Cesare Bocci Movies

Fernanda (Ingrid de Souza) is a transgendered youth who was born and raised in a small town in Brazil; though born a male, Fernanda chooses to live life as a woman, and has pulled up stakes to move to Italy and obtain sexual reassignment surgery. Fernanda discovers that Milan is one of the world's centers for transvestite prostitutes, and despite the religious scruples she was born with, Fernanda is soon nudged into a career as a sex worker. Fernanda is befriended by Charlo (Biba Lerhue), an old friend from Brazil who is now hooked on drugs and sells her body to support her habit. Charlo introduces Fernanda to Karin (Lulu Pecorari), a transvestite madame who, sensing Fernanda is an innocent at heart, treats her with care and introduces her to some of her better clients. One night, Fernanda is hired by Gianni (Cesare Bocci), who doesn't realize at first that Fernanda is biologically male; while Gianni is upset at first, he also finds himself attracted to Fernanda, and in time begins to pursue a romantic relationship with her when she's not working. Charlo and Karin tell Fernanda that Gianni is merely a gay man in deep denial, but she has fallen in love with him, and in time Gianni offers to pay for her sex change operation -- and pledges to leave his wife for her. Gianni and Fernanda move in together, but soon both are developing cold feet; Fernanda becomes nervous with the onset of her surgery, and when Gianni's wife Lidia (Alessandra Acciai) confronts him and announces she's pregnant, he wonders if he may have made the wrong decision. Princesa received its North American premiere at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The English title of this complex Italian film is apt. Featuring 65 main characters and 130 speaking parts (famous faces abound and many of the actors appeared gratis), and ranging in tone from tartly humorous to darkly tragic, it presents 30 interwoven slices from the lives of modern day Romans during a single day. The lone, silent figure of a lone jogger provides a sort of continuity between the vignettes. Beginning at sunset of the previous day, the jogger is seen warming up on his apartment terrace, looking for all the world as if he would like to jump. The rest of the stories seem to be randomly presented. Stories include the robbery of a Chinese restaurant that causes a birthday celebrant to die of fright, two different newlyweds who find themselves attracted to each other, an opportunistic mechanic's plan to capitalize on the death of a rival, a sneaky, sadistic meter maid and others. One uniting feature of the stories is their underlying bitter assessment of modern humanity. People are seen as selfish and basically cruel, still the stories move quickly and the balance between humor and drama, affection and cynicism, and shallowness and complexity is carefully maintained. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide