Prinzessin (Princess)

German. English sub-titles.

The 'princesses' of the title are a gang of four young women, living in the public housing slums of a dismal West German suburb: Katharina, recently relocated from Russia; Yvonne, who's about to go to prison for almost beating another girl to death; perverse, sexually aggressive Jenny; and Mandy, a creepily precocious 11-year-old. It's the dead space between Christmas and New Year's Eve, and the girls are trying to make the most of Yvonne's last day of freedom: the following morning, she must report to jail. But Yvonne, unpredictable to the last, has other plans... Depicting its dead-end setting with discomfiting fidelity, lit by flashes of sudden, surreal invention (like the sound of fireworks, constantly exploding from the tenement balconies), this is a powerful, harrowing drama about friendship, loyalty and betrayal.

Quality: Very Good.