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It seems remarkable to me that it has taken so long to bring the last years of Leo Tolstoy to the screen. A story that contains love, betrayal and tragedy as well as the academy’s recent love of historic figures, it seems bound to have appeared sooner or later. The Last station is just that: the story of his last years and the conflict over his legacy between his long suffering but devoted wife Sophia (Helen Mirren) and his philosophical followers the Tolstoyans led by the sinister Vladimir Chertkov (Paul Giamatti).
The Last Station is told primarily from the perspective of Tolstoy’s private secretary Valentin Bulgakov (James McAvoy), an aspiring Tolstoyan sent by Chertkov to aid Tolstoy, but primarily to spy on Sophia who he despises as she completely disagrees with his philosophy. However, despite this, Valentin’s problematic loyalties between his increasingly challenged Tolstoyan beliefs and the countess whom he comes to admire and is falling in love with, are only of secondary importance to the main conflict between Tolstoy and his wife.
Indeed Christopher Plummer’s Tolstoy and Helen Mirren’s Sophia are easily the best things about this film, both being fantastic and deserving of their respective Oscar nominations. Helen Mirren brilliantly brings her character to life and we can really feel her sense of abandonment and betrayal throughout. Meanwhile, Tolstoy’s confusion and anger at his wife’s inability to understand his work and the deep distress this causes him is wonderfully depicted. Indeed, all their scenes are phenomenal, but their scenes together are truly special, expertly depicting both the characters' desperate love for each other, yet their bitter and confused rage drives the film. They completely overshadow the rest of the action - James McAvoy who delivers a good performance simply cannot compete with them. With Valentin’s voyage of personal discovery becoming a matter not just of secondary importance but also of limited interest, with the film suffering greatly whenever Mirren or Plummer are not in front of the camera.
The film can also be criticised as it seems to lack its proper sense of place and simply does not feel Russian at almost any level, instead feeling more like Victorian England rather than the Russia of the early twentieth century. As such it becomes hard to appreciate Tolstoy’s ideas for what they are and there is certainly no real sense that this is a society on the verge of social meltdown, something certainly not helped by Paul Giamatti’s portrayal of Vladimir Chertkov, depicted more as a sinister man of ambition rather than an idealist honestly trying to do what he believes is for the common good of humanity.
Overall however, The Last Station is a very good film, even if this is primarily down to two extraordinary performances which are quite simply a joy to watch. Indeed, the film would probably be worth watching for Mirren’s tour de force alone, for which she probably deserves her second Oscar. Even if it does deal perhaps a little unfairly with the Tolstoyans and does not feel particularly Russian, this still makes for superb drama and is well worth watching.
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