Iffy for 16+
Mature Tolstoy biopic recounts his conflicted last days.
What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that this period drama recounting Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy’s last months, while powerful and well acted, isn't too likely to appeal to kids. It has moments of both intense squabbling and gentle loving between the writer and his wife. Many of their fights are loud and painfully honest (though not venomous), and younger teens may find them disturbing. There’s also a sex scene with partial nudity (a woman's breasts) and a little swearing (though "bitch" is about as strong as it gets).
- Families can talk about what the movie is trying to say about marriage. Whatmakes the romances in this film similar to or different to other Hollywood pairings?
- Does Leo and Sofya's relationship seem realistic? How much of the movie do you think is based on fact, and what parts might the filmmakers have had to fill in? Why might filmmakers sometimes alter the truth for a movie?
The good stuff
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Messages: This romantic period film delves into serious questions about loyalty to family, country, and self; there’s also much discussion about the importance of loving and being loved and how that may be the path to salvation.
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Role models: Tolstoy is almost saintly here, though only just. Though his love for his wife -- and vice versa -- is unwavering, he wrestles with larger questions that may supersede his family, much to his wife’s chagrin. Though she seems quarrelsome, it’s apparent that she acts out of concern and love for him. Valentin is the prism through which Tolstoy’s life and works are viewed, and his struggle to comprehend them is understandable and commendable.
What to watch for
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Violence: Lots of loud quarrels between a husband and his wife -- they adore each other, but they can’t seem to agree on what to do about one major decision. A despondent woman attempts to drown herself in a lake.
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Sex: A woman propositions a man she barely knows; later, they have sex (only her breasts are visible). Some candid conversations about sex and marriage and celibacy. The Tolstoys seduce each other with sexual banter.
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Language: Nothing stronger than “tighta--,“ “bitch,” and “moron.”
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Consumerism: Not an issue
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Drinking, drugs and smoking: Not an issue
Fan Reviews provided by
5
On human values and relationships by Sarah Wisdom
"The Last Station" invites us to reflect on what it means to be human. On one hand, we explore with the characters the conflict between visions of an ideal society and the concrete realities of daily living. The Tolstoys belong to the highest levels of Russian aristocracy: Leo is building a movement toward a classless society, while Sonja fears leaving behind the life she has known, should Leo's coterie convince him to change his will in a way that will overturn her life when she dies. To Leo, the movement is a way of giving social and political shape to his ideal of love, while Sonja feels that the life it is creating has lost connection with real human relationships.
"The Last Station" slowly and beautifully (with rich cinematography and music and marvelous acting by Helen Mirren and others) explores these tensions in a way that helps us feel into these tensions of life and love. This is my "best motion picture" of the year--forget the Oscar 10!
4
New York Times is scared of death (typical rich liberal attitude) - this is a fine movie by DarkMorocco
AO Scott - a typical death-squeamish upper-middle class New Yorker, disses the movie in the worst possible snobbish way - by stating that only pretentious snobs will lke it ("acting in bulk and literary pretension at a discount"). I read Scott, and he is a typical shallow New York upper-middleclass liberal - doesn't know what he believed/s yesterday or tomorrow, but knows what today's flavor is (feel sorry for his kids). Anyway, this movie is about death, and about how the alive elderly deal with it - the vividly alive elderly. No one wants to die, especially the passionate elderly as they confront it, and this movie shows how it is confronted through the prism of a marriage. Movie cops out a bit by throwing a lot of young sex/flesh at us, but maybe it is a necessary balance to the movie's wrinkles. Plummer and Mirren are superb - the marriage they portray is alive till the end, as all great marriages are. And great Russian scenery to boot ~
5
Five Word Review by rencsike
touching story with great perfomances
4
The Last Station by bon58
Well acted artsy movie.
5
Fabulous cast - fabulous atmosphere by Wonkagranny
This movie tranfixed me. It put me into 19th century Russia and the lives of the Tolstoys. I was moved by the relationship of the Tolstoys. The Russians are great at making the man/woman connection - man-sky, woman-earth. Great drama with believable lighter moments.
5
The Last Station by movieeviewer
Exquisite, deep, realistic, gripping - a movie to remember!
5
The Last Station by 2brenners
This was a wonderful movie with spectacular acting and a great story. It was a good history lesson on Tolstoy and his life and times. It was also a good depiction of that time in Russia.
5
The Last Station by mucia
I found this movie to be a very enriching experience. I would go see again and again.
The rich history and suberg acting will leave you inspired to know more.
One of the best movies I have seen this year.
5
The Last Station by pstensrud
Phenomenal, loved it! Must see!! Spectacular cinematography, brilliant acting for all five leads, Mirren, Plummer, Giametti, and the two lovers. Beautiful scenery, sets, costumes. Rich, rich, rich. Like the best of David Maclean, Merchant & Ivory and more....