The Triumph of Love

16 April 2015

The Triumph of Love 2001

• Director: Clare Peploe
• Based on play by Marivaux
• Cast: Mira Sorvino, Rachel Stirling, Ben Kingsley, Jay Rodan, Fiona Shaw
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Mira Sorvino – Summer of Sam, Lulu on the Bridge, Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion, Beautiful Girls, Quiz Show
• Rachel Stirling – Bletchley Circle, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, The Young Victoria
• Ben Kingsley – Hugo, Shutter Island, Gandhi, Twelfth Night, House of Sand and Fog, Schindler’s List, Dave
• Fiona Shaw – The Tree of Life, the Harry Potter movies, The Butcher Boy, Jane Eyre, My Left Foot
• Why?  It’s the second film on the DVD bought for Igby Goes Down
• Seen:  April 12, 2015 

The DVD is still in the player so we might as well watch it.  I’d never heard of it before and the title does not bode well but Fiona Shaw is in it so it must have some merit.

A young queen in France in the 18^th century or so has inherited the throne from her father who had usurped the crown from the rightful king whose son is now the rightful king and she falls secretly in love with him and so disguises herself as a man and…

Shakespeare it is not though they share some ingredients.

The young queen goes about seducing both Fiona Shaw and Ben Kingsley in order to win her way to the handsome young prince she’s in love with.

I think it’s supposed to be a farce. Or a parody. Or something.

Shakespeare can make this kind of nonsense work and even have depth.

The exchanges between siblings Shaw and Kingsley are small masterpieces and Shaw as a bit of a mad scientist is fun.

Ah. We’re told at the end that this play was first performed in Paris in 1732. That explains it.

Well, it still isn’t Shakespeare.

2 ½ * of 5