A film of dazzling light. The misery is not apparent in the images. It’s
summer, the air shimmers, the sea sparkles. The view is breathtaking
from the villa high above the Aegean Sea. Only gradually is the set-up
revealed: clear distinctions exist between top and bottom, domestic
and foreign, those with and those without health insurance. Yet for
Nadja class is not even a question, just as she does not fight for her
rights. She keeps a tight hold on her feelings, insisting not on her
job but on her emotional ties. Stylised, yet with the real world in its
sights, the film draws on elegant CinemaScope images and depictions
of space to tell the story of a quiet heroine feeling the social chill in
the style of a tender melodrama. No big close-ups, no big emotional
outbursts, still great cinema.

berlinale.de