The Last Station

The Last Station starring Christopher Plummer, Helen Mirren, Paul Giamatti and James McAvoy.

The movie is based on the last months of Leo Tolstoy’s life and inspired by the novel written by Jay Parini. The all star cast is directed by Michael Hoffman and provides an intriguing yet not so academic portrait of Tolstoy’s relationship with his family and the movement that he created in Russia during the time of the Tsar. Leo Tolstoy died at the age of 82 very publicly at Atapovo train station in Southern Russia in 1910, which happened to be the end station on the line. This is the inspiration behind the novel and movie title.

The main issue surrounding Tolstoy’s death is the struggle between his wife Sofya (Helen Mirren) and Vladimir Chertkov (Paul Giamatti) a disciple of Tolstoy. Both characters are battling for the rights to the money from the book ‘War and Peace’. Whilst Vladimir wants to supposedly use the money from the book rights to advance the cause of the Tolstoy movement and spread the message of universal love and passive resistance to violence. Sofya however is rightfully suspicious of Vladimir’s intentions and wants to keep the money from the book rights within the family. The struggle between these two characters is recorded by Valentin (James McAvoy) Tolstoy’s new secretary. The film is well acted by the all star cast and is worth a look.