Lover's Prayer (2001)

This film (released as a DVD under the title LOVER'S PRAYER) by the American director Reverge Anselmo is largely based upon the Turgenev story FIRST LOVE. In order to fill the story out and stretch it to a full-length film,Anselmo chose to use Chekhov's story THE PEASANT WOMEN to create an elaborate sub-plot of peasant side characters. Shakespeare was always adding such subplots to his plays, as we know. I would not say that this use of the Chekhov sub-plot really works. As for the main story,Kirsten Dunst does an amazing job playing the fickle character Zinaida,who is bored with her country life and toys with a retinue of regular suitors in a ruthless fashion. In a sense, this film is a study of how bored and isolated beauties in the past kept a number of men dangling and tormented them for amusement. That used to be a fairly common occurrence. But television and the internet have destroyed it. Men no longer sit around adoring girls who taunt them, as they are too busy watching pornography online. So this film is a useful contribution to social history, showing what happened frequently throughout human history until the present day. Another device which does not necessarily work is a voice-over narration by James Fox as an old man recollecting the events of the story. Anselmo must have been struggling for more unity for the film by trying this. We should not underestimate the difficulty of making this excellent Turgenev tale work on screen. The story and the film do have a lot to offer, not least being the cinematography and the art direction. Geraldine James and Julie Walters put in fine performances, as one would expect. The film is really worth seeing, but I can see that it is not necessarily suited for the impatient or unromantic viewer.

In a world where so many films deal with chases and 'big bangs' this film is just beautiful and a welcome change. It is beautifully shot with some of the finest acting i have seen in a long while, but then what else would you expect from a this cast list? Kirsten Dunst is really very good as Zinida, and intriguing. However for me the finest performances come from the supporting cast, Julie Walters is as ever spot on, and Geraldine James is (as ever) fantastic as the wronged wife and protective mother, the scene where she confronts her husband (another brilliant performance from Nathaniel Parker) is one of the best acted scenes i have ever seen on film. True the story can at times be complex, but it is captivating and after watching it several times the more complex aspects become clearer. It could be said to be intelligent viewing - we're not just sponge fed everything there and then - and thats a welcome change too! A film where you may be required to think - it won't exactly kill you! Well worth watching, and whether you like it or not you do have to give credit where credit is due to the cinematography and acting in particular.

Yes, this is a period piece -- pre-WWI Russia, to be precise. I only caught the last third of the movie or so, but it was enough to captivate me. The characters were interesting; the music poignant, the scenery stunning. The acting is top-notch with the notable exception of Stahl, who never reflects the agonies and the ecstacies of growing up; he never lets the struggles of the character make their way to his countenance or his actions, and so appears as a painted-face marrionate simply reciting lines and moving about from place to place. The problem is that the retrospective English narrator is used in place of acting; while it's well done and appropriate, it is used to suture up the devestation caused by the poor acting of Stahl instead of complimenting him. But anyhow, enough on that topic. Again, it captivated me, and not many films can do that. Either there's too much trash, or the characters are stupid, unbelievable, or unheroic. This doesn't feel like a cheap Hollywood throwaway flick, and that has something to do with the source material -- Anton Chekov! There is a human warmth about it all and an artistry that is all too often abandoned in pursuit of a quick dollar. Now this isn't to say that this film is the best thing ever put on a reel. But it is enough to make me want to go watch the whole thing, and that is a rare thing.

God save the czar! This has that beautiful actress from "Jewel in the Crown", they're all stuffy and nice. Nice touch to the film, blends European flavor with the rich texture of character driven story. Scenery became a character that added to film.