2014 ‘פרינסס’ Directed by Tali Shalom-Ezer
While her mother is away from home, 12-year-old Adar's role-playing games with her stepfather move into dangerous territory. Seeking an escape, Adar finds Alan, an ethereal boy that accompanies her on a dark journey between reality and fantasy.
An astounding directorial debut by female Israeli Director Tali Shalom Ezer! A bold unflinching tale of child sexual abuse! Masterfully directed with a keen sense of sensitivity rather than cashing in on the provocative aspects of the film and turning this into a lurid sideshow!
Having pondered the film overnight I had an epiphany in regards to the coping mechanism implemented by Adar (Shira Haas) and I crumbled under the weight of this realization!
Admittedly a difficult film to recommend due to the painful subject matter however Tali Shalom Ezer's directorial skills have more than earned your time and goodwill, as a budding young female director with an old soul she has proven without a doubt that she has much…
Adar is a 12 year old girl living with her mother and her new boyfriend Michael. Adar has just entered puberty, she doesn't go to school even though she is a gifted student. There is an issue of boundary here within the two grown ups and the child. Adar listens to their noisy love-making at night as she starts to develop a curiosity.
Adar often gets into bed with them in the night, even when they’re in the middle of having sex and the thing is that nobody seems to care about it as her mother and Michael continue having sex. Adar spends her days mostly at home and when Michael looses his job they shift to playing games.
One…
Another film that doesn’t need a star review (in my opinion)
This movie really makes you squirm. Heavy on just about every emotion and covers a topic that few dare to tackle. For a directorial debut this one’s a rough one to sit through.
I did however want to punch the boyfriend the entire time.
via Mubi
Far too quiet and restrained for the unsettling subject matter, but I think that just makes it more entrancing and uncomfortable. However, it also robs it of some of the impact as it makes it hard to engage with the dramatic material when you’re never fully able to grasp the metaphorical/dream angle.
I think the esoteric nature of this, and the harsh reality of a child’s portrayed disassociation from abuse, would land better if the ending had switched to a more digestible structure.
When the whole film is a simmering pot of questioning and introspection at what you’re witnessing, the ending doesn’t need to be another metaphor or question.
The bulk of this is a unique and subtly distressing look…
Nothing about Princess, Tali Shalom-Ezer's hollow, faux-provocative exploration of child sexual abuse, is impressive enough to justify how repugnant its unnecessarily explicit simulated pedophilia is. One could note that the finale of Catherine Breillat's Fat Girl is at least as graphic, yet however problematic the scene may be, that film is a visionary work of art offering a chilling reminder that the worst things can happen to us at any time. Even aside from its iffy content, Princess is dull, mediocre, and ruined by a narrative device that doesn't work whatsoever. Its moments of sexual assault towards a minor are lurid and have nothing to say beyond "hey, isn't this fucked up?" A grown man actually laying on top of an underage girl and humping her would be extremely difficult to justify even in an artistically worthwhile film. Princess is far from worthwhile. It stinks.
Pretty effective Israeli coming-of-age drama following a 12-year-old girl who lives with her mother and her mother’s boyfriend and oh oh oh. If you like these type of somewhat realistic, somewhat sad/depressing tales, it’s worth checking out, I liked it.
12-year-old Adar has a complicated relationship with her mother and a more civil one with her stepfather, though signs of a bizarre family dynamic emerge instantly. We seen Adar’s constant truancy coinciding with the stepfather mysteriously losing his job, placing them in each other’s company for the entire day while Adar’s mother is at work. Adar’s absence from school results in making a new friend who borders on a doppelgänger as day to day occurrences merge into the surreal and dreamlike. What Shalom-Ezer has done here is show a very real reaction to how children may process abuse and how they may protect themselves from harm with the best of their ability if they are alone and have very little tools at their disposal. Everything in this film worked, including the creative ways it tells a story on a provocative subject. Similar to the film Fortuna, but I found this one much more effective in the way it was told.
Whew, that was intense! There was so much that happened.
Like many others, I need some time and distance to process it all, but at the moment I'm not entirely happy with its ending.
I’m gonna need to sit in my feelings for a couple days with this one. Incredible depiction on what it’s like dealing with sexual abuse. Ending was a little weak but uhhhhh i don’t think i’ll ever forget this film.
I thought this was a pretty compelling way of exploring a kid coping with trauma and sexual abuse. It handled DID in a way that didn’t feel as exploitative as it usually does and felt like it was more sympathetic than just wanting to create a twist where suddenly the character has a different accent isn’t that quirky? (I know that can happen with real DID cases but most movies are interested in exploring the quirkiness rather than the actual cause and function you know?) The home life felt legitimately fucked up in a way that made it feel believable without at all sympathizing with the shitty boyfriend or writing the mom into a scenario where she’s tragically unable to…
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Soon after experiencing her period for the first time, a young girl encounters a homeless teenage boy who looks almost exactly like her with a weird friendship developing between them in this strange coming-of-age drama from Israel. With the similar ways that they dress, walk and talk, the boy is probably intended to be a figment of her imagination - a stand-in perhaps, allowing her to distance herself from certain problems at home. Trouble is, both her mother and stepfather often interact with the pair of them at the same time and sometimes talk about one to the other, which makes it seem near impossible that they are the same…
