The Picturehouse Greenwich surprisingly opened at 10.30am today already when there were only about 3 people waiting to be let in - caught everyone by surprise I guess. It filled up nicely though. We did have a little delay before it started, and saw trailers for MicMacs and Crazy Heart, both of which I have tickets for.
The film is beautifully shot and Helen Mirren acted her heart out but I didn't know much about Tolstoy and didn't learn that much more about his books or movement either. It wasn't really a film about him though - it was a film about relationships and love. You could feel the Countesses pain for being cast aside after almos 50 years of marriage in which she had always participated in his career. Now they were still in love but his movement had taken over, his "disciples" regarded her as a threat, and she raged against him making a new will giving ownership of his work to the public instead of leaving it with her to provide for the family. To be honest, as nicely played as it was, the love affair between James McAvoy and that girl whose name I have forgotten didn't really add that much to the story, and it was all a bit dragged out.
7.5/10
The Last Station
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Beate
- The Modfather (& Three-Time Prediction Master!)
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Re: The Last Station
Member No. 1 of the "100 free films in 2020" club. 7 seen 
Member No. 1 of the "100 free films in 2009 - 2019" clubs. 826 seen 
Member No. 1 of the "104 free previews in 2008" club. 92 seen -
tarantinoed
- The Fifth Element
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Re: The Last Station
Fantastic film. Thought Helen Mirren was really good and James McAvoy (he's consistently underrated). The scenes between Plummer and Mirren were electric. What a beautiful film about love to see on Valentine's Day.
Re: The Last Station
Saw this yesterday and like everyone else thought it was very good.I didnt recognise Christopher Plummer ,his acting was superbe as was HelenMirren
Last edited by sonia on Mon Feb 15, 2010 12:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: The Last Station
A newcomer?sonia wrote:HelenMirram
Sounds like she might have a good acting career...
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Cortone
- Phase IV
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Re: The Last Station
Saw this in York yesterday, Allsinging (and mum and daughter) and PeteYork, and it was pretty full.
I enjoyed the film at the start, but found it dragged a bit later. There were some lovely scenes though and didn't remember it would be as Christopher Plummer as Tolstoy (I won't say who I thought it was - it would be very embarrassing. I wish I were better at recognising faces!)
It was well acted - and Helen Mirren was outstanding (and I am not normally a big fan of hers), and some scenes were beautifully shot.
I really did not know anything about Tolstoy before (beyond his books), and so this was interesting. Pete York helped me try and place all this in the history context too, as he was the only one who knew all the key historical dates.
I enjoyed the film at the start, but found it dragged a bit later. There were some lovely scenes though and didn't remember it would be as Christopher Plummer as Tolstoy (I won't say who I thought it was - it would be very embarrassing. I wish I were better at recognising faces!)
It was well acted - and Helen Mirren was outstanding (and I am not normally a big fan of hers), and some scenes were beautifully shot.
I really did not know anything about Tolstoy before (beyond his books), and so this was interesting. Pete York helped me try and place all this in the history context too, as he was the only one who knew all the key historical dates.
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valda
- 8 1/2
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Re: The Last Station
How come I never get to see trailers, most disappointed.Beate wrote:The Picturehouse Greenwich surprisingly opened at 10.30am today already when there were only about 3 people waiting to be let in - caught everyone by surprise I guess. It filled up nicely though. We did have a little delay before it started, and saw trailers for MicMacs and Crazy Heart, both of which I have tickets for.
7.5/10
I saw this at the Picturehouse Clapham. A few mins before the film was due to start, there was only a handful of people but suddenly they all poured in and by the time the film started 15 mins late, it was pretty much full. The few late comers that came afterwards alos managed to get seats.
Very well acted and beautifully shot, I wasn't expecting to like it as some of the reviews weren't that kind. I never expected so much humour as well. I did drift off in the latter stages as I was so tired and had a killer headache for a couple of days but all in all a good way to sepnd a Sunday morning 7/10
preferred locations Shepherds Bush, Westfield, Notting Hill, Central London, Wimbledon, Islington, Wandsworth thanks
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funnierthandeath
Re: The Last Station
I enjoyed this film. I thought the star of the film was McAvoy and he was just as deserving of an Oscar nod as Mirren and Plummer who were also very good. It was Valentin's story as he arced the most. Some nice quirky moments too.
Don't know where I saw it got panned from.
Don't know where I saw it got panned from.
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tarantinoed
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Re: The Last Station
Can someone tell me please - Joseph Conrad and Henry James were mentioned outside the station house but I didn't catch the first part of the sentence. Were they there or had they sent telegrams or something, please?
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Beate
- The Modfather (& Three-Time Prediction Master!)
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Re: The Last Station
http://www.viewlondon.co.uk/films/the-l ... 31912.html
The ViewLondon Review
Review by Matthew Turner
17/02/2010
Opens Friday 19 February 2010
Three out of Five stars
Running time: 113 mins
The Last Station is beautifully shot and features terrific performances from all four leads but it's also strangely dull in places and never quite delivers the required emotional punch.
What's it all about?
Directed by Michael Hoffman, The Last Station is based on the novel by Jay Parini and stars James McAvoy as Valentin Bulgakov, the newly appointed secretary to the novelist Leo Tolstoy (Christopher Plummer), who is approaching the end of his life in 1910 Russia. Holed up in a country mansion, Bulgakov is witness to an increasingly bitter conflict between Tolstoy's loyal disciple Vladimir Chertkov (Paul Giamatti), who wants Tolstoy to bequeath the rights to his work to the people, and his devoted wife Sofya (Helen Mirren), who despises Chertkov and can't understand why her husband would want to effectively disinherit his family.
Though initially acting as a de facto spy for Chertkov, Bulgakov becomes increasingly sympathetic to Sofya as he witnesses her relationship with Tolstoy at first hand. At the same time, Bulgakov finds his notions of the importance of celibacy challenged when he falls in love with beautiful, headstrong teacher Masha (Kerry Condon).
The Good
The Last Station is worth seeing for its performances alone. Helen Mirren is terrific as Sofya, delivering a performance that has deservedly landed her an Oscar nomination for Best Actress, while Christopher Plummer is superb as Tolstoy, especially in his fiery argument scenes with Mirren. Similarly, Paul Giamatti is excellent as Chertkov, particularly as you're never quite sure whether he's as ruthless and greedy as Sofya says he is or whether he's just passionately committed to his cause.
Faced with three heavyweight performances it would be easy for another actor to get lost but McAvoy more than holds his own, delivering a solid, likeable performance that anchors the film. There's also strong support from Kerry Condon (fondly remembered by Rome fans for her role as Octavia) as Masha and from Anne-Marie Duff (McAvoy's wife) as Tolstoy's daughter, Sasha.
The Bad
The film is also beautifully shot throughout and has a touch of the Merchant-Ivories about it. However, despite several strong scenes, the film is weirdly slow in the first half and somehow never quite delivers the emotional punch you're hoping for.
Worth seeing?
In short, The Last Station isn't quite as emotionally engaging as it ought to be but it's worth seeing for its performances alone.
The ViewLondon Review
Review by Matthew Turner
17/02/2010
Opens Friday 19 February 2010
Three out of Five stars
Running time: 113 mins
The Last Station is beautifully shot and features terrific performances from all four leads but it's also strangely dull in places and never quite delivers the required emotional punch.
What's it all about?
Directed by Michael Hoffman, The Last Station is based on the novel by Jay Parini and stars James McAvoy as Valentin Bulgakov, the newly appointed secretary to the novelist Leo Tolstoy (Christopher Plummer), who is approaching the end of his life in 1910 Russia. Holed up in a country mansion, Bulgakov is witness to an increasingly bitter conflict between Tolstoy's loyal disciple Vladimir Chertkov (Paul Giamatti), who wants Tolstoy to bequeath the rights to his work to the people, and his devoted wife Sofya (Helen Mirren), who despises Chertkov and can't understand why her husband would want to effectively disinherit his family.
Though initially acting as a de facto spy for Chertkov, Bulgakov becomes increasingly sympathetic to Sofya as he witnesses her relationship with Tolstoy at first hand. At the same time, Bulgakov finds his notions of the importance of celibacy challenged when he falls in love with beautiful, headstrong teacher Masha (Kerry Condon).
The Good
The Last Station is worth seeing for its performances alone. Helen Mirren is terrific as Sofya, delivering a performance that has deservedly landed her an Oscar nomination for Best Actress, while Christopher Plummer is superb as Tolstoy, especially in his fiery argument scenes with Mirren. Similarly, Paul Giamatti is excellent as Chertkov, particularly as you're never quite sure whether he's as ruthless and greedy as Sofya says he is or whether he's just passionately committed to his cause.
Faced with three heavyweight performances it would be easy for another actor to get lost but McAvoy more than holds his own, delivering a solid, likeable performance that anchors the film. There's also strong support from Kerry Condon (fondly remembered by Rome fans for her role as Octavia) as Masha and from Anne-Marie Duff (McAvoy's wife) as Tolstoy's daughter, Sasha.
The Bad
The film is also beautifully shot throughout and has a touch of the Merchant-Ivories about it. However, despite several strong scenes, the film is weirdly slow in the first half and somehow never quite delivers the emotional punch you're hoping for.
Worth seeing?
In short, The Last Station isn't quite as emotionally engaging as it ought to be but it's worth seeing for its performances alone.
Member No. 1 of the "100 free films in 2020" club. 7 seen Member No. 1 of the "100 free films in 2009 - 2019" clubs. 826 seen Member No. 1 of the "104 free previews in 2008" club. 92 seen -
niamh
Re: The Last Station
I agree that it lost pace towards the end but I found this a fascinating story, very well acted and beautifully shot. The ticket from first4movies had the wrong postcode printed, which I had used to get directions from tfl, and ended up in greenwich odeon instead, so had a last minute dash to the (much nicer) picturehouse. Very glad that the showing didnt start in time as we managed to get there during the trailers (who knew?)!
Thanks hd for the ticket
Thanks hd for the ticket