Review of The Last Station (2009) by Lauren H — 06 Mar 2010

This was always going to be 'my kind of film'. Everyone knows that - and after avidly watching the tralers, lapping up the delicious jigsaw pieces of a film I have been hankering to watch (incidentally after the pre-production status on IMDB)....I LOVED it.

Slow - but it should have been slow paced. Nothing was more apt than a slow, meloncholy depiction of Toltstoy's last days..all encassed within a fractured eggshell of despair abnd seduction. The hysterically frustrated crowd was perfectly maddened by his wonderfully potrayed wife - I would bow to this woman if I saw in her in a London tube station (or an LA sidealk for that matter). Helen Mirren can do no wrong - and yes Helen, your repulsive astonishment at his leaving you, and Chertkov's betrayal was perfectly summised by your facial expressions and tone. We could not ask of more from an actress. James McAvoy also came into his own as a mezmerizing actor - and after 'Wanted' with Angelina Jolie, I never thought you'd give me the opportunity to say that. Every word, every utterance was utterly consuming - I almost wanted him to hold my face in his hands...that is of course if Michael Hoffman hadn't taken me on a journey of exploration into my own 'love situation'.

Yes, I am a woman - a young woman - who saw myself in the role of the maddened yet extraordinaly infatuated wife. Yes, I would like to smash the china on my drawing room table someday - all because I love a man and he loves me. I hope that stays with us...who knows.

What I do know for certain however is that the Academy Awards are tomorrow/ Helen Mirren may not take away the 'Best Actress' accolade though I'd jump for joy in my street if she did, but this will always be something I can own in my collection of 'bloody good films'.

War and Peace with the Countess and her husband. Brilliance.