THE LAST STATION

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.