Princess (2006)

Expected more

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

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.

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 !

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.

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.