Section: POLSKIE HORYZONTY: The Female Gaze

THE LAST STATION

THE LAST STATION

Michael Hoffman
Germany, Russia, 2009, 112 Min
Egoli Tossel Film Halle GmbH

The young Valentin Bulgakov is a fervent follower of Tolstoy, as such he's overjoyed when a confidant of Tolstoy, Vladimir Chertkov, sends him to Yasnaya Polyana, home of the old master, where he is to work as his secretary. The somewhat devious Chertkov however has his eye on establishing a confidant of his own by the writer's side, who would then gather important information for him, in particular about Sophia Andreyevna, Tolstoy's wife of over forty eight years. It is namely she who wants to prevent the rights to Tolstoy's work from passing into the hands of Chertkov, who for his part acts as if he had only the interests of the selfless author at heart.

Bulgakov quickly finds himself caught in the crossfire, a stunned witness to the at times fierce marital arguments of the Tolstoys. As a consequence his view of the world starts to falter: the young man falls in love with the permissive Masha, although as a follower of Tolstoy he is in fact strictly speaking bound to a life of ascetism and renunciation of sensual pleasures. Whilst Bulgakov starts to have ever greater doubts, the events come thick and fast: Tolstoy leaves his wife, resolves to commit himself completely to his revolutionary ideals, renounces all material wealth and so sets off on his last journey.

This German-Russian co-production, filmed with British stars in Eastern Germany, capably portrays Tolstoy's political and private conflicts shortly befond the fall of tsarism, with Christopher Plummer and Helen Mirren playing the Tolstoy couple and James McAvoy in the role of Bulgakov.

Filmformat
35 mm | Farbe / colour
Drehbuch
Michael Hoffman
Kamera
Sebastian Edschmid
Ton
Dirk Jacob
Schnitt
Patricia Rommel
Ausstattung
Patrizia von Brandenstein, Monica Jacobs
Musik
Sergey Yevtushenko
Darsteller
Helen Mirren, Christopher Plummer, James McAvoy, Paul Giamatti, Anne-Marie Duff, David Masterson, Patrick Kennedy, Nenad Lucic
Produzent
Jens Meurer, Chris Curling, Bonnie Arnold
Produktion
Egoli Tossel Film Halle GmbH
Co-Produktion
Andrey Konchalovsky Production Center, Sam Film
Kontakt
Egoli Tossell Film AG
Jens Meurer
Torstraße 164
10115 Berlin
Germany
Tel: +49.30.246 56 50
Fax: +49.30.246 56 52 4
jensmeurer@egolitossell.com
www.egolitossell.com
Michael Hoffman

Michael Hoffman - born 1956 in Hawaii. Studied at Boise State University in the state of Idaho. Later studied with the help of a bursary at Oriel College, Oxford, where he produced his first feature film PRIVILEGED, which starred a young Hugh Grant.

Movies
PRIVILEGED (1982)
RESTLESS NATIVES (1985)
PROMISED LAND (1987)
SOME GIRLS (1988)
SOAPDISH (1991)
RESTORATION (1995)
ONE FINE DAY (1996)
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM (1999)
THE EMPEROR'S CLUB (2002)
GAME 6 (2005)
OUT OF THE BLUE: A FILM ABOUT LIFE AND FOOTBALL (2007, doc)