BoardChiri
Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay
Senteur
As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.
Derrick Gibbons
An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.
aripaceimilipseste
I loved how it kept getting more and more complicated, more and more your palms sweat because you can't imagine how it could all work out in a logical way after such intrigues and lies. The movie caught my attention, but true, most of it was to see the ending, to see all the nods get untangled. I also loved the lack of shyness and ethical boundaries which you see in all the more "puritan" love comedies these days (which abound in sex related acts or words). Surely, I am not talking of sex when I say the main plot lacks shyness, but of a certain perversity of thought, a scheme for love. Of course it can never be imagined as true, but the story is, as it should be, a story.
ferrerogrrl
Gods, I haven't watched a movie this awful in a long while. Maybe not since 'The New Guy' or various Freddie Prinze Jr. movies. Yes, it is that astoundingly awful. Mira Sorvino's blank and wooden acting surely must've been inspired by Freddie. The movie staging was awkward (like a play, rather, and that feeling of confinement does NOT work well on film). The actors had no idea what they were doing, especially Sorvino. Her accent was awful and her sex appeal non-existent here so it was painful to see her 'seducing' other characters and they 'falling' for it. And what was with the occaisional shots of a live audience in lawn chairs? Nonsensical! I had to turn the dvd player off, it would have been self-inflicted pain to finish this film.
divaclv
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.
sidpink
In college I studied Marivaux -- whose play this movie is based on -- so I have an understanding of the movie's context and characters. Given that, I found Triumph of Love to be rather enjoyable. But I don't recommend it for everyone. If you like Shakespeare in film or other cinematic adaptations of theater, you might well like this one. Mira Sorvino is, of course, lovely in the starring role(s).
