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.

Answer for somebody's question: This is original screenplay was wrote with use Turgenev's novel "First Love" (Turgenev is Russian writer). This movie filmed almost as original novel... But there are some interesting details was erased. For example: Voldemar have not seen the Zinaida before her dead. When he visited hotel there she lived, she was dead 4 days back. In movie showed that he was beside her when she was in throes of dead. But Kirsten have played this role very excellent!!! She was soooo beautiful. And she showed us The Talent.

By far, the worst hunk of junk in which Kirsten Dunst has ever starred. The true challenge was trying to figure what the hell was the point of the film. And what happened to the woman with the hoe and the husband with one of everything (one eye, one arm, one leg, etc)?