One of my all time favorites.

Must See Movie...

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

The script and dialog of "The Triumph of Love" is often first rate in this movie, directed by Claire Peploe. Though I don't know how much the original story or script has been altered for modern tastes, the main problem of the movie is the uneven acting. Lead Sorvino is good in some scenes but stilted and off in others as is curiously Ben Kingsley. This can probably be somewhat attributed to inconsistent direction likewise. Anyway the movie features some very good scenes especially toward the beginning and end. I Didn't care much for the liberty thrown in with touch of the modern play towards the end. Mildly recommended, though if you're looking for a superior Victorian-ish story, check out the better though darker"Ridicule".

An 18th century princess(Miss M.Sorvino) wants to restore the rightful heir to the throne of her country.He is incommunicado,living with a famous philosopher and his sister deep in the countryside.She decides the only way to get close to him is to seduce the philosopher,his sister and the prince himself in no particular order.Miss Sorvino has all the knowing innocence required of a Comedy Francaise heroine.Of course she is not in the least believable,but that's the whole point."The Triumph of love" is,in its entirety,an exercise in deception.But it is not a deception that is meant to fool anybody but the play's characters. The beauty of the film as an entity is quite overwhelming.The colour is exquisitely rendered,the lush grounds of the philosopher's house are as vividly verdant as a Brazilian rain forest. Each shot is carefully composed to show off the performers to their best advantage. None of the performances is particularly subtle,nor are they meant to be.This is not serious drama,nor serious anything else.We are seeing a filmed play,a comedy of the sort that was once popular all over Europe,Miss Peploe could not have made that much clearer short of putting the camera crew in the action. Miss Fiona Shaw is absolutely outstanding as the philosopher's sister.

While the film has it's slow moments it's still beautifully made and true to the original play. A gender bending farce that mixes comedy with romance in delightful ways.

Truly a remarkable film for its ups and downs. The ups are delightful (dialog, costuming, movement); the downs are simply awful (acting, timing, editing, concept). The "jump" cutting, so dear to advertisers, becomes extremely annoying. The reference to the play as play by intercutting scenes of modern-day audience watching the play and the cast "curtain call" in modern day dress are distracting. I wish they gave us the English to the French song at the end -- it's probably the best part, and my French is only good enough to guess at the meaning. It was also reformatted for the screen (TV) which already gives it two strikes in my opinion. The 18th century French must have loved it.