Doris Dörrie has been in the movie industry for decades and "Die Friseuse" / "The Hairdresser" is one of her recent works. She also wrote many of her films, but this one, she "only" directed. This came out 5 years ago and the title "Friseuse"/"Friseurin" is already a hint on this film's tone and it fits nicely that the protagonist says near the end she has always been a Friseuse, not a Friseurin. Too bad English-language speakers will not understand the difference (in culture) when it comes to how you call the profession. The film runs for 105 minutes and features Gabriela Maria Schmeide, also a fairly experienced actress who has been in many known famous films, as the title character. Schmeide really makes this one work. She is incredibly likable in here and nails pretty much all her funny and sad scenes. I am surprised she got no awards recognition for her effort here. Jördis Triebel is in here too and she is a really big star now here in Germany, one of the most respected actresses from her age group. The cast is definitely female-dominant. The only other actress (apart from Katharina Derr) I knew was Maren Kroymann who is the main antagonist this time and plays her part well as usual, especially in the very first scene when she is about to employ Schmeide's character.
In my opinion, this film started off really well. I liked the introduction to the character a lot, the way how she struggles with finding a job and consequently the scenes at the "Agentur für Arbeit". Schmeide played it well, but it was also well-written and funny on many occasions, such as the employee's hair color. Grey is only for men. Unfortunately, it got worse and a bit less interesting around the 45-minute mark and I thought this film was most interesting when it focused on the character's professional struggles. The story with her daughter was enough family for me and I certainly could have done without the Vietnamese guys and without the love story that resulted from this story-line. Yes this would have meant the film to run for only 85 minutes perhaps, but that's not a problem at all as it would have meant more/better focus. But I guess Dörrie really wanted to include that as many of her other films also include a multi-cultural impact. As a whole, I recommend this film. It's a good watch even if it does not stay as great as it started.
In my opinion, this film started off really well. I liked the introduction to the character a lot, the way how she struggles with finding a job and consequently the scenes at the "Agentur für Arbeit". Schmeide played it well, but it was also well-written and funny on many occasions, such as the employee's hair color. Grey is only for men. Unfortunately, it got worse and a bit less interesting around the 45-minute mark and I thought this film was most interesting when it focused on the character's professional struggles. The story with her daughter was enough family for me and I certainly could have done without the Vietnamese guys and without the love story that resulted from this story-line. Yes this would have meant the film to run for only 85 minutes perhaps, but that's not a problem at all as it would have meant more/better focus. But I guess Dörrie really wanted to include that as many of her other films also include a multi-cultural impact. As a whole, I recommend this film. It's a good watch even if it does not stay as great as it started.