The Princess

I watched this only because of the recent death of the queen of England. I was very young when princess Diana cam into the spotlight and all I could remember of her and an adolescent and young adult was her philanthropy and kindness. To me that says it all. I don't believe in the monarchy one bit. I do believe in respecting individuals that leave a positive mark in the world and that is what the princess did. There is no dispute in that. This documentary left me with like the title of my review says my jaw dropped in many instances. Many times I thought to myself of how "cringy" to use a modern term the kids use these days so many things that were done , said and thought of this person for no other reason than for being. Of course no one is perfect and princess Diana certainly was not but she definitely did not deserve a lot of the negative things that were done to her by that family. This documentary showed a lot of that in such a different and interesting way. Very well done in my opinion.

I've watched every documentary out there about Princess Diana. This is the most unbiased, objective and straightforward one to date. It provides a thorough and concise background as well as context into the individuals and relationships. For later generations that never saw Diana while she was alive, this provides a good foundation. What sets this documentary apart from most are the never before seen videos and footage.

I love documentaries more when they include archival materials such as videos and documents. This documentary is full of videos from the early 1980s to 1997 covering the time Diana passed from Prince Charles's girlfriend to her death. However, the film does not offer a timeline, a context, or an interview that helps situate the viewer in the images they are watching. For those who lived through those times, it is not challenging to situate themselves in the time situations shown in the archive videos happen. But anyone who did not live during those years can feel lost in the film. It feels like the people behind the film had to access all that video material and focus mainly on the editing part forgetting about the viewers. It could be done much better.

To start, yes there is a lot of low quality clips and much of what you see here has been in previous documentaries, however, it's not exactly possible to improve video quality from thirty years ago so you shouldn't judge it based on today's standards, that's just stupid. As for it "being done before" it's important to note that many docs fall to the wayside over the years and become difficult to track down, so there will always be new editions for every generation so long as Diana stays relevant.

I found this to be an interesting watch. There is no narrative, at least not in a literal sense, but there is an obvious angle to the documentary. Not all the information is presented, some parts of the clips shown are deliberately edited to enhance mood or atmosphere, like painting the prince or princess in a certain light. That being said, it's surprisingly unbiased, there was a lot of uncomfortable dialogue from interviews with citizens or journalists who were for or against Princess Diana. It was quite polarized The worst was the paparazzi. This documentary solidified my assumption that the paparazzi were as bad as everyone made them out be. The way they talked about her was disgusting, like she wasn't even a human being. They harassed her to the point of breaking her spirit. If she resisted them she was called a f---ing b----, if she dared played along and smiled or engaged with them they had the audacity to call her a mediawhore. It's like victim blaming after a rape, and it is extremely uncomfortable to watch.

I was also surprised to see so many people given a platform to speak out against her and say such repulsive things. I guess the bar was set incredibly low for journalistic integrity in the UK in the 80's and 90's. Journalists were given the opportunity to voice pointless, unfounded arguments which often ended up in childish name calling (?!).

The truth was that Diana was an unusual woman. Her humanitarian efforts were commendable, she did more than any of the other Royal family were willing to do at the time. Yes her marriage was on the rocks from the outset. Interviews with Charles have spelled out the truth from the begginning. I don't think he ever truly deceived Diana, but I believe she had trouble accepting and facing the truth and thought, like many women, that she could change him. It was cruel to expect her to just face up and deal with the situation and take it in stride. Blasting her for having mental health crises was just stigmatizing mental illness and it's part and parcel to the incredibly prejudiced attitudes of the time (which sadly still persist to this day). She was not a saint and that is not why people still talk about her to this day, she was representative of a hope for a future that really we will never know.

I recommend this doc but it is difficult at times to watch.

Premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival in the Premieres Selection.

This documentary is about Princess Diana's story that is told exclusively through contemporaneous archive creating a bold and immersive narrative of her life and death. It also illuminates how the public's attitude to the monarchy was, and still is. This documentary is truly an emotional experience that goes in-depth about the life of Princess Diana's career and it does a great job on handling it's source material without being biased.

Director Ed Perkins managed to make a documentary that feels engaging, emotional, thought-provoking and well documented that you get a sense of reality and story about Princess Diana and everything that has been surrounding her. The soundtrack fits perfectly to the scenes being filmed, good editing, great sound design and the archive footage is well used and looks beautiful to look at. Restoration footages are always a treat to see as it helps to give you a good out look of what the past looked like. It's truly an experience to watch.

Diana has already been a big subject for years and knowing about her life and having down research about her problems and situations did make me feel emotional about it. Perkins did a fantastic job on documenting the film and I regret not seeing it when it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival right away.

A great mix of drama, realism and sometimes true horror.

Rating: A-