The real-life Cinderella story (with a real-life ending) ofKarin Månsdotter, a commoner who became the consort of Erik XIV,and later his queen, would hold a wealth of interest for Sjöberg,anti-monarchical, proto-feminist, and fascinated by cross-class love.Erik was a Hamlet-like figure on the Swedish throne, a giftedrenaissance prince who retaliated for a royal refusal of marriage bymarrying his mistress, Karin, thus unleashing the wrath of the nobilityagainst him. Sjöberg's remarkable film is divided into three parts.The first is a Brechtian fantasy drawing on the implied fairy-tale of asoldier's daughter being cast as the king's mistress, color fading toblack-and-white when Karin realizes the implications of her position.The second plays with theatrics while Karin becomes a pawn in a game nother own; the third deals with Karin's exile and flight. The tendernessof the acting contrasts with the dynamic narrative, photographed (amidthe castles of Sweden) by the young Sven Nykvist.