We’ve started the week in regal style with the release of THE GIRL KING now available on DVD and VoD. You can now explore the controversial world of Queen Kristina and find out about her royal scandal from the comfort of your own home.

Typically for the idiosyncratic Kaurismaki, who spent over a decade bringing the film to the screen, THE GIRL KING, is not a straightforward period film. It is not intended as a traditional costume piece but as an intense, actor-centred psychological drama about one of the most interesting an mysterious personalities of all time, explains Karuismaki. Queen Kristina was a revolutionary thinker, a connoisseur of art and science, a precursor of the feminist movement and a strong and visionary politician, a new European.

This historical epic set in 17th century Sweden is very much a modern tale of a young woman fighting for her freedom and desires. Raised as a prince under a conservative Lutheran court, Kristina began to rule at the age of 18, quickly challenging everyone’s expectations in an all-male court by taking the lead and fearlessly rejecting its conservative rules. When faced between her country, a male suitor and her religion, Kristina caused a scandal when she chose not to marry and instead anointed the alluring Countess Ebba Sparre as her “Bed Companion”. With a love for the philosopher Decartes, Kristina embarks on a journey of self-discovery in which her authenticity and bravery outshone the many obstacles that came her way.

Directed by the renowned Mika Kaurismaki and led by rising star Malin Buska as the fearless monarch, the film is a powerful story about the importance of staying true to yourself and as Kaurismaki explains: “I hope young people can identify with this film as many are in a similar situation to Kristina and they don’t know what they want to do with their lives. They want to have the freedom to make the right decisions. It is a universal story about how you want to live. It is as resonant today as it was 500 years ago.”