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Medicine for Melancholy
Fraulein (Das Fraulein)
New People Cinema
Sat, Oct 19, 2013 5:00 PM
Director Andrea Staka’s background as a Swiss citizen of Bosnian and Croatian heritage informs this tender and insightful film about fifty-something Ruža, who left Belgrade 25 years ago and now runs a cafeteria in Zurich, keeping her Serbian roots well hidden; her coworker Mila, an older Croation who longs to return to her homeland; and the impulsive, itinerant Ana who has fled the war in Sarajevo and bursts into the quiet lives of the other two women. This exploration of displacement in our era was the winner of both Best Film and Best Actress (for Mirjana Karanovic as Ana) at the Sarajevo Film Festival and the Golden Leopard at Locarno.
After hooking up at a party, Jo (Tracey Heggins) considers her alcohol-fueled one-night stand with Micah (Wyatt Cenac) history, but he is eager to explore the possibility of a deeper connection. As they wander around San Francisco, their conversation encompasses the personal and political, touching on issues of race, class, assimilation and gentrification. It is part of the strength of Barry Jenkins’s thoughtful feature debut that these larger issues never dwarf Jo and Micah’s own journey, one that over a scant 24 hours leaves them both reflective and bursting with new perceptions.
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