User Reviews

The Brazilian transvestite Fernanda a.k.a. Princesa (Ingrid de Souza) travels to Milan to meet her friend Charlo (Biba Lerhue) and work on the streets as prostitute to raise money for a sex change surgery. Fernanda dreams on changing sex; find her prince charming and have a normal couple life. When Fernanda meets the married lawyer Gianni (Cesare Bocci), her dreams come true: Gianni falls in love for her and leaves his wife Lidia (Alessandra Acciai), moves with Fernanda to an apartment of their own and finances her aimed surgery. However, when Lidia visits Fernanda in her apartment and tells her that she is pregnant, the transsexual realizes that she would never be a complete woman and her relationship with Gianni would not last.

"Princesa" is a good movie with an unconventional romance of a woman trapped in a man's body that has the dream of most teenagers from the countryside (in her case, from the North of Brazil): to get married and raise a family. The Brazilian director Henrique Goldman uses a stylish grainy image that gives the sensation of documentary in many moments and an amateurish cast that has great performances giving a total credibility to the plot. The sex scenes are not free exploitation but part of the reality of the lives of the transsexual characters in Europe. In spite of the theme, this movie was a pleasant surprise for me. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Princesa" ("Princess")

I loved the movie as well. It was honest, beautifully written, shot, scored, and casted.

I really liked the protagonist, the he and the she. I disagree with one of the posters that it was sad. Yes, some things didn't work out, but the protagonist still moves on with a hope and a dream that is still in tack. Life is often not perfect, but still, there is beauty in it, just as the policeman said as he so tactfully took the protagonist down from a roof in Milan.

This film depicts the story of Fernanda, who is born as a male but considers "herself" as a female. She migrated to Italy to work as a prostitute, hoping to earn money for her sex reassignment surgery. There she met Gianni, who fell in love with her later despite knowing her true identity. In the end, she chose to leave him and stay being a prostitute because she knows that they cannot have the future that Gianni wants.

The story is sad, and it gives the audience a feeling that it is very realistic. The music used in the film matches well with the scenes, it works to give more sentimental feeling to the piece. The opening scene is shocking, and it shows Fernanda's extremely low self-esteem. This scene already hints that something unusual is going on in the film, and it prepares the audience for that. The plot is organized in a nice way, which progresses well to fit Fernanda's change of mind, from eager for SRS to finally willing to stay as a woman trapped in a man's body. She sacrifice a lot for Gianni, and it is very painful for her to make the decision.

In general, the movie is a good one. It is more explicit than the others, since sexual scenes takes up quite a large portion of the film. This may be referred to the cultural extent, as stereotypically Europeans gives others a feeling that they are more open to sex. Acting is good, and I think the casting is perfect as the actress is a transsexual herself. She has been through all the real struggles and she is basically a different Fernanda. It is not that much acting for her, and I think this is the main element which makes this piece a good one.

Fernanda, a Brazilian transsexual, embarks on a trip to Italy, where some of her friends are working as prostitutes. She figures that working there will help her get the money for the operation that will make her a woman, something she has always wanted, but never had the means to pay for the costly procedure. Basically, Fernanda is a good soul trapped in a man's body; even though Fernanda has enlarged her breasts, she is not completely sure of the next step.

We first meet Fernanda on the train that is taken her to Milano. After the police begin to check on documents, they discover his passport photo which shows a man. She is arrested and she suffers a humiliating experience when the officer in charge wants to take advantage of her. After she arrives in Milan, her friend Charlo takes her to meet Karin, an Italian woman who controls the action in that part of town. Karin puts her through the test with Fabrizio, a kind soul who is connected to Karin's circle. Karin eventually invites her to move in with her.

Fernanda has an encounter with a man that will change her life. Gianni, the man that invites her for a ride in his car, acts shyly at first, but Fernanda, who turns aggressive, gets him aroused, until he discovers this girl has some attribute he never guessed she had. Disgusted by his discovery, Gianni throws Fernanda from the car, almost naked.

Gianni, whose conscience must have bothered him, comes back to return Fernanda's things and invites her to dinner the following night. Karin, who senses Fernanda is falling in love, warns her about it, but Fernanda feels Gianni is an honest man. Gianni eventually leaves his wife and moves in with Fernanda into what appears a blissful relationship. She has started to take the medicine before her operation, but they have a bad effect on her. When Gianni's estranged wife comes to visit Fernanda, she understands her life with Gianni was doomed.

Director Fernando Goldman offers a frank account on the life of these transsexuals that are found all over Europe as they engage in prostitution. It appears the more exotic the transsexual, the more demand for them from the men that love that type of sexual encounter. Mr. Goldman presents this crude story without embellishments, which in a way is a more realistic approach to the lives he is examining. Don't expect a "Pretty Woman" here, this is the way these people live and are exploited by the system.

Ingrid DeSouza makes an impression with her take on Fernanda, who is a backward girl who learns quickly about how to peddle herself in the new environment. Ms. DeSouza is perfect for the part. Cesare Bocci, who plays Gianni, makes a valuable contribution in making his character someone who is believable without being a caricature. Lulu Pecorari is also wonderful as Karin, the kind hearted woman who knows Fernanda is making a big mistake when she goes to live with Gianni.

"Princesa" is worth a look because the excellent direction by Fernando Goldman who shows he knows these women and their world.

Princesa follows the life of Fernanda a transvestite Brazilian prostitute living in Milan. She desires to have a sex change which leads her to work in the streets to support this decision. The film under the human drama genre follows the motives and emotional struggle Fernanda goes through living as a trans gender and prostitute. As her will of becoming a woman is becomes stronger, the barriers that come with being a transsexual/trans gender also hit her hard. As she falls in love with a straight man Gianni, and finds light in the darkness of society's perception and prejudice against her, her life seem to move in a positive and normal direction. But as the film moves forward, Fernanda realizes that a sex change would not give her what she's always wanted: to become a normal woman. The film covers the inner emotional journey a trans gender or transsexual goes through in association with society. The film in no way glamourizes or romanticizes the position transsexuals are put in society, but it explores and provides a point of view for an audience with no knowledge or little knowledge on the topic. It also portrays the environment and work that trans genders are drawn into because of society's lack of acceptance and opportunity. For someone who has little knowledge of the industry they work in, it was chaotic and overwhelming to process, but nonetheless very educational. Fernanda's relationship with Gianni was also covered in a way that allows the audience to understand Fernanda's identity as a woman. With Gianni, although their first encounter was as a client and prostitute, it clearly became clear their relationship was based on emotional attachment and pure attraction to each other. Although their relationship seemed healthy and equal, Fernanda was still hit with the reality and insecurity that she may never be the "True Woman" she wanted to.

Princsesa is a film based on a true story of a Brazillian transsexual who was dreaming to have a sex operation, which eventually lead her to do prostitution to make her dream come true. This film shows the realistic side of prostitution, how transvestites and transsexual work for money enable to survive, it shows how dark and miserable their lives are. Fernanda is one of the prostitutes that work in the streets of Milan, she wanted to earn a lot of money to support her sex change operation and also to support her family back in Brazil. This two main things are the reason why she moved to Milan until he met Gianni. Their love story was very romantic, and shows how even prostitutes may experience a true love from a stranger in the street. Fernanda was confident about herself that she is pretty enough to earn money for her sex change operation but this confidence fades away when she started to go out with Gianni. With Gianni, she felt the love of a real man to a woman but at the same time this love also made her feel that no matter how much Gianni loves her and even she go through a sex change she will never be a real woman because she cannot bear a child. This was the main reason why she decided to go back to the street and sacrifice her love for Gianni.

Overall this movie is really a good one. It touches the reality of prostitution world, the differences of transvestite and transsexual and also the true love that can occur between a transsexual and a heterosexual.

Princesa is beautiful. In order for sexual-minorities to get money, they need to work in a environment they do not deserve. Prostitution is always a problem, but could be one of the only choice they could afford to live. It is almost a miracle that a straight man has loved Princesa for who she is, although she still has the mens feature in her body. They are going through difficulties with health problems such as HIV and AIDS. To prevent this, I think more job opportunities are necessary, and they should be given more rights as a human-being just like everybody else. The movie ends with her smile, which is very sad and ironic. A great movie to watch and think about.

Princesa is a movie about a prostitute from Brazil that flies to Italy to work and earn enough money to become a "normal woman". She fantasizes a normal life that frees her from the world of prostitution and being a woman trapped inside of a mans body. Compared to the other prostitutes in the movie, she is filled with hope and dreams - to live life as a lady.

After a humiliating experience, she meets a man that wants to take her out on a date and treat her like a lady, just as she had dreamed. However she does not easily give in completely, but he lets her know how passionate and in love he is with her and she finally accepts that she is in love as well. Her friends however tell her that the man she has fallen in love with is just gay and wants to spend time with her for fun and her suspicion leads her to feel uneasy around him. However from every scene we can tell that this man is completely head over heals in love with Princesa and even breaks it off with his wife and lives with Princesa and offers to pay for the expensive sex changing surgery.

However in the end she cannot fully accept his love because she realizes she will never be a true woman, and offer him a baby that he has always dreamed of. She comes to understand that she cannot have the fairytale life that she had always dreamed of, and to live a normal life as a woman. This crushes her and brings her back into the sex industry.

Judging by other movies and documentaries, and comparing it to this movie, we can see why transgender girls have a tendency to go back into the sex industry - to afford the sex change and also because they cannot fit into other types of work. They are not accepted by society in this way. In the scenes were Princesa is glared by her boyfriends friends girlfriend shows how women are not even on her side. She cannot get the support from women in general. This movie really gave insight into how prostitution can damage someone emotionally.