The Last Station (2009)

The eagerly awaited Tolstoy bio-pic finally arrived in these parts and it's good fun. Set in 1910, at the end of Leo, or Lev, Tolstoy's life, it's about the conflict between his wife, who wants to keep the family's money for future generations, and his followers in the "Tolstoyan Movement," who don't believe in personal wealth. Helen Mirren (Oscar winner for The Queen (2006), nominated for this, Gosford Park (2001), and the Madness of King George (1994), you should see them all, plus Calendar Girls (2003) and Greenfingers (2000), among others), plays the wife, Countess Sofya Tolstoy, occasionally shrill, but for laughs, and you can't take your eyes off her. Christopher Plummer (I chose a few favorites when writing about The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus) plays the greatest Russian writer of his time with warmth, humor, and resolve, and earned the other Oscar nomination for this movie by doing so. But we mustn't ignore the contributions of the great Paul Giamatti (see my post about Cold Souls) as Vladimir Chertkov, bound and determined to secure the rights to his hero's work for The People. James McAvoy (so compelling in The Last King of Scotland (2006), The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005), and Atonement) plays the timid go-between Valentin Bulgakov, instructed by Chertov and the Countess to take copious notes and report back to each side. Yet it is the doctor's (Scottish comedian John Sessions) constant scribbling, amplified by 10, that provides the background to so many scenes, causing us to giggle after a while. McAvoy's real-life wife Anne-Marie Duff (the mom in Is Anybody There?) plays Sasha, the youngest of the 13 Tolstoy offspring, but his character's love interest, the fictitious (thanks, Clay, for cluing me in) character Masha, is played by the luminous Kerry Condon, and one of her scenes earns the movie's R rating.

This movie, adapted by director Michael Hoffman (Soapdish (1991), One Fine Day (1996), A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999), The Emperor's Club (2002)) from the Jay Parini novel, is altogether very entertaining and frequently funny, which surprised Mr. Tolstoy's descendants. I found it amusing that the Tolstoyan commune reminded me of a 1970's hippie commune, and, like Vivian (who commented on my Oscar nominees post), Jack and I also liked the "new" technology of the cameras, victrolas, etc. The music, by Sergei (AKA Sergey) Yevtushenko, beautifully sets the tone, with the help of arias from Mozart and Puccini. I see on iTunes that the Mozart recording, from The Marriage of Figaro, was actually recorded in 1937, after the time of the movie. Oh well. That anachronism detracted from the experience not one bit.