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Author Topic: The Last Station  (Read 990 times)

luna_june

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The Last Station
« on: June 12, 2010, 09:36:16 PM »
Hey guys,

Saw The Last Station the other day for one of the free local papers I write reviews for. Thoughts below. Apologies if there's another post on this one. Cheers.

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The camera does a funny thing in places of The Last Station, sitting just too close for people to fit comfortably in the frame. It’s an intimate technique, almost invasively so, yet used so well to draw you further into already compelling scenes. Those scenes and the film as a whole really – I gotta tell ya – is a doozie.

Writer/director Michael Hoffman has made a superb celluloid cocktail from real events and the biographical novel of the same name. Valentin Bulgakov (James McAvoy) has been hired as private secretary to Leo Tolstoy (Christopher Plummer). Tolstoy is spending his final year struggling to nurture the movement bearing his name, while also maintaining some semblance of a quiet life. This is proving increasingly difficult as he fights more and more with his wife (Helen Mirren) over his legacy. The portrayal of their marriage is a particular highlight, whether it’s the Countessa’s histrionics or the small, sweet gifts of kindness they give each other between conflicts. Others in the cast, particularly Paul Giamatti as Chertkov - Tolstoy’s friend and the man chosen to lead his movement after his death)- and Kerry Condon as Masha – a Tolstoian and love interest for Valentin – are great too in their supporting roles.

However, much like the train eventually taking Tolstoy to his final stop, the combination of Plummer, Mirren, and McAvoy are the powerful engine driving this film. Their triumvirate is an absolute master class as various scenes with them shift effortlessly from the visceral to the poetic, from heartbreak to laughter.

One of the tenants Tolstoy’s followers held fast to was to forgo the trappings of private property and instead strive for and embrace simplicity in their lives. Indeed, the theme of love as present in the film is the epitome of simplicity: The sheer simplicity of skin, the touch of another, or making love beneath the sound of rain. Ultimately, while The Last Station confirms that idealists and realists will always clash – sometimes beautifully so – what’s most important are the urgent and necessary connections we make with one another.

Dave the Necrobumper

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Re: The Last Station
« Reply #1 on: June 12, 2010, 09:39:50 PM »
However, much like the train eventually taking Tolstoy to his final stop, the combination of Plummer, Mirren, and McAvoy are the powerful engine driving this film. Their triumvirate is an absolute master class as various scenes with them shift effortlessly from the visceral to the poetic, from heartbreak to laughter.


Very true, those 3 provide performances that are wonderful.

 

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