Generally favorable reviews - based on 13 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 13
  2. Negative: 0 out of 13
  1. Reviewed by: Ron Wells
    The final result becomes a search not for a knight in shining armor, but one of acceptance for one's own identity.
  2. Reviewed by: David Rooney
    A thoughtful, restrained, refreshingly nonjudgmental melodrama that reflects on interesting questions regarding sexuality, identity and self-acceptance.
  3. 75
    An engaging and powerful portrayal of puberty gone awry.
  4. A sympathetic look at what it's like to be a Brazilian transsexual prostitute working in Milan.
  5. The well-made Princesa is daring, for it ends on an upbeat note in circumstances that are traditionally treated otherwise.
  6. It could easily have become either prurient or moralistic, but Mr. Goldman's stance is that of a sympathetic observer, and his style combines ground-level realism with a touch of Almodóvarian extravagance.
  7. It's odd for a film to be both dramatically conventional yet emotionally bizarre at the same time, as this one is.
  8. 63
    Features abundant sex and nudity, yet it manages to tell its story (based on a real character) with great sensitivity.
  9. Reviewed by: Ken Fox
    This raw and raunchy drama from director Henrique Goldman offers what few feature films have ever bothered to attempt: a realistic, wholly sympathetic look at the lives of transgendered prostitutes.
  10. Reviewed by: David Parkinson
    A neo-realist fairy tale that charms without losing sight of its key themes of exploitation and truth to one’s self.
  11. Reviewed by: Ed Park
    Unsettling in spots, Princesa ultimately glosses over the futility of Fernanda's plight, her misery rapidly erased.
  12. An evocative melancholy hangs over Princesa, Henrique Goldman's intermittently affecting tale.
  13. By the time Princesa finally slides into halfhearted melodrama in its last quarter, we're only too happy to follow Fernanda back to the rim and a little excitement.
User Score

No user score yet- Awaiting 2 more ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 2
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 2
  3. Negative: 0 out of 2
  1. FrankC.
    Jan 2, 2003
    [***POTENTIAL SPOILERS INCLUDED IN THIS REVIEW***] Ingrid de Souza is romantic & real, and I appreciated the sweet sounding AUWE singing the classic "Estate" during the closing credits. A final comment on what the writers of the film's description seem to keep missing: Ingrid's love interest Gianni left his wife because she wouldn't give him children. Fernanda walked away from Gianni because she realized that ultimately the same thing would eventually happen to her. And the double-whammy pain immediately set in for her with the realization that this pattern would duplicate itself no matter which man she might take up with in the future. This double-realization is what made Fernanda became suicidal. But she opts to commit suicide slowly instead of quickly (Though she's perfectly healthy for now, she will now move to duplicate her dying Brazilian friend Chato by returning to the street until AIDS catches up to her too.). The overall tragedy for her character is that either way she's embracing a future without a future. Her apparent glee at the end of the movie is thinly veiled resignation to an irrecoverable loss. "Princesa" is a sweetly melancholy film that requires empathy to appreciate. I recommend it to conservative & liberal alike. You'll like it, I promise. Full Review »