Triumph of Love (Widescreen)

 

 

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The choice of the early 18th-century play "Le Triomphe de l'amour" by Pierre Marivaux is a rather odd choice for adaptation into a modern film for several reasons. I was thinking that the idea "Triumph of Love" is either second rate Shakespeare, or even second rate "Shakespeare in Love," was off point because since Marivaux was the second most popular playwright in France after Moliere I thought it might be more likely it was second rate Moliere. But it turns out that this particular love comedy is much more like the romantic comedies of Shakespeare (e.g., "Twelfth Night") than any of the neoclassical comedies of Moliere (e.g., "Tartuffe"). Once you hear the basic storyline you can see why the Shakespeare comparisons are inevitable.

We begin with a Princess (Mira Sorvino), who is wandering through the woods when she spots Agis (Jay Rodan) rising in all of his naked glory from a swim. He turns out not to be just any naked Adonis, but the true heir to the throne, taken from his family when her father had his parents executed. This is certainly an impediment to possible romance, so the Princess and her companion Corine (Rachael Stirling) dress up as young men and rename themselves Phocion and Hermidas respectively. Agis is in the custody of a philosopher named Hermocrates (Ben Kinglsey) and his scientist sister, Leontine (Fiona Shaw). Together they have been raising the young man to be a true rationalist, which should exclude anything as irrational as women and romance. But the Princess is trying to become friends with Agis by pretending to be a man. When Leontine wants to get rid of Phocion, the Princess pretends to be in love with her, and when Hermocrates sees through the disguises of the two women, the Princess now gives her name as Aspasie and declares her love for him as well.

The irony here is that as a general rule I like it when classic plays are performed in a more realistic style and less following the conventions of the time in which it was originally written and produced. However for me this movie just did not click and I kept thinking if there was an audience for the players to react to it might have helped. After all, you have veteran actors like Kingsley and Shaw dong their art, which makes up for the limitations of the Sorvino and Rodan. Certainly Sorvino is game, but her performance is just a bit too staged and way too limited in range to really make the story work.. We tell Phocion and Aspasie apart not by what Sorvino is doing in her performance, but rather because of who she is talking to at any given time. The ending comes across as being rather modern in its sensibilities, representing neither the simple unmasking we find in the comedies of Shakespeare nor the roi ex machina Moliere employed in "Tartuffe." But I do not know if this is originally to Marivaux or attributed to director Clare Peploe or her co-writers Marilyn Goldin and Bernardo Bertolucci. I wanted to round up on this one, because there are some interesting things happening here for an 18th-century French love comedy, but overall it just did not work for me and I found myself losing interest over and over again, which is not a good thing. At least there is a nice moment with the cast's "curtain call" at the end.

Actually, all things considered, in the end I think the problem is that so much that this is second rate Shakespeare but more that "Le Triomphe de l'amour" is second rate Marivaux, whose better known plays would include "Arlequin poli par l'amour" ("Harlequin Brightened by Love"), "Le Jeu de l'amour et du hasard" ("The Game of Love and Chance"), "L'Ile des escalves" ("Isle of Slaves"), "L'Ile de la raison" ("Isle of Raison"), "La Nouvelle colonie" ("The New Colony"), and "L'Ecole des meres" ("School for Mothers"). The defining characteristics of Marivaux's love comedies are a romantic setting, a sense of nuance, emotional shadings, and witty wordplay. Where he differed from Moliere (and Shakespeare for that matter) was that he presented more realistic characters, most notably the servants are given more realistic feelings than we usually find in French farces, and his realistic depiction of the society of his day. Actually, he is probably best remembered today as the author of the 1731 novel "Marianne," but this movie is going to be all most people will ever see or know of his work and after what happens here, it is doubtful there will be any more of Marivaux's plays adapted to the screen.

Doubtless the title of this movie will ring a bell with those who remember the short-lived Broadway musical of the same name, which featured Susan Egan, F. Murray Abraham and Betty Buckley. Based on an early eighteenth century play by French playwright Marivaux, this work can quite easily be compared to Shakespeare in its plot. A young and beautiful princess (sometimes called Leonide, but not here) has fallen in love with the rightful heir to the throne--and her sworn mortal enemy--Agis. Agis has been kept secluded from the outside world by his aunt and uncle, both of whom are serious, strict philosophers who have no time or patience for anything that does not have to do with logic and thought. This, of course, includes love. In order to get close to her beloved, the princess must first get through to both of these characters. She does so by first posing as a young man called Phocion; she succeeds in seducing Agis's aunt, Leontine, but cannot fool her brother, Hermocrates. The Princess then passes herself off as a young woman named Aspasie and works her way into his heart, while still diligently pursuing Agis. As with all plays like this, things are bound to come out, and they do.

The casting in this film was all first-rate, particularly that of Mira Sorvino as the scheming Princess. The costumes, scenery, and music add a whimsical touch to an already whimsical story. One must applaud the creativity of the director/screenwriters, in choosing to make it appear as though this is not a movie, but a play performance captured on film. Highly recommended.

I thought Triumph of Love was simply one of the best DVDs I've seen in awhile. The style of the film is unique, and it has many fun twists and playful turns. The cast is outstanding. Very funny, romantic, classic.

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1.0 out of 5 stars Pointless and Stupid...a Waste of Time--1 Star is too many
I had to watch it twice to get through it. At first, I thought, "how sick is that! She's "leading on" all three people, tricking that poor woman into thinking... Read more

Published on Jun 29 2004

2.0 out of 5 stars Give It a Pass and Be Glad You Did
I rented this DVD because I wanted to watch a romantic comedy and I love period pieces. Thank goodness, I didn't buy it. Read more

Published on May 31 2004 by Totally Anonymous

1.0 out of 5 stars bore, bored and boring
i just can't finish it. the whole thing just looked like a pretentious staged farce. the dialogue would drive you crazy. Read more

Published on Jan 8 2004 by justareader

5.0 out of 5 stars An undiscovered delight...
I, frankly, had never heard of this movie, despite the stellar cast and director. My wife brought it home from Blockbuster, and I sat down with low expectations -- here would be... Read more

Published on Oct 12 2003 by Steven Dennis

5.0 out of 5 stars What a great story and movie!
How funny! We rented this recently because we had just ordered the musical also adapted from the same play (which is also excellent, by the way). We couldn't stop laughing! Read more

Published on May 27 2003 by J.D.

4.0 out of 5 stars How farce will you go?
"Triumph of Love" is a lighthearted romp, a farce, very sweetly presented in this production of Marivaux's 1732 play. Read more

Published on Dec 12 2002 by Lee Armstrong

4.0 out of 5 stars Great performance of a Marivaux play...
This is the kind of play you usually see only on college campuses. It's an eighteenth century romantic comedy in which crowns are at stake, women dress up like men, an old... Read more

Published on Dec 9 2002 by cloudia

4.0 out of 5 stars 18th Century French Farce played to a fare-thee-well!
Another movie missed in the theatrical release, this DVD caught the eye because of the sterling cast and the fact that Bernardo Bertolucci was connected to it. Read more

Published on Nov 3 2002 by Grady Harp

4.0 out of 5 stars Behold the power of cheese!
The silly, dopey, and terrifically fun "Triumph of Love" is the latest point on Mira Sorvino's bizarre career trajectory. Read more

Published on Oct 30 2002 by CodeMaster Talon

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