neumu [ cinematronic ]




	Triumph Of Love
	Clare Peploe Mira Sorvino, Ben Kingsley, Fiona Lewis, Jay Rodan 2001		Going for the sunny spirit of Shakespearean comedy — with gender-bending, hidden identities and sexual warfare — and achieving the Bard's special, elusive magic are very different things. Despite the best intentions, "Triumph of Love," director/co-screenwriter Clare Peploe's adaptation of an 18th century play by Pierre Marivaux, gets bogged down with long-winded speeches and weak attempts at whimsy, ambling along when it should breeze. It relates the intrigues of a princess in love with her handsome adversary Agis, true heir to the throne. To meet and woo him, she masquerades as a nobleman. But the disguised heroine, played by Mira Sorvino, must first win the trust of his mentors, Hemocrates the philosopher (ever-capable Ben Kingsley) and his science-minded sister Leontine (Fiona Lewis), who eschew love in favor of rational thought. Thus, the princess sets out to seduce Hemocrates as a woman and Leontine as a man. Sorvino is game, but her struggles with the classical accent don't help the film.