Monday 24 October 2011

The Last Station (2009) - Reviewed

My Overall Rating - 7/10

The Last Station (2009)

I watched this movie a couple of days back but I wasn't sure of writing a post about it up till now. The Last Station is a movie based on the later years of Russian author Leo Tolstoy showing his interest in politics and the people of Russia. The movie stars Christopher Plummer (Leo Tolstoy), Helen Mirren (Sofya), James McAvoy (Bulgakov), Paul Giamatti (Chertkov), Kerry Condon, Anne Marie Duff and others. It has been director by Michael Hoffman, though I am not sure if I should appreciate his efforts.

The plot is based on the struggle for conquering rights for Tolstoy's work and his estate which would all be in the control of public domain, as wished by the Tolstains and they are fighting against Sofya, Tolstoy's wife, who wants the control for herself and her children. Bulgakov (McAvoy) has been appointed as Tolstoy's new secretary, experiencing both the sides of the brawl. In short, they have shown the dialogues among Tolstoy, Sofya and Chertkov, as heard by Bulgakov.

The reason I am not able to like or dislike this period drama is that I couldn't take it in, completely. At times, I thought it to be very mature and well acted and then suddenly I saw Helen Mirren running and screaming all over the screen, Helen Mirren getting naughty and Helen Mirren shouting some more and more. However, I liked James McAvoy, Christopher Plummer and Paul Giamatti, all of whom have acted very nicely. The movie's best part is the climax, well acted, well written and well directed, you actually start feeling a bit emotional.

Overall, its a good movie to watch but not a pass time, not a light movie. If you have time and patience and brains, then this should be on your watchlist!


Wikipedia Link - The Last Station

No comments:

Post a Comment

Please do express your VIEWS!