Andrea Iervolino and Lady Monika Bacardi’s AMBI Group continues its relentless financing and production push…
Italy’s production and finance company AMBI Pictures Group has acquired the English language remake rights to Arto Halonen’s highly acclaimed, award winning Finnish feature PRINCESS, based on the amazing real life story of cabaret dancer Anna Lappalainen.
Following up on their recent success with THE HUMBLING starring Al Pacino (which is garnering serious Oscar attention) Iervolino and Lady Bacardi are financing and producing the English language remake with an eye toward aligning with A-list female talent for the picture, and AMBI’s sales arm, AMBI Distribution, is handling worldwide sales.
Released in Finland in 2010, the original screenplay for PRINCESS was written by Pirjo Toikka, Arto Halonen and Paavo Westerberg and topped the Finnish box office for many weeks, and has been one of the most successful films of recent years. It received numerous awards and international recognition, including the Finnish Oscar equivalent, the Jussi Prize, for Best Actress.
The original PRINCESS starred many of Finland’s leading actors including Katja Kuttner, Samuli Edelmann, Krista Kosonen and Peter Franzen and was the fiction film debut of the award-winning documentary filmmaker Arto Halonen, director of Shadow of the Holy Book, Pavlov’s Dogs and The Magnetic Man.
Based on a true story, PRINCESS tells the remarkable and heart felt story of Anna Lappalainen‘s redemptive struggle with insanity. In 1945, Finland’s Kellokoski Psychiatric Hospital took her in as a new patient and the former cabaret dancer was diagnosed with manic depression and schizophrenia. She refused to answer to her real name, insisting instead that she is a Princess and a member of the British royal family. “Princess” demands to be treated with respect, declares the hospital her castle, and holds court with a makeshift collection of ladies-in-waiting. Her delusional charm, and eccentric manner has a surprisingly positive effect on the exhausted hospital staff, the quirky patients, and even the local villagers.
The primitive psychiatric procedures of the time insulin shots, electroshock therapy, and daily “cognac” treatments had no effect on her condition, and soon the stern Doctor Grotenfelt recommended the modern procedure of lobotomy to end her royal delusions, but before his treatment could begin, the nurses argued that life for their patients has never been better since the arrival of their “Princess.”
In 1995, her memory was honoured by a memorial monument in the Kellokoski hospital grounds designed by sculptor Rauni Liukko. It is allegedly the only monument in the world dedicated to a psychiatric patient. The statue symbolizes the flow of life, and is a tribute not to Princess alone, but to all patients who have received psychiatric care.
The film has even spawned a musical adaptation for the stage, which was the most successful musical in the 2013-2014 season, while playing in Finland’s second biggest theatre (Tampereen Työväen Teatteri).
In addition to PRINCESS, AMBI are racking up their production slate with romantic comedy ALL ROADS LEAD TO ROME starring Sarah Jessica Parker; the sci-fi action thriller ANDRON: THE BLACK LABYRINTH starring Alec Baldwin and Danny Glover; the Barry Levinson directed drama THE HUMBLING starring Al Pacino; the thriller HOPE LOST with Danny Trejo, Mischa Barton and Michael Madsen to name but a few.
