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The Last Station
With Christopher Plummer, Helen Mirren
NOMINATED FOR TWO ACADEMY AWARDS!
Helen Mirren – Actress in a Leading Role
Christopher Plummer – Actor in a Supporting Role
THE LAST STATION focuses on two contrasting love stories along with the problems faced in and around the relationships. One is the extraordinary relationship between Leo Tolstoy (Christopher Plummer), the famous Russian novelist, and his wife of 48 years, the Countess Sofya (Helen Mirren); and the other is the burgeoning love between Valentin (James McAvoy), Tolstoy's idealistic young private secretary, and Masha (Kerry Condon), a teacher equally committed to the writer's values.
Sofya is engaged in a ferocious battle for her husband's soul against Chertkov (Paul Giamatti), Tolstoy's trusted disciple, and Tolstoy's daughter Sasha (Anne-Marie Duff). Using every bit of cunning and every trick of seduction, Sofya fights for what she believes is hers; while Chertkov is able to persuade Tolstoy of the damage she will do to his glorious legacy.
Meanwhile, Valentin is used as a pawn by the scheming Chertkov and then by the wounded, vengeful Sofya as each plots to undermine the other's gains. Complicating Valentin's life is the passion he feels for Masha, whose unconventional attitudes about sex and love both compel and confuse him. Infatuated with Tolstoy's notions of ideal love, but mystified by Tolstoy's passionate but turbulent marriage, Valentin is ill equipped to deal with the complications of love in the real world. All theses elements come together in a gripping climax as Tolstoy nears the end of his life at a remote little railway station in the Russian countryside. THE LAST STATION is a true story of two romances, one beginning, and one near its end.
THE LAST STATION was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards and 5 Spirit Awards and is expected to be nominated by the Academy Awards.
Rated R for a scene of sexuality/nudity. 112 Minutes.
"The complicated marriage between Leo Tolstoy and his wife Sofya has been turned into a showcase for tasty acting by Christopher Plummer and Helen Mirren."
- Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times
"In this movie director Michael Hoffman achieves a new expressiveness, fluidity, and power... it’s vibrantly alive....It’s the most emotionally naked work of Mirren’s movie career; she gives poetic form to the madness and the violence of commonplace jealousy."
-David Denby, The New Yorker
"A lovely quicksilver version of literary history, with the accent on young love that emerges unbidden, and old love that endures."
-Joe Morgenstern, The Wall Street Journal
"The film would not be so successful without the strong chemistry between Mirren and Plummer that makes apparent the intensity of the connection in the Tolstoy marriage. They make a masterful acting combination. Both are award-caliber."
-Ed Scheid, Boxoffice Magazine
Watch interviews on YouTube (Helen Mirren) (James McAvoy)
Read interview with Helen Mirren
About the Director:
Michael Hoffman grew up in Idaho and studied at Boise State University. Awarded a scholarship by the renowned Rhodes Foundation, Michael went to study at Oxford University in 1979, where he discovered a young Hugh Grant and shot his debut film, Privileged. After graduating from Oxford University, Michael along with Rick Stevenson and others founded Oxford Film Company. Other films Michael has directed include: Promised Land, Soapdish, Restoration, One Fine Day, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Game 6, and Out of The Blue: A Film About Life and Football.
About author Jay Parini
Jay Parini, a poet and novelist, teaches at Middlebury College in Vermont. His novels include THE APPRENTICE LOVER, BENJAMIN'S CROSSING, and THE LAST STATION (soon to be a motion picture). His fifth volume of poetry was THE ART OF SUBTRACTION: New and Selected Poems (2005). He has written biographies of John Steinbeck, Robert Frost, and William Faulkner, in addition to THE ART OF TEACHING (2005) and WHY POETRY MATTERS (2008). His reviews and essays appear frequently in major periodicals, including The Chronicle of Higher Education and The Guardian.
Interviews with Jay Parini author of The Last Station:
wiredforbooks.org
www.bookslut.com
"One of those rare works of fiction that manages to demonstrate both scrupulous historical research and true originality of voice and perception.... What lifts this book high above most historical novels is Jay Parini's remarkable ability to enter the minds of his characters."
-Miranda Seymour, New York Times Book Review
Read more about Tolstoy’s books on The London Guardian Books Blog
