Review of The Last Station (2009) by Deb S — 06 Apr 2011

Vladimir Chertkov: "If I had a wife like you, I would have blown my brains out or gone to America".

Aspiring writer Valetine Bulgakov (James McAvoy) is hired by Vladimir Chertkov (Paul Giamatti) to work for his idol, literary giant, Leo Tolstoy (played by Christopher Plummer who while fragile is still active and under the constant watch of his physician) at his country estate In addition to transcribing Tolstoy's thoughts, Valetine is also ordered to surreptitiously record everything that Tolstoy's passionate and volatile wife has to say about her idealistic husband's controversial will, which will make his work public domain upon his death, but this would also mean the loss of their family's inheritance and the security of their children.

Chertkov played by Paul Giamatti superbly is passionate to get Tolstoy to leave his works and legacy to the Russian people. Meanwhile, Tolstoy's wife Sofya, played by Helen Mirren is just as passionate to stop Tolstoy from robbing their children of their inheritance. The conflict between Sofya and Chertkov has no love lost, they despise and distrust each other as much as two people can.

The story itself, is mediated by James McAvoy's Valentin Bulgakov, who finds himself caught in the middle, is admirably believable as a young idealist who joins Tolstoy's circle only to discover that the master Tolstoy himself does not live by his own philosophy, which is ironic and that his immediate social environment is rife with antagonism and intrigue. He is also seduced by a beautiful girl who finds it difficult to abide by the master's austere ideals of sexual abstinence.

On paper there doesn't seem much to work up a sweat about but this remains an engrossing film because Helen Mirren and Christopher Plummer absolutely carry the movie with their portrayals of the Tolstoys. Their scenes together are both explosive and romantic. The final scenes are very touching. It is a case where action speaks louder than words and there is good backup from a strong supporting cast.