Michael Hoffman, Egoli Tossell Film (19/02/10)

The Last Station reminds us that the cult of celebrity is a far from new phenomenon.

Director Michael Hoffman’s marvellous film, based on Jay Parini’s novel, demonstrates that the most unlikely figures can find themselves at the centre of a media frenzy. Here that figure is Leo Tolstoy (Christopher Plummer), the legendry Russian novelist, with The Last Station covering the final days of his life. Mass communication was still in its infancy in 1910, but Tolstoy still managed a level of popularity that saw him attain a Christ like status in the eyes of his followers. Indeed, a religious movement, the Tolstoyans, was founded around his ideas and opinions and nearly every word he spoke in company was in danger of being hurriedly scribbled down by one of his acolytes. Few of today’s celebrities can point to that on their resume but then Tolstoy’s fame was founded on genuine talent and intelligence which is a rare enough thing these days.
 
The principles of the Tolstoyans seem pretty sound and included the promotion of love and peace, a rejection of materialism, change brought about through passive resistance and an abstinence from sex. OK, most of the principles were pretty sound. Anyway, both Tolstoy and several of his believers appear to have been flexible on the whole sex thing. If the author’s wife Sofya did in fact resemble Helen Mirren, who plays her in The Last Station, then it would have taken more will power than most men possess for Tolstoy to resist temptation.
 
It is the relationship between the writer and his wife which forms the crux of the film along with the battle to save Tolstoy’s artistic legacy and ultimately his mortal soul. Sofya dismissed her husband’s followers as fools and his political ideas as impractical nonsense. In particular she detested his most loyal follower Vladimir Chertkov (Paul Giamatti) who hoped to persuade Tolstoy to amend his will and leave both his work and the attendant royalties to the movement. Sofya, on the other hand, wanted the money to secure their children’s future. Tolstoy was a count with all the riches and privileges that the title entailed and his wife was damned if she was going to let him throw all that away.
 
Fearing the influence Sofya is having upon Tolstoy Chertkov sends in Valentin Bulgakov (James McAvoy), a man even Chertkov regards as a “naïve sentimentalist,” to act as both the author’s secretary and a spy for the Tolstoyan cause. Bulgakov is completely in awe of Tolstoy and something of a wet blanket. He cries in his hero’s presence and sneezes when nervous. He claims to have read War and Peace many times until Sofya fixes him with a disbelieving stare and he admits that it was in fact only twice. She is unlikely to be impressed having written out the entire novel six times in the service of her husband. None the less, Sofya warms to the young man and he becomes the closest thing to an ally that she has. She is certainly unable to rely on her daughter Sasha (Anne-Marie Duff) who has sided with her father.
 
When Chertkov himself arrives at the Tolstoy country home the fiery Sofya desperately tries to cling on to her husband’s affections and rescue him from those she feels are manipulating him for their own gain. All that the aged scribe really wants is to be left alone and to spend his last days undisturbed by all the fuss surrounding him. A titanic battle of wills begins with Bulgakov caught in the middle as a witness to history in the making.
 
Hoffman makes great sport of the familiar trappings of fame in order to help a modern audience relate to the film’s story. There is an ever present group of what we would today term ‘paparazzi’ stationed outside the Tolstoy home to photograph all the comings and goings. The newspapers inaccurately report and sensationalise Sofya’s activities. When Tolstoy finally goes to the great writing desk in the sky the level of press interest and public grief invoke comparison with the hubbub surrounding the death of Michael Jackson or the Princess of Wales. This aspect may seem a bit stretched but the flickering archive film footage that accompanies the end credits suggest that it is at least grounded in truth
 
The Last Station is beautifully shot with a huge amount of aesthetic charm - steam trains puffing through the countryside, peasants toiling in the fields, that sort of thing. The screenplay by Hoffman is elegant and witty with several memorable lines. “If I were your husband,” Chertkov blusters at Sofya, “I would blow out my brains…or go to America.” The cast, including James McAvoy and his missus Anne-Marie Duff, are all first-rate. It is also a pleasure to see the underused John Sessions in a major role as Tolstoy’s doctor.
 
The soul of the film is provided by Dame Helen and Christopher Plummer. Their Sofya and Leo are still in love after many years of marriage but they are driven apart by differing principles and external forces. Christopher Plummer may still be best known for singing Edelweiss on the TV every Easter holiday but The Last Station is the actor at his very best. If the thought of Russian literature and Tolstoy in particular makes you feel like throwing yourself under a train then put such preconceptions aside as The Last Station is well worth a visit.
 

thelaststation.co.uk

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