Princess (2006)

In comparison to my previous entry, this London Film Festival choice by Danish director Anders Morgenthaler was a fascinating film, but one that is difficult to describe.  Combining anime-like storytelling with some unfocused live action, the Princess of the title was a porn star killed in a car crash, leaving her worldly-wise five-year daughter alone.  Her brother returns from his missionary work abroad to claim responsibility for the child, but they do not bond easily since he is far too uptight to understand the debauched life the girl has witnessed.  In addition he feels guilty for his sister's fate, since it was his videotaping her making love some years before that sealed her career choice.  He determines to rid the world of her legacy by destroying all of the porn films she has made and the men responsible for exploiting her. There is a lot of bloodshed and not quite the hoped-for resolution, but rather a poetic one that is in its own way satisfying.  Interestingly only the Princess is never depicted in cartoon form, perhaps because it was her real tragedy which created the story.  A truly original film and a truly unusual vision.