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Princess
R0 - United Kingdom - Tartan Video Review written by and copyright: David Cormack & Noor Razzak (31st March 2008). |
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The Film
 "Princess" opens with a scene in stark contrast to the rest of the film. August (Thure Lindhardt), a Christian Minister walks into a house, he sees a man with earphones listening to something coming from another room. He follows the cabling that leads to a door. He opens the door. The camera shows his eyes widen. Finally we are shown what he sees. It’s a girl, on her hands and knees with a two males at her front and a male at her back. Yes, it’s a porn scene. Not only is this girl being serviced in a manner less than romantic but it is also made clear to us that she is with child. Welcome to "Princess". Welcome to adult animation not made by the Japanese. The story of "Princess" is quite bizarre. Firstly, our lead man, August, is a Missionary Priest whose sister – Christina (Stine Fischer Christensen) - is a porn star. Right there, that’s something a little different. After the prologue, we learn that 5 years has elapsed and that Christina has died; finally succumbing to her drug addiction. We learn that she is dead and she has left behind a 5 year old daughter, Mia (Mira Hilli Møller Hallund). August collects her and takes her home to live with him. But this isn’t your usual 5-year old. This is a 5-year old raised in the adult film industry. She plays the role of the whore when playing Mummy and Daddy with the other kids, she simulates oral sex in front of the TV screen and she swears like a sailor. But most bizarrely of all, she undoes her uncle’s fly when he’s bathing her and tries to reach inside. Having witnessed this, August decides that the adult industry deserves to be punished. Specifically Paradise Lust, the company that specializes in the work of his deceased sister, who performed under the name "Princess". So he calls that particular company, and requests that Charlie (Christian Tafdrup) destroy all of the Princess’ material. Who is Charlie? We are shown who Charlie is in perhaps the cleverest aspect of this film. August, it transpires, was an avid auteur of all things family and we are shown clips of him and his sister growing up; we are shown the car-crash that killed their parents (a sub-plot perhaps not given enough weight, here’s the parents, oh no they’re dead, here’s the present); and we are shown Christine’s introduction to Charlie, her new boyfriend. We are shown these in live action as the animated character watch them on a television screen. This fusion of animation and live action, whilst not done completely perfectly, is a very intelligent way of making the story seem all the more real to us. Without it, it would be so easy to dismiss the director’s point as meaningless behind the curtain of cartoon violence. Having said that, the most disturbing scene by far and away is an animated scene: having been rebuffed over his request that his sister’s material be destroyed and having learnt that Mia was sexually abused by one of the producers from Paradise Lust, August tracks down his address and whilst he pins him down encourages Mia to hit him repeatedly in the genitals with the sharp end of a crow bar. After having done this, Mia finishes him with a smack to the head for good measure…charming. As I mentioned before, the live action clips keep this film from descending to cartoon farce a la Japanese Manga where women have demons living in their vaginas which are hungry to devour earth etcetera, however there are points where it does become somewhat absurd. Try August blowing up large portions of the city which the police turn a blind eye to because (though this is only insinuated) really, the porn industry deserves it. Or August facing off against 9 people with guns and suddenly he’s Neo from "The Matrix" (1999) and he deals to them all in a fine display of speed and marksmanship. We forgive these minor blemishes because the film is so engaging. Much like in George Orwell’s "Nineteen Eighty-Four" we find ourselves rooting for the underdog in a battle we know he can never really win. Although the ending is suitably melancholic and does provide reasonable closure, an addendum showing the live action August for the first time felt unnecessary and forced. The animation is very Japanese-y in that the backgrounds, for the most part, and remain still whilst the characters move through them. The characters are drawn in a way you’d see in a comic book (not a graphic novel as pedants seem want to call them), stiff limbed and without all the grooves and contours of a normal person but again we can accept this because we know that this is really a parody. It can become a bit preachy; the director’s rants against the pornography industry are well documented, and the suggestion that violence is an okay tool to use seems to be in line with today’s hypocrisy that violence is ok but sex in a film raises its taboo rating much higher, as far as I’m aware, more people partake in sexual activities than in mass murder. The film can be construed two ways, if one is to leave his brain at the door and enjoy it as an eye candy action flick then it’s pretty good, there are guns, explosions, beatings, deaths, sadness, emotion, joy, it runs the full gamut. If one is to view it as a serious opinion piece trying to convince us of a point of view then the film is flawed as mentioned above. It really boils down to how much stock we put in an author’s intention. In this instance I would say a limited amount. Look at "Plan 9 from Outer Space" (1959). If we took from that what Ed Wood really wanted us to then it would have long vanished from the annals of film history but instead we appreciate it for the schlock it is. A similar attitude should be taken with "Princess".
Video
Presented in the film's original theatrical ratio of 2.35:1 this anamorphic transfer looks excellent. Although the film is transfered onto a single layered disc (which I haven't seen in quite some time) the image is impeccable. The film's short runtime (under 78 minutes) allows it to be replicated onto a single layer without too much fuss and hardly any compression related issues. The animation is striking and vivid, lines appear solid and don't feature any pixels or jagged lines. Colors are bold and well rendered, blacks are deep and the print is clean of blemishes.
Audio
Two audio tracks are included in the film's original language, Danish Dolby Digital 5.1 as well as Danish Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo. Before the release of the film the package promised a DTS track, but none is included on this release, a rarity from Tartan who are known for including DTS tracks on their releases. In any case for the purposes of this review I chose to view the films with its 5.1 track. Much like the pretty picture I was impressed with the range of this audio track, with distortion free and clear dialogue the track displays an excellent amount of depth. Ambient sounds filter through the rear channels providing the viewer an immersive quality, sound effects and directional sounds are arranged well throughout the space and feel natural and the film's music also seems to soar through the space. It's an active track that does the film justice and while is excellent for a Dolby Digital track, I would have love to have heard a DTS track... Optional subtitles are available in English only.
Extras
Tartan have only seen fit to include the film's original theatrical trailer which runs for 1 minute 43 seconds.
Overall
This Tartan release although technically very good in both image and audio lacks the usual package of extras, there's not even an exclusive director's interview which we've seen on many Tartan releases of the past. This is very sad considering the nature of this film, also the omission of a DTS is another surprise from a distributor known for regularly including them on their releases.
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