BRATTLEBORO — Based on the true story of Anna Lappalainen, a Finnish woman who suffered from bipolar disorder and schizophrenia and believed she was a member of the British Royal Family, Princessa elegantly and unflinchingly examines her nine-year stay at the Kellokoski Psychiatric Hospital from 1945 to 1954, and focuses on the effect her behavior and mannerisms had on both the staff and her fellow patients.
“My royal aim is to help those in need,” she says.
With this philosophy, Anna, a former masseuse recently committed by her mother, manages to improve the lives of other patients and frustrate the medical staff who preach humane treatment while practicing inhumane methods.
Convinced that she is royalty, Anna calls herself “Princess” and behaves as such, wearing jewelry and tiaras, refusing to participate in chores, and calling the nurses “peasants.” Her doctors believe that she is delusional and practice electroshock therapy on her, with no result.
After thwarting the suicide attempt of a patient who calls herself a Baroness, Princess decides to help her. She similarly reaches out to other patients, treating them with kindness and generosity. She endears herself to the people of the village and to one doctor in particular, Dr. Lonka, who alone wants to accept her as a princess.
Though delusional, Princess stands in direct contrast to most of the medical staff, who insist on changing with the times and using the newest types of treatment, such as lobotomy, in an effort to be more “humane.”
The medical staff never interact with their patients in the same way that Princess does. They are shown administering treatments, using sedation and restraints and discussing the newest technology as measures that will help their patients, but those same patients are never humanized.
Only Princess treats them like real people, and the effect she has on them ends up more healing than any other method.
With performances given by each cast member that are affecting and memorable, especially Katja Kukkola in the title role and Krista Kosonen as her haunted and tragic “lady-in-waiting,” the film stays true to many of the events of Anna Lappaleinen's life and contrasts her happy, dignified demeanor with the struggles of other patients who are tormented by their addictions and unstable mental states.
.