The Hairdresser is a German dramedy about the plus-size hairdresser Kathi. Divorced Kathi has to deal with unemployment and then discrimination when she shows up for work at a salon in a mall. The salon owner tells her in bold terms that she just doesn't fit the look of a sleek and pretty salon. Kathi sees a closed business in the mall and decides to open up her own salon.
At the unemployment office she meets another out of work hairdresser whose husband would rather she sell beverages, and so she has surplus equipment she wants to get rid of. They become friends and eventually business partners.
To get seed money Kathi tries to get a bank loan as well as servicing nursing home residents on the side. She also has to deal with her typically embarassed teenaged daughter.
An opportunity to get more money for the business involves something shady, and Kathi meets some Vietnamese people as a result, one who becomes a special friend for a short while.
Although of course the film has a feel good ending and a theme of female empowerment, I think the story was pretty good at depicting the problems of a large sized woman, and her trying to be positive despite her problems, many of which are faced by you and me, body size notwithstanding. Actually casting someone of appropriate size was a plus to making it more realistic (the actress Gabriela Maria Schmeide gained a lot of weight for this role). In a way, this film reminded me a bit of Happy Go Lucky. I rated this film four of five stars at the fest.
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