The Princess: Review
Aug. 23rd, 2010 08:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
labingiI have just seen the Danish animated film, The Princess and give it a cautious recommendation, depending on the sensibilities of the viewer and in keeping with its lukewarm Netflix star-count (based on a mix of rave reviews and utter hatred).
The film is about a man, August, whose porn-star sister has just died. He goes home to assume custody of his five-year-old niece, Mia, and finds himself embroiled in two plotlines: trying to care for his niece and wreaking revenge on those responsible for his sister's decline. The former narrative is more powerful (because more realistic) than the latter. And, it goes without saying, his two sets of agenda do not dovetail very well.
From what I know based on my couple of years attempting to adopt an older, traumatized kid and reading endless profiles on their backgrounds and problems, this film is absolutely right on in its depiction of a five-year-old who has been enmeshed in porn and prostitution since birth. She is a poignant mix of hypersexualized, way too "mature" behaviors and a normal little kid who just wants to play with the other kids and make up stories about her favorite toy, who trantrums and then wants to be hugged and innocently manipulates the adults around her however she can to get her needs met. Her uncle's attempts to deal with all this are touching and relatable (and not always the correct approach). I really felt for him. Ex. how do you explain to a five year old that it's not okay to watch videos of Mommy "dancing" and "dance" along with her?
The story loses force in the revenge arc because it becomes difficult to identify with our "hero," August. We could all put ourselves in his place having to parent this damaged child. And while we can all identify with his wish to strike back at the porn industry, especially in the delimited sense of removing the materials starring his sister, the increasing bizarreness/brutality of his tactics (even endangering his niece) becomes distancing. I found myself saying repeatedly, "That's stupid. I would never dream of doing that." And it dashed my sense of identification.
Of course, the film does not endorse his revenge. The point is that he, too, is damaged. I think this excellent point could have been driven home more powerfully and subtly with less blood and explosions. But kudos to the film for its almost-last-scene reveal of how August, too, got caught in the porn industry when he was far too young to make a reasonable choice about it. He feels guilty as hell for his role in involving his sister in porn, and his guilt is not reasonable, but then, guilt seldom is.
Visually, the film is interesting. The animation style is ugly. It reminds me of Beavis and Butthead but slightly more realistic. However, it is clearly meant to be ugly; this whole world is ugly. And the story is strong enough that, after a few minutes, the character designs don't detract. The animation is interestingly intercut with live action bits, mostly of the sister, Christina, mostly (but not entirely) used to show what has been filmed (ex. porn, home movies). I couldn't follow the artistic reasoning behind every use of live action, but it did make the porn aspects feel more real while giving "real life" an odd surreality.
I strongly recommend this film to those who feel they can take it. If child abuse, intense violence, and sad endings are too painful for you to see in cinematic form, then this is not a film for you.
Side note: interesting that all the porn names and titles are in English. I guess the Danish porn industry knows how to maximize its audience.
The film is about a man, August, whose porn-star sister has just died. He goes home to assume custody of his five-year-old niece, Mia, and finds himself embroiled in two plotlines: trying to care for his niece and wreaking revenge on those responsible for his sister's decline. The former narrative is more powerful (because more realistic) than the latter. And, it goes without saying, his two sets of agenda do not dovetail very well.
From what I know based on my couple of years attempting to adopt an older, traumatized kid and reading endless profiles on their backgrounds and problems, this film is absolutely right on in its depiction of a five-year-old who has been enmeshed in porn and prostitution since birth. She is a poignant mix of hypersexualized, way too "mature" behaviors and a normal little kid who just wants to play with the other kids and make up stories about her favorite toy, who trantrums and then wants to be hugged and innocently manipulates the adults around her however she can to get her needs met. Her uncle's attempts to deal with all this are touching and relatable (and not always the correct approach). I really felt for him. Ex. how do you explain to a five year old that it's not okay to watch videos of Mommy "dancing" and "dance" along with her?
The story loses force in the revenge arc because it becomes difficult to identify with our "hero," August. We could all put ourselves in his place having to parent this damaged child. And while we can all identify with his wish to strike back at the porn industry, especially in the delimited sense of removing the materials starring his sister, the increasing bizarreness/brutality of his tactics (even endangering his niece) becomes distancing. I found myself saying repeatedly, "That's stupid. I would never dream of doing that." And it dashed my sense of identification.
Of course, the film does not endorse his revenge. The point is that he, too, is damaged. I think this excellent point could have been driven home more powerfully and subtly with less blood and explosions. But kudos to the film for its almost-last-scene reveal of how August, too, got caught in the porn industry when he was far too young to make a reasonable choice about it. He feels guilty as hell for his role in involving his sister in porn, and his guilt is not reasonable, but then, guilt seldom is.
Visually, the film is interesting. The animation style is ugly. It reminds me of Beavis and Butthead but slightly more realistic. However, it is clearly meant to be ugly; this whole world is ugly. And the story is strong enough that, after a few minutes, the character designs don't detract. The animation is interestingly intercut with live action bits, mostly of the sister, Christina, mostly (but not entirely) used to show what has been filmed (ex. porn, home movies). I couldn't follow the artistic reasoning behind every use of live action, but it did make the porn aspects feel more real while giving "real life" an odd surreality.
I strongly recommend this film to those who feel they can take it. If child abuse, intense violence, and sad endings are too painful for you to see in cinematic form, then this is not a film for you.
Side note: interesting that all the porn names and titles are in English. I guess the Danish porn industry knows how to maximize its audience.
