Princess tells the true story of former cabaret dancer Anna Lappalainen's redemptive struggle with insanity, who checked in to Finland's Kellokoski Psychiatric Hospital in 1945.
Acting
Katja Küttner's fractured dignity — never pitiable, always luminous.
Cinematography
Bleached institutional corridors vs. Anna's feverish royal fantasies.
Costume
The makeshift tiaras and scavenged finery that break your heart.
Director
Arto Halonen
Katja Küttner
Anna Lappalainen ("Prinsessa")
Samuli Edelmann
lääkäri Grotenfelt
Krista Kosonen
Christina von Heyroth ("Prinsessan hovineito")
Pirkka-Pekka Petelius
potilas Kuronen ("Rovasti")
Peter Franzén
Saastamoinen
Paavo Westerberg
Lääkäri Alfred Lonka
Antti Litja
Ylilääkäri Soininen
Paula Vesala
Hoitaja Elsa
Tapio Liinoja
Pankinjohtaja Granqvist
Pertti Koivula
Kirurgi Mäkelä
Ulla Tapaninen
Iso-Iita
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The real Anna Lappalainen's actual hospital records were consulted; her 'royal court' of fellow patients was documented fact, not screenwriter invention.
Director Arto Halonen spent years documenting mental health institutions; this remains one of few Finnish films to treat psychiatric patients with dignity rather than horror tropes.
FI
