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"The Princess" is not really a film about Diana, but about the media obsession and us

The acclaimed docu "The Princess" tries to bring a new angle to a story that has been told so many times, and does so by constructing a most impressive mosaic that presents in a distilled form the media's obsession with Diana, one that makes viewers think about themselves as much as about the subject of the film.

In addition: Tom Yaer grew up

Ben Biron Brauda

01/09/2022

Thursday, September 01, 2022, 09:12 Updated: 09:20

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Trailer for the docu-film "The Princess" about Princess Diana (PR)

25 years have passed since the tragic death of Princess Diana of Wales and it seems that the obsession with her character is only growing.

Someone who in her lifetime received media coverage that equals and even exceeds that of any pop star, which largely led to the car accident in which she was killed on August 31, 1997, may have hoped that death would give her rest, but even that did not help.

"The Princess," a documentary directed by Ed Perkins ("Tell Me Who I Am"), screened earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival to critical acclaim (and now available on Bis Docu and Besting), tries to bring a new angle to a story that has been told so many times.

Perkins is of course not the only one still dealing with the character of Diana.

Last year it was the Chilean director Pablo Larrain who cast Kristen Stewart to play the princess in the movie "Spencer", a role that won her much praise and even a nomination for the best actress award at the Oscar ceremony.

This happened not long after Emma Corinne won a Golden Globe Award for her role as Diana in the fourth season of "The Crown".

With so many works on the character of a woman who has not been with us for half a year, does a documentary like "The Princess" have anything else to innovate?

The answer is no, but also.

"The Princess" justifies its existence thanks to an interesting move made by Perkins.

The film consists entirely of archival materials that dealt with Princess Diana, there are many interviews with her.

Yes, also the infamous interview with Martin Bashir (in which she admitted to infidelity and talked about dealing with bulimia) or 'street' interviews in which she spoke to paparazzi photographers at the beginning of her public career.

The interviews of Diana and the other members of the royal family are indeed part of the film but not its center.

It is found in excerpts from the media coverage of Diana's life, starting right from the announcement of her engagement to Prince Charles, through the births of Princes William and Harry, separation, divorce and life after Charles.

Together with the editors Jinx Godfrey and Daniel Lafira, a very impressive mosaic was built here that describes in a distilled way how the media did not let Diana go.

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You have to come to the movie with extensive knowledge.

"The Princess" (Photo: Kent Gavin)

Diana Spencer, who was considered the people's princess, was influential long before the term existed.

In an era when the Instagram app wasn't even an idea, the whole world wanted to know what Diana was doing at any hour and at any time, and for that there were paparazzi photographers who followed her with impressive devotion, hoping to capture an exclusive photo that would close their monthly salary.

The huge lenses of their cameras are the protagonists of this film no less than Diana, and conversations between photographers who spent hours tracking her down at ski resorts, family vacations and later also dating her uncle El Fayed, get a lot of screen time.

As you know, the age of social networks, where celebrities share moments from their lives without mediation, has fatally affected the work of photographers.

It seems that if you ask Perkins this is a welcome move.

In general, it is interesting to think what young viewers, who are used to receiving their cultural heroes in dozens of stories a day, will think when they see a group of photographers ambushing Diana as she leaves a restaurant.

To get the full effect of "The Princess" you need to come with extensive knowledge of Diana's life and death, and Perkins builds on that.

The film has no dates, the names of the speakers on the screen - whether they appear in their faces or in their voices only - do not appear, and it has very familiar material (coverage of the wedding with Charles) alongside street polls of Britons responding to rumors of infidelity.

It can be said that the creators tried to bring as objective a picture as possible of her life story, but objectivity is such an elusive concept that it is unnecessary to refer to it.

Music plays an important role in this film and it enters in dramatic moments in the story (and there were many of them) and sometimes even manages to give a strong kick in the stomach.

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The media did not assume.

A newsstand full of Princess Diana, "the princess" (Photo: Michael Dwyer / Alamy Stock Photo)

Sometime towards the predetermined end of the film it happens.

On the screen is a home video of a group of friends playing cards, with the news about Diana's car accident in Paris appearing on the TV screen in their background.

Their cynicism towards the story is almost repulsive, they record themselves joking about the plight of the princess the world loved to love - probably in reaction to the endless coverage of her and El Fayed's relationship in those days - until they are no longer laughing.

This happens when the title on the screen changes and the words "Princess Diana has been killed" appear.

It is a real and difficult moment that can remind anyone of something else in their life.

This is also the point where I finally understood that "The Princess" is not really a film about Princess Diana but about a media obsession, a film about us as consumers and producers of media and the way we treat our cultural heroes.

These could be heads of government, pop stars or football players - the disproportionate power of media coverage is revealed here, although not for the first time, but with thought-provoking clarity.

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Exactly the same comedian.

"Grandma cooked with Tom Yaer" (Photo: Kaana 11)

without make-up

Tom Yaer really wants us to get to know her new version.

This stood out in the interview with Lucy Ahrish that she gave to the weekend news where she talked about the difference that motherhood brings with it, and also in the article for the 7 Nights supplement in which she was photographed dressed in white and without makeup.

The new season of the cooking reality show "Grandma Cooked with Tom Yaer" on Khan 11 is also marketed as such ('Pregnancy season and families' is its official tag line).

And really, this time too Yaer comes to the homes of families, with an emphasis on those with grandparents who cook, and spends time with them talking about food, family and tries to get advice on motherhood in accordance with her new position.

I don't know if it's good or bad but the 2022 model Yaar with the pregnant belly (as she is shown on screen. Since she already gave birth) is exactly the same comedian.

Which means that if you really connected with her in the previous seasons, you will also be crazy about the new season, and if it hasn't happened to you until now, it probably won't happen today either.

Even when she cooks French classics or goes through treatments that are supposed to prepare her for birth, the humor remains the same humor that plays on the line between childish, rude, and hipster, and it's cute or unbearable - really a matter of taste.

To Yaer's credit, it can be said that after several years on the screen, since the days of "Tom Yaer makes the Israel Trail", her interview skills have improved, which means that she gives her interviewees more time to talk and interrupts them less for a good punch.

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