All Forgotten (2000)

User Rating:

5.1/10   

Director:

Reverge Anselmo

Writers:

Ivan Turgenev (short story "First Love")
Anton Chekhov (short story "The Peasant Women")

Genre:

Drama | Romance | War

Plot:

A younger boy falls in love with a tragic girl who flirts with, and manipulates, her older suitors in 1800's Russia. |

Plot Keywords:

Suitor | 1800s | Love | Russia | Unrequited Love

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Kirsten Dunst	...	Zinaida
Julie Walters	...	Princess Zasyekin
Geraldine James	...	Mother
Nathaniel Parker	...	Father
Nick Stahl	...	Vladimir
James Fox	...	Old Vladimir (voice)
Paloma Baeza	...	Mashenka
Kenny Doughty	...	Denis
Angus Wright	...	Boris
Robert Glenister	...	Count Malevsky
Heathcote Williams	...	Dr. Looshin
Nicholas Rowe	...	Maidanov
John Benfield	...	Nirmansky
Kristian Revelle	...	Gregory
Michael Higgs	...	Vasya

Also Known As:

Lover's Prayer (USA)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for thematic elements.

Runtime:

106 min

Country:

USA | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Spain:13 | Netherlands:12 | Australia:M | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Prague, Czech Republic

Company:

Overseas FilmGroup

Quotes:

Zinaida: If you are through with toys, you have much to discover.

The impulsiveness of youth

Maybe the reason why I like this movie is mostly that I like the story "First Love" which the movie is based on. I can understand from another of the user comments that there is a lot of symbolism in the story. This symbolism is wasted on me. I have to see it as just a story. What I see then is a story about youth. Young people who follow their immediate emotions without giving much thought to the future. In the long term perspective we often make stupid choices when we act like that. I myself am not a very impulsive man, but I find myself attracted to people who are, unless they are so in a negative way. Is it not the force in emotions, especially big powerful emotions like love that make life so beautiful?

The main character Vladimir falls in love with Zinaida. She likes him very much, but she doesn't love him. She likes toying with him and her other admirers, and their feelings make them her willing puppets. This is of course not very nice of her, but it seems to me that she doesn't give it much thought and that it is never her intention to hurt anyone, she is just an emotional and impulsive girl. And maybe part of what makes them love her is her impulsive nature. After some time it becomes clear to Vladimir that Zinaida has herself fallen in love. But who is it that she loves? And is her own human nature now taking revenge for her toying with the emotions of her admirers? Will Vladimir and Zinaida mature through their experiences?

For those who thinks this story has no point I will say, that for me the point is simply to study human nature and to allow one self to feel with the characters. We don't always need a great plan to build the societies of the 21st century.

I would like to make a negative comment also. There is a second story in this movie mixed in with the main story. A woman falls in love while her husband is away in the war, and of course this causes trouble. Maybe this story could have a movie of its own (?), but I think it shouldn't have been part of this movie, because the situation of the woman, her husband (if he lives), her child and her lover is far too serious to just pop up for a moment now and then as a side story.