Between Fable and Brutal Realism
by Roberto De Paolis
Overview
November 17, 2022
110′
Roberto De Paolis
Roberto De Paolis
Young Films, Indigo Film, Rai Cinema
Claudio Cofrancesco
Paola Freddi
Emanuele de Raymondi, Andrea De Sica
Kevin Glory, Lino Musella, Sandra Osagie, Salvatore Striano
Italia: Lucky Red; Netherlands: Arti Film
Gallery
Poster
Trailer
Pressbook
Representation strategies, rhetorics and stereotypes
Narrative & characters
The protagonist of the film is a young Nigerian woman named Princess, played by Kevin Glory, who works as a sex worker in a forest outside Ostia. Her very name, Princess, foregrounds a complex tension surrounding her identity. As the director has noted, there is a strong “fairy-tale” dimension for her and her friends (also Nigerian sex workers), evident, for instance, in the forest setting and in their belief in magic. These surrealistic elements clash with the brutal reality undocumented immigration of sex work in Italy: poverty, mockery, theft, mistreatment, violence, homelessness.
While the director foregrounds this tension in interviews, the name also carries other contradictory social associations. It invokes monarchies, ideals of royal beauty and grace, though, ironically, it is an uncommon name among aristocrats. Moreover, its frequency among women in English-speaking Africa invokes colonial histories of monarchy, another ironic counterpoint. Princess’s behaviour is not royal but real: she demands respect, fair payment for her labour, and the freedom to express her identity. She is rightly bolshy rather than graceful, facing a four-fold marginalisation in Italian society: as an immigrant, in extreme poverty, a sex worker, and a woman.
Using non-professional actors, apart from a handful of Italian men playing clients, the film captures a strong quasi-documentary realism. This approach was informed by De Paolis’s conversations with West African sex workers and inspiration from their stories. As such, the film gives voice to these marginalised subjects in their own terms, placing them at the centre of the narrative. Rather than offering a purely positive account of immigrant experience, the film portrays its characters as flawed, authentic humans, across all sides of the society depicted.
This is most striking, at times heartbreaking, in Princess’s interactions with the other Nigerian women. Initially, domestic sequences suggest solidarity – especially toward Princess, the youngest– though tinged with mockery and sharp tongues. Later, when Princess disregards the advice of her older friend Success, the two fall out, and she is abused by a client and abandoned with nothing, not even her clothes. This stark humiliation underlines the importance of solidarity between the sex workers.
The representation of the Italian men who come to the forest for sex also seems intended as a slice of life. The film shows young and old, rich and poor, some alone and others with friends. Some reveal embarrassment about paying for sex, while others – especially the wealthy man played by Maurizio Lombardi – are comfortable with their actions.
Where this representation falters is in the mistreatment of prostitutes by almost all of these men, with the key exception of Corrado. Their thefts, exploitations, and refusals to help Princess become clear narrative conventions casting them as “bad guys.” With this choice, the nuance and realism of the women contrast with a reductive binary of the good woman immigrant versus the bad local man. This technique, while not denying the reality of abuse, interrupts the otherwise convincing political realism, and reduces the film’s image of sex work to a series of common clichés. It also perhaps paves the way for the more problematic narrative of the “white saviour,” as we will see.
Stereotypes & strategies of inclusion
The princess and the prince
One of the central aesthetics that Roberto De Paolis plays with in Princess is that of the fairy tale. This choice is striking because it introduces a sense of magical possibility into a narrative otherwise rooted in the harsh realities of exploitation, migration, and survival. The film’s opening credits immediately set this tone. They are stylised like the beginning of a Disney story, with ornate, decorative lettering scrolling vertically on the screen before freezing on the title: Princess.
This gesture invites viewers to read the story through a fairy-tale lens, suggesting that the protagonist herself may see the world in such terms. It also anticipates the narrative arrival of the “prince” who can save the “damsel in distress”. That role is played by Corrado (Lino Musella), a middle-aged Italian man who encounters Princess in the forest while searching for mushrooms. Although Corrado’s relationship with Princess remains ambiguous – he does seem willing to pay her for her time, perhaps for sex – he ultimately comes to embody the possibility of escape, a life removed from the dangers and humiliations of prostitution. This potential is staged most clearly in the karaoke party sequence, where Princess appears for the first time surrounded by people who treat her as a guest rather than as a commodity.
Up to this point, the forest scenes are shot in cool, subdued light, with camerawork that often isolates Princess in the frame, reinforcing her loneliness. It is moreover worth recalling, of course, that the dominant aesthetic of the film is documentary-style realism: an observant camera that tracks the protagonist, presenting her isolation as the brutal truth that counters and contradicts the fairy-tale: There are no heroes in the traditional sense, nor are there neat resolutions. What emerges instead is a patchwork of human experiences, fragile moments that reflect the complexity of life on the margins – captured through many close ups that depict the emotional strain in her expressions. At the party, however, the lighting turns warm, and the framing shifts to include her alongside others. She is not the object of scrutiny but part of a group, momentarily folded into a sense of belonging, and as a result the films close ups capture Princess smiling and happy.
The ending of the film complicates this trajectory. Princess finally agrees to stay the night at Corrado’s home, opening herself to the possibility of stability with a boyfriend. But following a small accident – she wets the bed – she flees in humiliation, despite Corrado’s patience and gentle reassurance. The film does not explicitly blame her for this refusal, yet the narrative seems to suggest that trauma prevents her from seizing the opportunity to “be saved”. The problematic implication that underlies this, however, is that salvation was available – perhaps only? – through a white Italian man, and that she is too broken to accept it. This is hammered home through the final tracking shot of the film, which leaves Princess barely visible in the dark, a stark contrast to the warm light of Corrado’s life, before the film’s title returns in its fairy-tale font, albeit now just an outline, no longer filled in.
This tension leads to one of the problems of Princess. On one hand, the film makes a significant step forward in representing a marginalised figure with nuance and dignity. Princess is not reduced to stereotype: she is defiant, outspoken, demanding respect and fair treatment: a powerful image of a woman and a (sex) worker. On the other, the representational balance falters in the depiction of men. With the exception of Corrado, almost all male clients are portrayed as cruel, exploitative, or indifferent. They steal, humiliate, or abuse the women. Depending so much on this narrative device risks reducing the film’s complexity into a binary: the good immigrant woman and mistreated sex workver vs the morally corrupt men, with a single exception. Indeed, this sharp contrast exaggerates Corrado’s difference and frames him as a truly decent figure: the one who isn’t seeking sex work, but mushrooms, mistrusting of all people except Princess, the prince who might rescue her. It also edges the story toward a familiar “white saviour” structure, where the possibility of redemption or dignity does not come autonomously, but only through the intervention of a benevolent outsider – whether or not she is willing and able to accept that.
Conversations
Giorgio Viaro interviews director Roberto De Paolis and actors Glory Kevin and Lino Musella for the presentation of the film at the 79th Venice Film Festival (Best Movie, September 1, 2022).
Press conference with the cast, crew and producers of Princess at the 79th Venice Film Festival (Lifestyle Made in Italy, August 31, 2022).
[Kevin Glory] «I’m the Princess in the movie. The character I play in the movie, they did not force me to do it, it’s all my past, it’s my experience in the streets, walking in the streets. […] I did this film for my African people, so that the world can see what they are passing through in the streets, the way the client is maltreating them, like they are not human beings».
“Interview with Roberto De Paolis”. From the film’s pressbook.
«The character I had written before meeting her – which was in any case based on the testimonies of many African sex workers – ‘adapted’ to her. We ‘wrote’ together by rehearsing scenes, talking about her life, the street, etc. She felt free to step in, to change things, and I am very proud of that: the freedom we gave her to represent herself, to tell her own story, is very important. Perhaps it was the first time she had ever been granted such freedom, moreover by a team entirely made up of Italians».
«Immigrants are often portrayed as good, very good people, almost like innocent children. Maybe it’s a way of easing one’s conscience, because politically they are treated terribly. I wanted this character to emerge in all her complexity, 360 degrees: with her beauty and her anger, with her courage and her fear».
“Princess, Roberto De Paolis: ‘A Bitter and Real Fairy Tale. Between Nights of Cabiria and Beauty and the Beast’”. In MoviePlayer.it, November 20, 2022. Damiano Panattoni interviews director Roberto De Paolis.
«I thought of Beauty and the Beast, and I partly drew inspiration from the film […] There’s the forest, the voiceover, the titles, the music. There’s a direct inspiration for the beginning, because the audience first had to make fairy-tale-like associations that were then overwhelmed by reality. The fairy-tale elements do appear, it’s true, but then they merge with the harshness of truth. Those fairy-tale elements, like the ones I mentioned, are part of these girls’ lives, as is their strong belief in magic».
Business strategies and communication rhetorics
Strategies
Princess received funding from the Italian Ministry of Culture as a direct contribution to production (€350.000, source) for a first or second films (it is De Paolis’s second feature film). In 2022 the application indicates a 50/50 production split between Young Films and Indigo: Princess had initially been refused selective production funding when Young Film applied in 2019.
The film is produced by the production company owned by Roberto De Paolis and Carla Altieri. The script was written following a year of research, during which De Paolis spoke at length with West African sex workers and charitable associations for migrants and sex workers. Based on this experience, De Paolis wrote the treatment and screenplay for the film, with Rai Cinema becoming involved from the development stage, and Indigo Film after the screenplay was completed.
The stories told by the prostitutes interviewed by De Paolis together with the experiences that the non-professional actors, including Kevin Glory and Sandra Osagie, not only enabled the film to narrate the stories of these women with authenticity, but also to give voice back to the women themselves. In many interviews and accounts of the filming process, Glory has insisted on the freedom she was given when acting, even when changing lines or moments of action to align them more explicitly to her idea of Princess. Likewise De Paolis has commented that often the experience of Glory, Osagie and the others fed directly into the story.
The producers of the film have spoken of the importance of trusting the filmmaker and the non-professional actors involved in order to enable the production of films like Princess, and to shed light on the marginalized lives of women like her. In an interview two years after the release of the film, for instance, Nicola Giuliano – one of the producers of the film and co-founder of Indigo Film – mentions his pride that his name will forever be attached to Princess, given the social importance of the film and despite its low economic potential.
Communication rhetorics
The one-sheet of Princess is a photograph of Kevin Glory with a beaded crown over a monotone pink background, featuring the title of the film in a cursive font. While it gives little away about the story of the film, it speaks to the fairy tale / real life dynamic mentioned above. The bold use of the colour pink evokes the brightly coloured wigs used by the protagonist to conceal herself among different identities. Later versions of this image also include positive reviews with 4+ stars and choice quotes from critics, therefore positioning the film in terms of its prestige economy, as an arthouse success.
The film was selected as the opening film of the “Orrizonti” (Horizons) selection at the 79th Venice Film Festival, screening several times between 31 August and 1 September 2022. The presence of the film, and most definitively its selection l, feature heavily in the promotion of the film. Italian Distributor Lucky Red published nine trailers and clips for the film via YouTube, eight of which mention this selection in the title alone.
The main trailer of the film, released around one month before the film, presents snapshots of a wide range of sequences from the film, beginning with the karaoke party and concluding with a tracking shot through the woods. The only dialogue we hear are lines spoken by Princess to Corrado about her desire not to be used – even as a possible companion or girlfriend – therefore centralising her sense of freedom and self-affirmation as a key interpretative frame. The name of the director is also prominent, in addition to a reference to one of his previous films, positioning him as a contemporary auteur and Princess within that context.
Conversations
Press conference with the crew of Princess at the Venice Film Festival, including producers Paolo Del Brocco of Rai Cinema, Carla Altieri of Young Film, and Nicola Giuliani of Indigo Film (Lifestyle Made in Italy, August 31, 2022).
«They make [films of this kind] with courage, with boldness, and with respect […] It takes courage, because respecting the director, respecting the story, respecting therefore the choice of having Glory Kevin as the protagonist, and all the others, working with non-professional actors, being so close to reality – that needs to be protected, it needs to be defended. To do this, it takes courage, it takes great passion, and one must work together, as a team, which is precisely the context we found with Rai Cinema, who from the beginning supported the development and the screenplay and then confirmed their support also in production, and with Nicola Giuliano, Francesca Cima and Carlotta Calori at Indigo Film, who immediately supported the film together with us».
“Nicola Giuliano: ‘The Only True Judge of Films, in the End, Is Time’”. In FanPage.it, January 5, 2024. Interview by Gianmaria Tammaro with producer Nicola Giuliano of Indigo Film.
«NG: When I read the screenplay of Princess by Roberto De Paolis, I never stopped to worry, banally, about its economic promise; I immediately told myself that it was a film that was worth making, irrespective of its box office takings. […]
GT: And ultimately you succeeded, you made Princess.
NG: I’m happy about this, because the film deserved it. And also because, one day, when I am no longer around, my name will be there and I can be remembered also for this».
VENEZIA 79 “Princess” di Roberto De Paolis: interview curated by Cinemaitaliano.info with the director who speaks about the production of the film and the decision to work with Kevin Glory.
Circulation and audience responses
Circulation patterns
In addition to the Venice film festival – where the film debuted at the “Orizzonti” section, “dedicated to films that represent the latest aesthetic and expressive trends, with special attention to debut films” – the film was then presented at another 30 festivals across Italy and the world. While most of these were either general festivals or were dedicated to new films or aesthetics, a handful were specifically dedicated to political themes: Segni Particolari: Migrante (Asti, April 2023) and Primo Piano sull’Autore – Pianeta Donna (Perugia, December 2022).
The domestic distribution of the film was handled by the distributor Lucky Red, and international sales were managed by Rome-based True Colours. Princess was released in a handful of European markets: Benelux, distributed by Arti Film, and Romania, by Ceau Cinema. Its ticket sales were limited, however, with a reported 5,000 tickets across these countries, 3900 in Italy and beginning with around twenty screens for the debut weekend (sources: Lumière, Cinecittanews).
Post-theatrical, the film was screened on 13 March 2025 on the channel Rai 5, in the evening (21.15). A DVD edition of the film was released in May 2023, produced by Lucky Red. With regard to digital distribution, the film is currently available on demand in thirteen countries, including, in particular HBO Max (10 countries). In Italy the film is relatively accessible, despite its limited theatrical success: in addition to RaiPlay, it can be streamed via SVOD on Amazon Prime and TIMvision, and rented via Google and iTunes.
Festivals
- Mostra Internazionale d’Arte Cinematografica di Venezia – Orizzonti (Competition) 2022
- Da Venezia a Roma 2022
- Annecy Cinema Italien (Competition) 2022
- Haifa International Film Festival 2022
- Cinema Made in Italy – Athens 2022
- Visioni Italiane – Officinema 2022
- Parma Video Film Festival 2022
- MittelCinemaFest 2022
- Ventana Sur European Films 2022
- Primo Piano sull’Autore – Pianeta Donna (Competition) 2022
- Mostra de Cinema Italià de Barcelona 2022
- Insoliti Ignoti 2023
- Moviemov – Italian Film Festival (Official Selection) 2023
- Segni Particolari: Migrante 2023
- Festival del Cinema Citta’ di Spello (Competition: Italian Films) 2023
- Bellaria Film Festival (Casa Rossa Competition) 2023
- OPEN ROADS: New Italian Cinema 2023
- Il Flaiano in Sala 2023
- Filmfest Munchen Cinevision (Competition) 2023
- Europe on Screen 2023
- Altre Rive. Festival Cinematografico Interculturale 2023
- Savona Screen Festival – Cinema in Fortezza 2023
- Era Nowe Horizonty Miedzynarodowy Festiwal Filmowy 2023
- Ceau, Cinema! Festival de Buzuna (Competition) 2023
- Arena Nuovo Sacher 2023
- Migrant Stories in Italian Cinema 2023
- Festival du Film Italien de Villerupt 2023
- Visioni Italiane – Officinema (Competition: Premio I(n)soliti Ignoti) 2023
- SIFF’s Cinema Italian Style 2023
- Quinzaine du Cinema Italien a Chambery 2023
- Portofranco – Il Cinema Invisibile al Baretti 2024
Awards
- Mostra Internazionale d’Arte Cinematografica di Venezia:
- Festival del Cinema Citta’ di Spello:
- Best Live Sound Recording (Angelo Bonanni)
- Best Sound Editing (Alessandro Feletti)
- Best Make-up (Giovanna Turco)
- Fabrique du Cinema Award:
- Best Innovative Italian Work
- Primo Piano sull’Autore – Pianeta Donna:
- Best Acress (Gloria Kevin)
- Best Film
- Best Editing (Paola Freddi)
Reception
Despite its limited circulation, Princess obtained widespread critical recognition. Broadly, the positive elements identified by critics were the elegant style and a powerful sense of authenticity – not only for the realism of the film, but also for its more light-hearted moments. The performance of Kevin Glory was also the source for much positive criticism, especially in light of her lack of prior acting experience. The “authenticity” of both the story and the performance are very often tied to the social core of the film and the importance of stories about marginal lives, such as those of Princess and her companions. While most reviews do not lean into any analysis of the film in terms of diversity, nor the racial or gender identity of the protagonist, what is particularly common is the recognition that the film achieves the right balance in representing clandestine immigration, dodging moral positions or simplistic binaries.
Somewhat interestingly, the few English-language reviews of the film (mostly responses to the screening at Venice) are more negative, criticising the mismatch between drama and comedy or the lack of direction of the film – perhaps signalling different standards in different cultural contexts for films that deal with this kind of content.The audience response to the film is likewise mostly positive: 195 reviews on IMDb provide a review average of 6.5 – though, interestingly, the average is more positive (6.7) for reviewers in Italy and the Netherlands (total 104 reviews), while reviewers based in the USA (21) Romania (15) and Poland (7) rate the film considerably lower, at around 5.0. Of course, the reviews are relatively few and therefore statistically insignificant, evidently reflecting the limited distribution of the film. The same tendency is evident on Rotten Tomatoes and MyMovies, where the rating is very similar (67/100 and 3.2/5 respectively), but based on a very small number of reviews. User reviews are categorised by many of the same themes: on the positive side, the skill of the lead actress and satisfaction with a focus on such unseen stories; on the negative, the lack of direction or unsatisfying conclusion, and some indication of Corrado as a “white saviour”. In the words of one reviewer on Letterboxd – where Princess has an average of – “the idea was there but the execution went nowhere”.
Italian and foreign press
Italian Press
Paolo Mereghetti, “The World of Princess Is a Road Without Prejudice (Rating 8)”, Corriere della Sera, September 1, 2022.
«Roberto De Paolis’s Princess asks the spectator to put aside any desire to separate the ‘good’ from the ‘bad’, to squeeze the film into their own prejudices or judgments, and instead to open their eyes to a kind of life that has been widely discussed but rarely explored. This is a story that has been previously recounted with much rhetoric, but here the director instead tells it while suspending any kind of judgment».
Gabriele Niola, “Princess, The Review”, BadTaste.it, August 31, 2022.
«With his second film, Roberto De Paolis stops being “promising” and is confirmed as a talent. For the second time, he finds in his actors an exceptional naturalness, with no distinctions emerging between non-professional actors and those with experience (like Lino Musella). […] This works, thankfully, without following the trite convention of a prostitute who is seeking a way to change her life, but by depicting them as people who define themselves within this trajectory, who see their work as a phase that will lead to another, as little entrepreneurs with big dreams».
Review of Princess by user Jamesplacucci via Letterboxd.
«A sad parable of compromised femininity, a film that flirts with magic realism in a sweet and fascinating way. The fundamental assumption of this love story from a social perspective is a little bit taken for granted, and the finale ends with a predictable kind of cynicism. It’s still the result of a complex and fully-realised vision of the world, and it would have done well in the competition [at Venice], too. Splendid protagonists».
Foreign Press
Lee Marshall, “‘Princess’: Venice Review”, Screen Daily, August 31, 2022.
«Romance, in Princess’ world, is just another word for freeloading. She’s not wrong: one of the film’s real strengths is the way that it upends lazy audience assumptions, and without remotely sugar-coating Princess (who remains spiky to the end), generates sympathy by taking us into a mindset where sympathy is a luxury».
Damon Wise, “Venice Review: Roberto De Paolis’ Horizons Opener ‘Princess’”, Deadline, August 31, 2022.
«a curiously queasy mix of comedy and drama that, while taking an admirable view of its lead character as a complex heroine rather than a victim to be pitied, falls into many of the same tropes in more cliched depictions of prostitution. […] Princess herself is an engaging and, because of her fixation with money, often brazenly unsympathetic character, but she’s the only aspect of the film that’s likely to linger in the memory».