Lover's Prayer

Nick Stahl is Vladimir Petrovich, taking summer vacation with his parents in sunny Russian countryhouse, and to their neighborhood comes a girl Zinaida "Princess" Zasyekin and her mother. Vladimir instantly falls in love with this capricious girl, much elder than him, and starts to haunt the house where her mother, apparently down-at-heel, lives. The girl's innocent, comical flirt with other suitors, including Count and Doctor. continues until the day when Zinaida, Vladimir finds out, really falls in love with someone he doesn't know. But who is he? And what should he do?

The book's story about tormented love, which poisons the young heart, is barely visible in the film, but the result is simply deplorable, because of its too superficial treatment of the subject. The identity of the lover looks too abruptly revealed, that is one problem, but more annoying is that we are not convinced of the relations between these people. The book tells us about the tacit understanding and compassion between Vladimir and his father, but as the film fails to deliver that part, some of the viewers would not understand the painful experience of Vladimir at the end of the story.

As to actors, Nick Stahl cannot hold the center of our attention, lacking the emotional power those young boys of 16 yeads old should have, and Kirsten Dunst, despite her best efforts, is miscast as a Russian beauty who changes the life of males surrounding her. And when Julie Walters ("Billy Elliot" "Educating Rita" and Harry Potter series as Ron's mother) looks very irritating as old Princess, being too vulgar and noisy for the part, you can tell there is something wrong with the picture.

I think that the mishmash cast should be blamed -- some American, some British, all cast as Russian -- but more unaccountable decision is inclusion of Chekhov story. Well, the point may be that the sub-plot should introduce a broader scope of viewpoint into this rather simple story of Turgenev. One about aristocratic people, one working class people, both about doomed love. The idea is all right, but as other reviewers rightly say, the second story looks too ineffective and too short (it consists of only about 20 minutes), lacking the sense of closure. The original Chekhov story offers more to tell, but what is more important is that it looks too banal, stripped of the original's atomospheric descriptions.

I tried to like this, and there are some merits, I can say. The photography is beautiful, and costumes and production designs are done decently. But the film shows no finesse for conveying the subtle touch of the book about the lost dreams and youth, and the film's changed ending is too awful. Zinaida would not say that.


movie fan in denver   March 13, 2003
0 out of 6 found this review helpful

Lets be a little more objective than some of the other so called "reviews". If you don't like PBS Masterpiece Theater type stories you won't like this one. The cinematography is excellent (especially with widescreen), the soundtrack is good, the costumes are pretty, Nick Stahl is boyish and handsome, and Kirsten Dunst is ravishing as always. If your're looking for a major block buster movie this it is not. Granted the plot is a bit week and confusing but much more entertaining than the average kill, rape, pillage type of action films so prevelent these days. So mindless viewers in search of action stay away. Anyone interested good film technique and a more thoughtful and slower paced story should be reasonably satisfied.


confusing movie   August 18, 2002
michelle (Boston)
2 out of 5 found this review helpful

This movie was confusing
...

It's also hardly believable that grown men would sit around for hours playing kiddie games and squabbling like nursery school children over who got to "kiss her hand." Especially considering how concieted, rude and bossy she was.

The "peasant plot" ended abruptly in the middle of the movie, and was poorly done all along. Denis seemed unconvincing as a man in love, he seemed like a sneak, always spying on this woman. I swear I thought he was going to murder her when he was lurking around in the shadows. When he proclaims his love for her nobody cares, because we hardly know either one of them nor saw them interact previously. We never knew what happened to the woman, her poor husband, and Denis. Does the heartbroken husband leave? Does Denis kill him? Does the woman run away and leave them to duke it out? Who knows.

Sometimes the dialouge seems too modern and out of place for a period piece.

The ending is also horribly disturbing, ...


...................   May 27, 2002
2 out of 5 found this review helpful

This movie is worthless because it lacks a clear plot. The ending makes no sense at all. Close to the end of the movie the boy discovers that his father was the lover of Zinaida. But what of it? Why was he? It is not explained. It is unclear what the point of the movie is supposed to be. It looks like there is not any point.