Why you can trust 12DOVE Our experts review games, movies and tech over countless hours, so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about our reviews policy.
Director Henrique Goldman tenderly calls Princesa "the story of an outsider struggling to fulfil a dream". Producer Rebecca O'Brien, however, is more blunt, describing it as "Pretty Woman - - but Julia Roberts has a dick".
Set in the seedy streets inhabited by Milan's transvestite sex workers and their allegedly straight clients, Goldman's feature follows Fernanda (Ingrid De Souza), a pre-op transsexual from the Brazilian backwoods who dreams of finding her prince in a pond of toads. The themes (sexual exploitation, mutable gender identity) read like a Guardian feature, but the director's warm, non-judgemental storytelling thankfully favours art over worthy voyeurism.
Leading a largely amateur cast whose nervy brio redeems their lack of polish, 19-year-old De Souza - - whose life largely parallels Fernanda's - - is a true find. Awkward, fragile, stubborn and seductive, she's an Amazonian Jaye Davidson, turning the debased coin of Fernanda's realm into a regal, affecting performance.
