The Last Station - A movie about Tolstoy

[Divide by Zero]

I just saw the last station and highly recommend it.

Some may see the romance, some may see the pain and complication that romance brings.

Now, my own biased viewpoint.

SPOILER ALERT



Tolstoy's wife, Sofya was fighting his wanting to change the rights on his works to the public, so they can benefit from it. She constantly showed her selfish needs to ensure survival of her children... feeling that they would be on the street despite having a nice big house in the country with plenty of land. That dynamic was drawn out until Tolstoy made a deed out to the general public and decided to leave the house because his wife's tantrums was destroying him (and her). So, he left, and was slowly dying, already drained. One of his secretaries, Valentin, contacted her and let her know where he was, because he started asking for her on his deathbed. She finally got to see him and said something that irked me... that he would never leave her. In the movie it seemed like all her later life, because of his drive to help humanity, she felt that as him abandoning her. It made me kind of angry to see that she didn't even respect what he was trying to do for the people. It wasn't like he was abusing her or ignoring her... no, she was childish and quite selfish.

So, naturally, I connected it with the work. Seeing a couple who don't agree on an aim fight over the stupid details while the work gets closed by it. I myself identify with Tolstoy, feeling that love fades, things change, as did with his wife who didn't share the same aim.

I suppose some may find the movie romantic as the secretary finds his first love who catches up with him when Tolstoy dies. That, to me, doesn't mean much as I don't put much significance in a first love.

Overall, it is a movie that must have many lessons to people, depending on their own viewpoint of reality.

I apologize if I made it into a love bash fest, but that is just how I feel about it.

 

[Risen]

Sounds like a film I would like to watch. Thanks for posting about it, Divide by Zero.

 

[Hildegarda]

In the movie it seemed like all her later life, because of his drive to help humanity, she felt that as him abandoning her. It made me kind of angry to see that she didn't even respect what he was trying to do for the people. It wasn't like he was abusing her or ignoring her... no, she was childish and quite selfish. So, naturally, I connected it with the work. Seeing a couple who don't agree on an aim fight over the stupid details while the work gets closed by it. I myself identify with Tolstoy, feeling that love fades, things change, as did with his wife who didn't share the same aim.

Divide By Zero, thank you for sharing, this does sound like an interesting movie. The above made me think quite a bit.

The thing about Tolstoy's writing that consistently amaze me is that his characters are complex and totally real. His writing is so dense with detail that even if his own viewpoint about the characters clearly shows, it is possible to form other impressions and interpretations. Tolstoy's works are part of school program in Russia, and his staying power with the readers is huge: to my knowledge, he is the only writer whose books and characters even now provoke intense discussions, even conflicts, in blogs of regular people like you and me.

Naturally, his personal and family life was just as complex and gave itself to various interpretations over the years. A lot of it did center around his relationship with Sofia and was politically motivated. Until recently, the prevailing interpretation indeed was that she wasn't in his league and didn't fully appreciate him. Sure, we knew that as she was an innocent teenager, about to be married to a famous writer, her future husband has insisted on sharing with her his diaries describing his sins and debauchery, and that totally freaked her out; but that only served to further augment her neurotic and incompetent image. That was a view promoted by Tolstoy estate's executor, Chertkov, who was at odds with Sofia over the influence at her husband and the copyright issues, and appears to be reflected in the movie you are referring to, which is a fictional account of the last year of Tolstoy's life. A more complex picture emerged recently as Sofia's diary has been translated into English and released. It portrays a woman who has human faults like the rest of us, but who loved her husband, competently stood by him and in the end was worn out to bare bone by his intense and conflicting demands over the years. Here is just one article about it which also mentions the movie:

_http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alexandra-popoff/sophia-tolstoy-not-the-wo_b_576632.html

 

[Alana]

I watched the movie last night, and actually saw Sophia in the movie as the Huffington article that Hildegarda posted. It wasn't clearly depicted, but could be seen between the lines:

When I watched The Last Station I thought that Helen Mirren created a convincing and complex character, but it's strikingly different from what Sophia was like. Tolstoy's wife was capable of handling Tolstoy's publishing affairs and their family's business affairs, while also raising a large family. I was impressed with her capacity for hard work: a mother of 13, who herself nursed and educated their children, she also was a successful publisher, Tolstoy's translator, and a photographer. She worked alongside Tolstoy during the famine relief. Unlike what was written about her, she profoundly understood Tolstoy as a writer and a man and was supportive of him.

I recommend it. It actually made me curious to read and learn more about Sophia and Leo's life.