The Triumph of Love (2001)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

Clare Peploe

Writers:

Marivaux (play)
Clare Peploe (written by) ...

Release Date:

10 May 2002 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

A Romantic Comedy That Aims For The Heart.

Plot:

A princess is determined to restore her homeland's throne to its rightful heir, a young prince with whom she falls in love.

Plot Keywords:

Love | Seduction | Prince | Princess | Philosopher

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Mira Sorvino	...	The Princess
Rachael Stirling	...	Corine
Ben Kingsley	...	Hermocrates
Jay Rodan	...	Agis
Ignazio Oliva	...	Harlequin
Luis Molteni	...	Dimas
Fiona Shaw	...	Leontine
Carlo Antonioni	...	Coachman
Carlo Marcoccia	...	Shepherd

Also Known As:

Il trionfo dell'amore (Italy)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some nudity and sensuality.

Runtime:

112 min

Country:

Italy | UK

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Finland:K-7 | Singapore:NC-16 | Iceland:L | Argentina:13 | Denmark:A | Spain:13 | USA:PG-13 | UK:PG | Canada:G (Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Tuscany, Italy

Company:

Fiction

Trivia:

The film is based upon a famous 18th century play by Pierre de Marivaux. In keeping with its theatrical roots, there are brief shots interspersed throughout of a modern audience in the garden.

Movie Connections:

Version of Le triomphe de l'amour (1979) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Forêts paisibles

Love triumphs, but the film doesn't

I really wanted to like "Triumph of Love;" several of the elements, in fact, might be organized into a film I could enjoy. There's the elegant period sets and costumes, the gender-bending undertones, a couple comic servants, and Ben Kingsley and Fiona Shaw giving fine performances as a pair of emotion-disdaining intellectuals who become undone by their own vanity. But "Triumph of Love," sadly, proves to be all promise and very little payoff.

Mira Sorvino is the princess of an unspecified (and presumably fictitious) country, who infiltrates the house of her political enemies disguised as a man. Her purpose is twofold: to right the wrongs wrought by her father on true heir to the throne Agis (Jay Rodan), and to win Agis' heart, which has been taught to disdain love by his guardians Hermocrates (Kingsley) and Leontine (Shaw). Since nobody can do anything the easy way in a story like this, Sorvino's character works towards her ends by wooing Leontine (who thinks she's a guy), Hermocrates, and Agis (both of whom are in on her ruse) at the same time. That's the setup; unfortunately, it's also the majority of the film. Comedy of this sort usually hits its stride when complications entangle the protagonist's original design. Here, the difficulties are introduced to late and resolved too quickly for us to care. Meanwhile, a handful of servants are thrown into the plot and then given almost nothing to do either within or apart from it.

Nor does director Clare Peploe help her case much. Several scenes consist of choppy, distracting cuts--and not even cuts from different angles, but cuts from the same angle, giving the impression of a bargain-basement film cobbled together with the only pieces of film that were usable. Images of a "modern-day" audience peeking in on the action add nothing to the procedings, and are introduced in such a way as to feel like an intrusion on the film, rather than a part of it.

For a much richer experience in this genre, I recommend the recent adaptation of Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night." Like "Triumph of Love," it features a cross-dressing heroine, romantic entanglements and misunderstandings, comical servants, and a good turn by Ben Kingsley in a supporting role. But it also contains infectuous life and energy and a story that dances merrily on its way rather than walking sedately. Also Imogen Stubbs, as the gender-defying central character, makes a much more convincing man than Mira Sorvino.