generations of women from Bosnia-Herzgovina. A young woman,living from day to day,a middle aged owner/manager of a restaurant & an older worker. It manages to nicely weave a trilogy of stories on how these women got to where they are (and why). I couldn't help notice that the movie seemed to be shot live on high definition video,rather than standard 35mm film stock,which gives it a certain look (mind you,I'm not beefing). Das Fraulein (or as it's being distributed in the U.S. as merely Fraulein) is a lovingly written/directed & acted film (video?) about 3 women trying to make do with their lives,and the hard knocks they've all been dealt with.