I found myself full of glee while watching it. Merchant-Ivory could learn a thing or two from it, and the rest of us should simply bask in its joy.
Triumph of Love (2002)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:70
Fresh:33
Rotten:37
Average Rating:5.5/10
Consensus: Not as charming as it could have been, Triumph of Love plays too broadly and amounts to little more than a trifle.
Theatrical Release:Apr 17, 2002 Limited
Box Office: $345,851
Synopsis: Mira Sorvino plays a cross-dressing princess who falls madly in love with a young, inexperienced scholar in this adaptation of the 18th Century Marivaux play. His rationalist philosopher guardian... Mira Sorvino plays a cross-dressing princess who falls madly in love with a young, inexperienced scholar in this adaptation of the 18th Century Marivaux play. His rationalist philosopher guardian Hemocrates (Ben Kingsley) has raised handsome Agis (Jay Rodan) to hate women, so the princess disguises herself as a man and crashes their secluded villa. What follows is an all out assault of seduction, as she finds herself wooing both Hemocrates and his spinster sister Leontine (Fiona Shaw) in effort to pursue her true quarry Agis, who is also the true heir to her throne. Sorvino is wonderful in the lead, changing genders and suitors with the agility of a classic screwball heroine while still conveying sensitivity and warmth. Shaw and Kingsley shine as the stodgy siblings who find their lives upheaved by her fervent wooing. Unusual touches, like "fourth wall" glimpses of an audience, jump cut editing, and electric guitar (courtesy of Pink Floyd's David Gilmour), ensure the material transcends its art house-period piece roots. Director Clare Peploe adapted the script with her husband, Bernardo Bertolucci (LAST TANGO IN PARIS, STEALING BEAUTY), who also produced. It was filmed in Tuscany. [More]
Starring: Mira Sorvino, Jay Rodan, Ben Kingsley, Fiona Shaw
Starring: Mira Sorvino, Jay Rodan, Ben Kingsley, Fiona Shaw, Rachael Stirling
Director: Clare Peploe
Director: Clare Peploe
Screenwriter: Clare Peploe, Marilyn Goldin, Bernardo Bertolucci
Composer: Jason Osborn
Studio: Paramount Classics
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Reviews for Triumph of Love
As a tolerable diversion, the film suffices; a Triumph, however, it is not.
The kind of nervous film that will either give you a mild headache or exhilarate you.
Viewed as a comedy, a romance, a fairy tale, or a drama, there's nothing remotely triumphant about this motion picture.
It's a treat watching Shaw, a British stage icon, melting under the heat of Phocion's attentions.
If you're going to present such fare to a modern audience, what do you do to justify the choice?
The film is undone by anachronistic quick edits and occasional jarring glimpses of a modern theater audience watching the events unfold.
...unspeakably, unbearably dull, featuring reams of flatly delivered dialogue and a heroine who comes across as both shallow and dim-witted.
A giddy romantic comedy based on an 18th century French classic that will speak to both your heart and your head.
Sorvino makes the princess seem smug and cartoonish, and the film only really comes alive when poor Hermocrates and Leontine pathetically compare notes about their budding amours.
a terrible adaptation of a play that only ever walked the delicate tightrope between farcical and loathsome. In the wrong hands, i.e. Peploe's, it's simply unbearable
This gender-bending romp is enjoyably witty, even if it feels rather long and pointless.
Indeed, a triumph of love: love of performance, love of joy, and, above all else, love of love itself.
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 66% 66% | Public Enemies |
| 83% 83% | Harry Potter and the H… |
| 44% 44% | Night at the Museum: B… |
| 75% 75% | Julie & Julia |
| 32% 32% | Terminator Salvation |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 90% 90% | District 9 |
| 86% 86% | 500 Days of Summer |
| 63% 63% | Extract |
| 06% 06% | All About Steve |
| 78% 78% | It Might Get Loud |
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