Princess (I) (2006) User Reviews

interesting attack on the porn industry ... but somewhat empty ...

[londonviewer · 7/10 · 26 October 2006]

It was a bit of a surprise to discover that the majority of the film consists of animated sequences, with just a bit of grainy video footage (the preview I'd read suggested otherwise) ... but after recovering from that shock, I found the film somehow lacking - whilst watching it, I suspended my disbelief, and was quite take by the characters and winced at the violence. But looking back, it all just seems a bit unreal - whereas thinking back to violent non-animated films, I recall them as violent ... this I just recall as being animated !

At the London Film Festival screening, the director was on stage afterwards for an interesting Q&A - where he defended the slow pace of the film, by insisting that he would have liked to make it faster, but the 1.5m dollar budget didn't allow. He also revealed that part of his inspiration for making the film was the work of Japanese photographer Nobuyoshi Araki, whose photos he initially found erotic ... but eventually he considered the women behind the photos, and how they must all be daughters and sisters (an issue he repeatedly brought up). Anders insisted that in Denmark, whilst pornography is openly available, the women involved are regarded as being a sort of underclass - and his film was partly an attempt to expose this hypocrisy. He admitted that they had considered different endings, but the one he chose was the only one that seemed to work !

Gets progressively better as the film goes on

[gzamikes · 7/10 · 23 October 2006]

I knew nothing about this going in and it's not easy to tell what's going on for a good while. The plot reveals itself in a different way than most movies do and until there's a general idea of what's happening, the movie seems like an adult swim knock-off wannabe.

However, once everything is set into place, it's very gripping and stays with you until the end with a great story plus wonderful character depth and development.

The film is part animation and part grainy digital video. The digital video is used to represent a character who is no longer alive shown through home movies at random insertions. The home movies style kinda detracts from the story but it's not all bad, there's an interesting scene where a car crash from the outside is animated and from inside is shown with the grainy video.

Although, for the most part there's animation which is spectacular. I'm not sure if it's a company located outside of the country the film comes from but it's not in the exaggerated anime style. That means the animation is there but you're able to actually focus on the story. The style of animation also makes the violence pretty graphic. Understand that this is an R rated movie for a reason and some parts even in animation are tough to take in.

With proper distribution, this could become a midnight movie cult classic.

Strange, defiantly non-PC, anti-porn tale with fascist politics

[fertilecelluloid · 6/10 · 26 August 2007]

Imagine Paul Schrader's "Hardcore" updated for the internet generation and animated. That might give you some idea where the oddball "Princess" is coming from. August, a priest, partly blames himself for the fact that his young, dead sister, Christina, became a famous porn star named Princess. Taking Christina's young daughter, Mia, under his wing, the angry priest begins to dismantle the Danish porn business by torturing producers and firebombing their buildings. Mia accompanies him on his anti-porn campaigns and is even invited to sink a sharp garden instrument into the groin of one cowering producer. August's ultimate mission is to find and annihilate Charlie, the man responsible for Christina's ultimate "success" and reputation as a superwhore. The film is certainly original and defiantly non-PC. Mia is portrayed as a product of her mother's pornographic world, and "acts out" the behavior of whores and porn stars she has encountered. The film uses non-animated, live action footage of Christina to give us a broader perspective of her world. This footage is introduced primarily when Mia or August watch old videotapes of Christina's life. "Princess" is not fast paced or dynamic like a manga, even though its bright, glowing anime style feels Japanese at times. The violence is brutal, and the inclusion of a very young child in these scenes gives the film a disturbing edge. It is a film worth seeing, but it is not entirely satisfying because it plays a little too loose with its fascist politics.

Fresh of breath air.

[john_loves_tennis · 7/10 · 17 September 2006]

As the film festival winds down and all the big stars leave the city, the reality of returning back to the normal life begins to sink in. But it's not totally over yet. There is still one more day left, tomorrow I get to watch Sheitan, which hopefully isn't Sheity as the title somehow suggests. Tonight, I saw Princess, which was everything but sheity.

Princess is a Denmark / German import that is comprised of 80% animation and 20% live action. The director, Anders Morgenthaler, puts together a picture that is definitely not something you see in theatres around here. There are a number of facets that make Morgenthaler's Princess stand up tall from the crowd (cliché #1). Firstly, the subject matter; the movie is about a priest who effectively quits his job and coherently scraps his religious beliefs when he allows his life to be rattled by rage and driven by violence. Secondly, the impetus behind the forthcoming violence has never been seen before. The priest (August) (Yes his name is also the name of the popular summer month) returns back to his hometown after hearing of his sister's death. What he learns from here only sickens his soul to the point of blinding his judgment of appropriate justice. He learns that his sister (Christina) (aka Princess) (her porn queen pseudonym) has died an unnecessary death due to the misogyny of Charlie, the president of Lust Paradise, the porno studio Christina worked for. Ironically, August the priest, reacts to this loss, not with sorrow and harmless grief, but with intense and violent vengeance.

The third facet then is the path of destruction that August sets forth on -- towards his ultimate goal of murdering Charlie. This is not your typical Pixar movie which keeps kid audiences giggling and upbeat, but rather a much more subdued, dark movie that consistently permeates a tone that makes you feel sorry and more sorry for the characters on screen. Not mentioned yet, but absolutely crucial to the cohesiveness of the story is Mia, Christina's under-loved, abused and emotionally scarred daughter. After Christina's death, she is taken under August's wings. August solemnly tells Christina that he will take care of her and never let her go. It is through August's acquaintance with his alienated niece, that he finds the straw that breaks his camel's back (Grrrreat cliché #2). He learns that August was assaulted by Charlie and later discovers he even sexually molested Mia. The child has seen the world through the wrong glasses and this irritates August up and through to the existential plane of frustration. He believes Mia does not deserve to live in this kind of reality, and she doesn't need a matriarchal role model who has sex for a living. In a disturbing and emotionally awkward scene, Mia joins some children in the courtyard of August's apartment for a game of doctor. Since the roles of the doctor, nurse and patient were already taken - Mia feels obligated to succumb to the only role she knows; a whore. After announcing this, the children react apprehensively, but curiously play along. In the next cut, the nurse has left, leaving the doctor and the patient or the two boys with Mia, the whore. From a low angle, we see Mia almost teasing the boys with her skirt as she slowly lifts it up and over her crotch. Awed by this novel experience the boys dumbfoundedly ask what to do. From witnessing her mother on home movies, Mia naturally and naively tells one of the boys to get on top of her. At this point, the situation gets tense when one of the boys picks up a twig and connotatively suggests another fashion of entry. Mia still has some ounce of moral judgment to realize this is wrong and resists, but the boys push forward until --- oops, you'll have to watch the movie, because I'm getting drowsy!

It is powerful scenes like this which poignantly drive the audience through a series of long thoughtful gazes to satisfying sentiments of fitting vengeance and brutalization (it's not healthy to repress anything, including our inner most prehistoric instincts!). Princess shines in a genre of it's own which resists calling itself: an action movie, a drama, a dark comedy, a cartoon, a live-action movie or an unsheity movie because Princess does not holistically fit into any one of these groups, because it belongs in all of them. Kudos to Denmark for releasing such an unbarred film that liberates viewers with a penchant for cerebral activity to think beyond convention!

strong indictment against the porn industry using animated film means

[dromasca · 7/10 · 26 April 2009]

When 'Waltz with Bashir' almost got the Oscar prize for best foreign-language movie this year I did not know that it has a precursor in using animation to pass a very serious message. 'Princess' reminds from many points of view the Israeli movie, and even has some very similar looks. In a mix of animation and amateur movies filmed with hand-held camera it tells a story that would be too disturbing to be made with actors. A five year girl is orphaned by the death by overdose of her mother, a porn actress. Her uncle takes her under his protection, only to find out that she was abused by her mother's entourage. They engage in a violent voyage of revenge that ends in tragedy.

The combination of animation - the cinema genre associated with the wonderful innocent world of childhood faeries - and documentary footage gives style to this otherwise disturbing story of a traumatic childhood and of violent revenge. Although the film is a little bit too simple in its approach and some of its details it leaves a strong impression exactly because of its apparent minimalism. It's like 'Kill Bill' meeting Disney on the very shaky and dangerous ground of a tragica story of revenge for a stolen childhood.

An incredible film

[pod-21 · 10/10 · 24 June 2006]

August is a priest who returns to Denmark from missionary work to take care of his five year old niece Mia when his sister Christina dies of a drug overdose. August has spent years trying to save others through his work but was powerless to help Christina, whose life was a downward spiral since achieving fame in life as the titular "Princess"- a porn star. His feelings of guilt turn to anger when he realizes that his sister wasn't the only victim of this seedy underworld, but that little Mia has a long documented history of sexual and physical abuse. He directs his rage towards the men behind the camera that used and abused his sister and her daughter to line their own pockets. Thus begins a bloody tale of vengeance as August, with Mia as his side, resolves to wipe his sisters porn legacy from the face of the planet, while all the time trying to reach his prize- Charlie- the man who was Christina's lover, and who first brought her fame as the Princess.

To say that the film is good is to do it a disservice. The film is simply put a work of art. The animation, while always limited, achieves something in its simplicity that all the millions of costly pixels (-seemingly employed by everyone and their third cousin twice removed these days) simply cannot. Honesty. August's journey is a cautionary tale- making no bones about the fact that the first victim of revenge (no matter how good the case for revenge may be) is always the one who seeks it. This is a complex film which challenges the viewer in that it makes us understand and indeed root for August but, as the body count rises, literally destroys any good in him in the process. What starts out as wish fulfillment fantasy ala Kill Bill, turns decidedly nasty as Morgenthaler never lets you forget that the lives lost to August's cause are not always deserving, or if indeed they are, they are only deserving seen from a certain point of view. There are no universal rights or wrongs, no innocents. Just people. I would love to write more on this point, but firmly believe that it would spoil the journey for anyone coming into the film fresh.

Morgenthaler is in a league that few can claim. I was constantly and happily reminded of Scorsese ala "Mean streets" and "Taxi Driver", of Towne and Polanski ala "Chinatown". There is a fierce directness to this work that is staggering and his decisions are constantly surprising. The film is inter-cut with live action footage, taken by August in his youth when he was a camera nut. This lays out the back story of their lives and charts how all this came to pass. I was wary of this concept going into the film as I have rarely thought that mixing these two media was successful. With one exception he pulls it off, the shaky home video feel adds credence to the animated world (not to mention the porn, which with the exception of the opening sequence is always shown live action), plus providing us with a third reel whammy that will knock you for six.

The star of the film though is Mia. She is the ultimate in innocence corrupted. Where as in "Perfect Blue" we watched as a childlike young woman is tortured by a sexual predator, here we have an actual child who has experienced much worse, but is too young to have any idea of the psychological consequences. She is hurt, frightened, tragically sad, but only seen from our point of view. She was raised in this world, and that's all she really knows. Playing house for her is something entirely different then for other children. It is played for laughs at times, but Morgenthaler chokes that laugh in your throat by never letting you forget the sheer horror of what it is you are watching. It leaves a lasting mark on you that is hard to shake.

I cannot recommend this film highly enough.

A modern day fairy tale without a happy ending...

[jmaruyama · 6/10 · 26 July 2007]

While released to theaters in Denmark way back in June of last year, it was only recently that I was finally able to view this film for myself and see what all the buzz was about.

"Princess" combines live action video segments with simple animation to tell a modern day "Grimm's Fairy Tale" that is both shocking in its subject matter and stark in its overall emotional storyline.

Thure Lindhardt is the voice of August Chistensen, a fledgling Catholic Priest who has come back to his hometown to visit his younger sister Christina (Stine Fischer Christensen in live action flashbacks) whom he has become estranged of late. Christina has become a rising porn star in Demark (she goes by the alluring porn name "Princess"). August is aghast at his sister's depraved lifestyle, even more so after discovering that she is still performing lewd acts even while pregnant with her first child. He leaves without getting the chance to talk with her but holds out hope that they can mend their once close relationship

Tragically, reconciliation never materializes as Christina dies five years later, leaving her daughter Mia (voiced by Mira Hilli Møller Hallund) at the hands of a kindly brothel madam. Guilty and concerned about his niece's situation, August decides to take Mia to live with him. August finds his faith severely tested as he begins to unravel and discover the horrific life his sister has lead and the abuse both she and Mia experienced (Mia has been both physically and sexually abused). The crowning indignity of Christina's tragic life is the phallic adorned mausoleum erected in her "honor" by Christina's longtime lover and "pimp", Charlie (who owns the mega porn company "Paradise Lust" where Christina was employed). August's rage soon boils over when he finds Mia innocently mimicking the sexual acts found in one of Christina's home movies. He soon dedicates himself to "eradicating" all evidence of Christina's humiliating life from this world--destroying the porn company she was a part of and to kill Charlie.

The screenplay by Mette Heeno and Anders Morgenthaler is quite inventive. "Princess" is most certainly a revenge story but it is also the story of innocence lost. It is quite sad to see the once vibrant and personable Christina "fall" into the world of porn and the ramifications her life has had not only on her but also her daughter. Similar to "Death Wish", August represents the everyman pushed to the limits of patience and tolerance and driven to the point of rage and madness.

Director Morgenthaler's use of simple animation to tell this story is very effective indeed. The sordid and dirty world of porn is reduced into a surreal and exaggerated childlike cartoon, an almost fantasy.

It is reflective of August's desire to want to shield and protect Mia from the harsh reality (represented by the grainy video of her mother and the wicked and tragic path she took) of the real world and keep her within a more innocent child's world.

That being said this is not a kid's movie, and the violence and bloodshed unleashed by August is definitely startling, but not to the point of being obscene.

The character designs of Mads Juul and Kristjan Møller, while vaguely reminiscent of Japanese animation, reminded me a lot of the work of Ralph Baski's especially his 70's movies like "Fritz the Cat" or "Coonskin" which also brought adult themes to the medium of cartoon.

I found Mia to be a bit hard to believe as a character as she seemed much too "mature" to be a five year old. It also didn't help that her character was drawn with an overly massive head (I assume to accommodate her expressive facial features and wide eyes). Perhaps this was done in a deliberate manner.

"Princess" tells a cautionary tale that seeks to say that nothing good comes from revenge except more sadness and tragedy. It is not a happy tale nor was it meant to be.

"Princess" is not for everyone but will certainly leave a long lasting impression for those able to see it.

It could never have been made as a live movie...

[archon2 · 9/10 · 29 June 2006]

This is great anime for adults. The story moves you, affects you, so that you will remember it. It is like the hardcore Japanese manga anime stuff with over the top violence and gore, but also with lots of implied sick, twisted, disturbing things. It is truly cruel to watch. A lot of other things I watch are considered sick and disturbed but they never affected me. Princess did...

Sometimes real live film appears in the film, mainly when the characters watch TV. Maybe that is to make viewers more involved in the characters? But I feel the anime characters are more engaging. I do not think the movie gained anything by doing this. Especially the last 1 minute or so of live stuff should have been deleted.

The animations/drawings were great. Especially the lighting. The perspective in the lines were considerably unnatural, which was annoying for me. The characters were portrayed really well. The story was incredibly tragic and great.

I give it a 9 out of 10 if I pretend the last minute is gone.

Kids and porn

[deastman_uk · 6/10 · 26 October 2006]

The BBC series Monkey Dust used animation to portray fairly adult themes. In fact, there were many motifs that seem to come directly from that show, as well as the animation style. I suspect the film has either copied this style directly, or their is a shared artistic connection.

The film covers the porn industry and its fallout. It is put together quite skilfully, but has no consistent mood and ends rather sentimentally. The spine is an almost Kill Bill style revenge plot, around which the sharp edges of the real world intrude. The film has heart but no gravity; it weaves a spell around itself but not the audience. So in the end the whole is considerably less than the sum of its well put together parts.

god this movie sucks

[rosesandhello · 1/10 · 29 December 2009]

especially the part where the guy gets his power from god

(surrounded by enemies, looking up towards the *light*:

"have you forsaken me?"

-pause-

catches the glint of a cross around one of the enemy's necks:

"thank you")

...especially the part at they end where they end up in heaven...um...huh?

and especially especially especially the part where they bring in child abuse and sexual abuse and never bother to be serious about it?? i mean, violence is one thing- sex is one thing- but using a child's sexual abuse as a plot device to lend your creepy vengeance fantasies credence, while never actually resolving those issues, is just gross.

i mean, did i really have to watch a scene with a child (what is she supposed to be, 7???) is almost butt raped with a twig by two other 7(????)-year-olds but is saved when her vengeful Jesus loving brother comes to the rescue and breaks the little boy's arm???

i'm not really sure what the moral of this film is but i think it goes something along the lines of...a homicidal Christian brother is a better guardian than a whore...??? or, everyone sucks but then you're on a beach in heaven? ?? whoring is wrong and will mess up your children and the only answer is to die and go to heaven where everything is OK?

ugh. i'm sorry i watched this movie. the only critical thought it sparks is..."omg whyyyyy did i have to watch this..."

A priest turned vigilante enters the underground world of the Swedish porn industry to avenge his murdered sister and eradicate evidence of her pornographic career.

[linkkk · 9/10 · 16 September 2006]

Princess was the most anticipated film of the Midnight Madness program this year at TIFF for me after I heard the basic premise of the film and was surprised to learn that a story of that nature would be told in an animated feature. It turned out to be a very hardcore noir revenge tale that was gritty as hell and dealt with some very sensitive material. I wish there was some official website/trailer, or even some images I could find on the net from this movie but I can't seem to much at all. To compare it to other works I guess the movie felt to me like it had certain elements from films like Taxi Driver, Leon: The Professional, and a load of other film noir just set in a more underground modern day euro trash setting.

The story follows a man named August, a priest in the opening of the film, who finally tracks down his pregnant sister, whom he discovers in a very shocking scene engaged with several men in a gang bang. The images of that and the character's reaction, framed in an intense close up of his quivering blue eyes that look like they could crack at any moment, pretty much sets the tone for the rest of the movie. Years later, August's sister, who we learn was a renowned porn star named Princess, is found murdered, and her daughter now orphaned. August must now take his sister's daughter Mia under his care, while slowly discovering the deep trauma this child has suffered living under such a degrading, sexually oppressive environment. The connection these two characters form is what's most powerful about this movie, as they both endure the loss of a sister/mother who fell into such a disgusting, dangerous world, and Mia who is probably only about 5-8 years old slowly learns who her mother really was.

What definitely carries the film though is August's transformation from rational, peaceful man and caring figure into an infuriated angel of death to those responsible for killing his sister and continuing to make money from her Adult Video sales and merchandise, exploiting her even in death, while trying to eliminate all the existing pornographic material of his sister. You even begin to see symbolic traces of religious empowerment in August's extreme actions later on in the film. This man reaches such a breaking point that when he finally unleashes the results will leave you speechless. The level of violence in this film is surprising at times, though never becomes too indulgent and over the top, as brutality almost seems quite necessary and appropriate at times given the subject matter and themes of the film. This is a man who enters a world that completely contradicts everything he holds to be morally right and pure, a world that destroyed his only sister, and whom he is somewhat responsible for plunging her into as you'll learn later on in the film. I wish i could rant on more about the animation and direction in it too. Really, the animated medium this story reaches it's audience is so effectively used, every transition and image is so well executed, while the animation is quite simplistic yet very well suited to the gritty places and faces we're introduced to. 20% of the film is actually live action camcorder footage which appears as glimpses into the character's pasts, as August used to record everything on his video camera, though we never actually see him in any of these live action flashbacks. There is so much beauty to this film despite much of it's vile content; the settings, depth of character & expression, atmosphere, colors and soundtrack all create such a wonderfully hypnotic visual experience and a film that I eagerly await to see again. I doubt it'll ever get much of a theatrical release given the level of violence and sexuality in it, especially when dealing with a small child, but lets hope there'll be more buzz around Princess in the future.

Brilliant & Hardhitting Animated Film "With a Message"

[Rapeman13 · 28 February 2008]

Anders Morgenthaler's animated film Princess tells the disturbing tale of corrupted innocence and the bloody revenge taken by a missionary priest intent on taking down Denmark's porn industry.

After his porn star sister Christina (aka The Princess) dies from a drug overdose, August, a priest previously doing missionary work on the other side of the world, returns to his homeland Denmark to take custody of his sisters five-year-old daughter, Mia. The longer he lives with Mia, the more August realizes how much the sexual, physical & mental abuse she has been subjected to while being dragged along through the sleazy underbelly of the porn industry with her mother has indefinitely warped her young mind. For instance, while August is bathing Mia she deftly unzips his fly while looking seductively (as much as a child can) up at him or, while joining in a game of "Mommies & Daddies" with some other children, she volunteers to be "the whore" because they don't have one of them yet. After the game she takes the boys to a secluded spot where she drops her panties and one of them attempts to anally penetrate her with a stick.

All the while August is plotting ways to rid the world of all traces of his sister porn career and the man responsible for it, the illusive Charlie. At first he sends threats then not long after he violently fulfills them, sometimes with Mia's help (in one scene we see her gleefully sinking a crowbar into one producers genitals). On his mission of vengeance we see August set alight many distribution warehouses, gorily slaughter producers and managers, then eventually blow up a mansion "built on porn". Also sprinkled throughout the film are candid glimpses of Christina which we see via home video footage shot by August when they were teenagers - it seems he obsessively recorded everything - this footage is all live-action and adds a powerful sense of reality to the proceedings.

All in all I was highly impressed by Princess, I don't think I've ever felt such strong emotion from an animated film before - it's portrayal of a timid priest who slowly transforms himself into a focused killing machine and the loss of innocence / sexualisation of a child are all depicted in an unflinching fashion, and yet while this is structured like a basic revenge flick, it is also anti-revenge because we see the damage August's revenge eventually inflicts on him and the people he loves.

Although the film is obviously anti-porn, (in it's opening scenes we see a shocked August dressed in full priest attire accidentally witness his heavily pregnant sister being f@cked by two men on film, and when we see Christina's tombstone it is like an altar to porn flanked by four towering marble cocks and littered with dildo's and vibrators left by adoring fans) it isn't pushed too didactically which is a definite plus. The live-action sequences really enhance the film and give it more dimension as we witness Christina gradually getting more & more into her drugs and porn career while forgetting about her daughter as August looks on, helpless to do anything.

Nice try - but that's it.

[bestbets · 2/10 · 9 November 2006]

If you mix the set up of "Leon the Professional" with the style of "Kill Bill" and "Sin City" you expect a good movie, but this one - against all odds - was poor. The artwork drawing reminded me of the Simpsons very first episode (yes, the one drawn by Ullmann). So if you like Mangas, the cartoon style of Kill Bill or anything else from the toon's Hollywood can offer - you will be more than disappointed! Lame to ugly graphics! Only the music isn't that bad - and "watching" the movie with your eyes closed might the way get a decent impression. Of course, if you want to make a movie about a child growing up between whores it is probably the best way to do it - because you don't have to have a real kid doing the acting. But, nevertheless, this topic is not worthy doing a movie about - rather a documentary. To sum it up: It is a movie the world didn't need combined with a failed attempt of stealing innovative styles from blockbusters.

August goes on a bloody vendetta against the sex industry

[thorwl · 8/10 · 20 June 2006]

Princess is a visually stunning piece of adult animation. It takes a swing at the porno and sex industry in a pretty rough way, and I think the director Anders Morgenthaler truly wanted to tell his audience something with this flick. The combination of real film and animation works amazingly well and adds some extra debt to the characters. Somehow it feels more realistic when you get to see the voice behind the character, which you do in this film. (That was my spoiler I suppose) Go see Princess for extraordinary entertainment, sex, blood and violence and a statement that hits you in the face. I think we can expect great things from Anders Morgenthaler in the future, this being his first movie to go to the movie theaters.

Straight and sharp as an arrow shot into the sun

[marko-90 · 10/10 · 2 April 2007]

It has all the elements of modern visual culture - P.O.V. camera, smart usage of CGI and strong hit-in the face animated story-telling. And it has soul. The thing that most nowadays production compromisingly neglects due to better box office income. I honestly cannot seriously accept comments that animation in Princess is lame! It can be put out only by someone who is just brainwashed with console games and CGI hyperproduction blockbusters. This is hell of a strong movie and much more. It just begins at the end. Unfortunately, nowadays it's so rare to take something inside yourself from cinema, besides full belly of popcorn mixed with Coca-cola after two hour bombardment of easy to forget moving pictures. This one is animated feature but not a fairytale of king, castle and prehistorik squirrel but real, present life from everyone's neighbourhood we would rather not to happen. Can't wait to see Echo with Pusher's favourite Kim Bodnia. Keep it on Anders.

Thin line

[kosmasp · 4/10 · 15 April 2007]

This movie is not politically correct ... don't watch it, if you're not down with that. Having said that and seeing that I only gave it 4 stars, one could be excused to say, that I like my movies PC. But that couldn't be further away from the truth, than saying that I like Death Metal (which I don't).

But back to this animated movie, which tackles and tries to punch the porn industry. It's brave in doing so, and it's not shy on getting down and dirty. But that is, where it lost me. Throwing children into the mix is something I despise very much. This is definitely not a movie for children! And there shouldn't be any in it, too (imo).

Provocative or not, it just felt wrong to me. The issues that are named here, are serious, but there surely is a better approach to them than this movie.

An emotional deluge of justified outrage

[sarastro7 · 8/10 · 3 July 2006]

Stylistically, Princess is unique and innovative and extremely well made; even to the extent of being called an art movie. Contents-wise, however, it is not an art movie, but purely an outpouring of anger. The story is good and important (if quite simple), and one understands the emotion that underlies it. It is a movie that deserves a high grade simply for initiating a discussion of this sort of subject matter. The porn industry is a crucible of enormous individual tragedy for those caught in it, and it is easy to blame those who seem immediately responsible: the producers. But, of course, porn is a consequence of larger social mechanisms, and to get rid of the type of porn (which today is almost all of it) that demeans and degrades women requires larger social changes. I suspect Morgenthaler is aware of this (esp. because the culprit, Charlie, survives the protagonists), but realizes that one must crawl before being able to walk. This is his opening statement, and it doesn't penetrate to any deeper social causes of the subject treated, but later works of his might. Let's hope.

We live in an era that hardly even talks about this kind of subject matter, and that is part of the problem. We cannot have a meaningful public dialog about such things until the subject has been broached in some initial, fairly simple way that makes people willing to discuss it. Once the discussion has been opened, debate on the deeper causes of the problems can be engaged in. Kudos to Morgenthaler for attempting to treat a very serious subject which hardly anybody else have tried to take a good look at before.

8 out of 10.

Very interesting, especially from a technical standpoint.

[philipsanta · 8/10 · 1 October 2018]

Intriguing Film.

With this film Anders Morgenthaler proves that not only is he a very talented cartoonist/comedian, But that he also has a knack for serious, emotional and even disturbing storytelling.

The mixture of "Childish" animation and brutal and disturbing topics such as violence, sex, drugs and pedophilia create a truly unique experience.

This film is possibly one of the most underrated films.

An atipical, underrated animation

[Rectangular_businessman · 9/10 · 3 May 2020]

This is a very atypical animation. It was atypical back then in the 2006, and it could be still considered as an unusual work 14 years later.

In certain ways, it could be said "Princess" was ahead of its time, predating the equally impressive and atypical "Waltz with Bashir" in which the animation allows the possibility of handling a story that hypothetically could have been done in live action from a complete different perspective. Said plot is very harsh and bitter, with a blatant contrast between such kind of bleakness and the cartoonish, "friendly-looking" designs, but there is also room for moments of poetical beauty which honestly wouldn't have been the same in a more conventional revenge film.

I do see a certain influence of Ralph Bakshi's works, particularly in the way the movie alternates animation with a couple of scenes done in live action. Its symbolic, completely unexpected ending could be compared with the final scene of "Heavy Traffic", but done in a much more tragic way.

The result is frankly impressive, in my view.

One of my favourite animated films

[boris_kolarov · 10/10 · 3 August 2016]

I'm a huge fan of animation and Denmark's Princess from 2006 gives me more reasons to be fan of this genre.

Princess is a recipe for an excellent film. You have a great animation, as well as some originality - there's some live-action also. You have two highly likable characters - August and Mia, and their relationship is what carries the movie. There's a great plot, where some moments make you happy and others - sad. If that isn't enough the film is about darker themes. One other thing I'll point out about Princess is a scene that had an awesome style (I don't want to spoil the scene).

There's nothing in Princess that ruins the experience. A little, microscopic flaw is within the animation at some moments could be polished.

Princess is a must-watch for fans of animation and films and it is an excellent film.