Dvd
The Last Station
A period romance set during the last year of the life and turbulent marriage of the great Russian writer Leo Tolstoy (Christopher Plummer) and his wife the Countess Sofya (Helen Mirren).
After almost fifty years of marriage, Sofya – Tolstoy's devoted wife, lover, muse and secretary – suddenly finds her world turned upside down. In the name of his newly created religion, the novelist has renounced his noble title, his property and even his family (including their 13 children) in favour of poverty, vegetarianism and celibacy. Sofya also discovers that Tolstoy's trusted disciple, Chertkov (Paul Giamatti) may have convinced her husband to change his will, leaving the rights to his iconic novels to the Russian people rather than his own family. Consumed by righteous outrage, Sofya fights fiercely for what she believes is rightfully hers.
Into this minefield wanders Tolstoy's worshipful new assistant, the gullible Valentin (James McAvoy), who quickly becomes a pawn – first of the scheming Chertkov and then of the wounded, vengeful Sofya.
Starring Christopher Plummer, James McAvoy, Helen Mirren, Paul Giamatti, Anne-Marie Duff, Kerry Condon, Patrick Kennedy
Directed by Michael Hoffman ('A Midsummer Night's Dream')
Written by Michael Hoffman (based on the novel by Jay Parini)
True Story, Drama, Adaptation | 1hr 52mins | Rated (M) | contains sex scenes | Origin: Germany, Russia, UK | Official Site »
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Flicks review
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4
Based on Jay Parini’s 1990 novel of the same name, Last Station is a charming and compelling account of Tolstoy’s last year. Writer-director Hoffman does a fantastic job of keeping the action bowling along while also giving his actors time to develop their rich characters.
And what performances they give. Plummer (The Sound of Music) is delightfully earnest and eccentric (think somewhere between Anthony Hopkins’ John Kellogg and John Neville’s Baron Munchhausen) as the world’s, then, most celebrated writer, while Mirren gives an emotionally raw and fraught performance as his long complaining/suffering wife. There are echoes of Whose Afraid of Virginia Woolf? in their bickering (“You insist on making this an opera house”) but beneath it all you can sense the 48 years of companionship.
Almost equally impressive is the near-forgotten James McAvoy. As in The Last King of Scotland, he plays a private advisor with an armchair view of history and like that film he portrays the moral dilemma he finds his character placed in with subtlety and strength.
Music plays a significant part in the film with Sergei Yevtushenko’s (Russian Ark) elegant score combining magnificently with selected operatic pieces (a fight building in tension in time to an aria is a highlight).
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The people's reviews
4 reviews
Press Reviews
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Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
Some women are simply sexy forever. Helen Mirren is a woman like that. She's 64. As she enters her 70s, we'll begin to develop a fondness for sexy septuagenarians.
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Empire (UK)
4
Handsome, engrossing, frequently very funny for a literary bio drama, and ultimately deeply moving, with pitch-perfect performances from one and all.
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Guardian (UK)
2
Tolstoy's autumn years are turned into sitcom farce, with unspectacular result.
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Hollywood Reporter
Three superb performances by Helen Mirren, Christopher Plummer and James McAvoy should have Oscar handicappers drooling.
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Los Angeles Times
For those who enjoy actors who can play it up without ever overplaying their hands, The Last Station is the destination of choice.
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New York Times
The kind of movie that gives literature a bad name. Not because it undermines the dignity of a great writer and his work, but because it is so self-consciously eager to flaunt its own gravity and good taste.
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NZ Herald (Peter Calder)
4
Extravagant melodrama with brilliant performances...
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Rolling Stone (USA)
The film itself, energetically directed and written by Michael Hoffman, can't always rise to the level of its two dynamo stars.
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Variety (USA)
Solid middlebrow biographical fare in which meaty roles are acted to the hilt by a cast more than ready for the feast.
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View Auckland (Matt Turner)
3
The Last Station is worth seeing for its performances alone. Helen Mirren is terrific as Sofya, delivering a performance that has deservedly landed her an Oscar nomination for Best Actress, while Christopher Plummer is superb as Tolstoy, especially in his fiery argument scenes with Mirren.
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