THE TRIUMPH OF LOVE is a film based on a 1732 story, and has a Shakespeare feel to it. The critic Ebert has a very good, complete review. By today's standards the story is implausible, but the acting of Mira Sorvino as the young lady dressed up as a young man, and Ben Kingsley as the old philosopher, are reasons to see this film all the way through. If one can get past the implausibility, and just watch it for the performances, it can be an entertaining 106 minutes.
some SPOILERS follow ...
The sole objective of Sorvino's character, the usurper of the crown, is to get accepted at the home of the philosopher and his spinster sister, to get close to Agis the rightful heir whose parents had been killed. He was being trained to hate the princess, and his archery target practice was into the heart of a likeness of the princess. To further her objective, she successively convinces the sister, then the philosopher, then Agis that she (or he) wants to marry each. The whole film presents one of these stories where you wonder how she will get out of the current deception, and she always does.
In the end, "love triumphs", as the title indicates.
some SPOILERS follow ...
The sole objective of Sorvino's character, the usurper of the crown, is to get accepted at the home of the philosopher and his spinster sister, to get close to Agis the rightful heir whose parents had been killed. He was being trained to hate the princess, and his archery target practice was into the heart of a likeness of the princess. To further her objective, she successively convinces the sister, then the philosopher, then Agis that she (or he) wants to marry each. The whole film presents one of these stories where you wonder how she will get out of the current deception, and she always does.
In the end, "love triumphs", as the title indicates.