Prinsessa

Zandra Andersson steps out of the camera and in to your living room. Her precense is in every moment is 100 percent. You will laugh and cry and dream together with her. Anastasious Soulis is equally there, making every minute feel real, and the truest of friendships manifest as the camera rolls.

It must have been fate as an obese and awkward (but at the same time surprisingly beautiful) school-girl Maja (Zandra Andersson) meets an unfulfilled filmmaker turned wedding-camerawoman Erika (Moa Silen). Maja is maniacally intent of becoming an actress, whilst Erika sees her as a perfect subject for a documentary. Penniless Erika moves in to Maja's house and films everyday trials and tribulations of the young lady finding a depth, vulnerability and kindness that was not expected.

Despite being engaging and very much fun "Prinsessa" is a movie poised somewhere between a cinema movie and a TV drama. Nonetheless the main characters in the movie manage to entice and capture any still beating heart into its grip. Therefore any emotional vulnerability you show will be seized upon and it is easy to find yourself captured by the undeniable charm of Maja. Nonetheless the movie never manages to reach "Precious" type dramatic highs, although this has nothing to do with the general feel-goodness of the movie. As such "Prinsessa" had the potential and cast to be a more optimistic and positive throwback at the renowned American film. The thing that drags its Swedish counterpart down lies in the script deficiencies. As far as Maja herself seems very real and close-to-heart most remaining secondary characters are to farcical and over-the-edge to make the drama stick. Even more so that several situations are clearly overboard making "Prinsessa" a better than average teenage coming-of-age comedy.

There are also a couple of extremely weak dialogues plaguing the movie, unfortunately one occurs in an absolutely pivotal conversation between Maja and Erika near the movie's climax.

Still loved the watch and was pleasantly surprised by the engaging comedy-drama, which slowly but surely accomplishes exactly what was set out from the word go.

As a big fan of Swedish cinema, I really enjoyed this movie. I thought the development of the characters were great and the chemistry between them. For most of the part, the acting is good. There were some actors with smaller roles who could have done a bit better, but it's nothing too big a deal.

The movie follows an overweight girl (Maja) who is very passionate about acting, and more than anything wants to become an actress. She meets a documentary filmmaker (Erika) at a wedding and the two decides to shoot a documentary about Maja's life.

I'm not sure if I agree this is partly a comedy. To me, for the most part this was a pure drama.

Anyway, I would definitely recommend you to check this movie out.

7/10

Really enjoyed this Swedish film. It is well-written, in that it has a good moral compass and achieves the message very thoroughly with fine acting. Zandra Andersson was superb IMHO, playing an actress within the film is no easy task and dealing with issues of physical appearance must have been challenging. Bravo! The supporting cast is more than adequate, especially the performance of Anastasios Soulis and Moa Silén. The American title is "Starring Maja" (Swedish title "Princessa"). I thoroughly enjoyed this film because it also doesn't leave you hanging, it comes to a full, definite conclusion, therefore well-written. Sweden keeps coming out with these great films every year! Keep it up! Jätte bra!

a beautiful fat girl. her story as carpet from expectations, searches, pain and naivety. about limits of friendship and trust, success and hope. not great tale but sensitive and warm. pledge for tolerance and for images behind masks. and impressive Zandra Andersson. lightly movie with pieces of cinnamon. and picture of self definition. pledge for difference and lesson about interior beauty, small things and power as part of your mind. deep roots and easy story.in fact, a strange Sweedish film out of ordinaries rules. slice of spring day in which rain and sun are hands of same body. and small crumb from life in happy end juice.