THE LAST STATION -- Writer/director Michael Hoffman talks with Andrea Chase about his film.
From: Andrea Chase
Series: Behind the Scenes
Length: 16:04
Director Michael Hoffman spent a decade bringing Jay Parini's novel, The Last Station, to the screen. Once he understood that the contradictions of love were the key to the script, the rest fell into place. During the interview, he goes into the way Anton Chekhov led him to the right tone, why Leo Tolstoy is still relevant today, and why paparazzi aren't a new phenomenon. He also lauds Helen Mirren for her refusal to pander to an audience, and James McAvoy for being the perfect collaborator.
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Piece Description
Director Michael Hoffman spent a decade bringing Jay Parini's novel, The Last Station, to the screen. Once he understood that the contradictions of love were the key to the script, the rest fell into place. During the interview, he goes into the way Anton Chekhov led him to the right tone, why Leo Tolstoy is still relevant today, and why paparazzi aren't a new phenomenon. He also lauds Helen Mirren for her refusal to pander to an audience, and James McAvoy for being the perfect collaborator.
Intro and Outro
INTRO:Andrea Chase talks with director Michael Hoffman about his film, THE LAST STATION, adapted by Hoffman from the book of the same name by Jay Parini, it recounts the final days of Count Leo Tolstoy and the stormy, passionate relationship he had with his wife of 48 years, Sofya. The film begins with the arrival of a new secretary, Valentin, a dedicated Tolstoyan, who finds his own difficulties in staying true to the ideals of the utopian community Tolstoy founded, the same difficulties, so he discovers a the great man himself. Hired by Tolstoy’s longtime friend, Chertov, to assist Tolstoy with his writings, he is also tasked to spy on Sofya, who suspects Chertov of influencing Tolstoy into signing away the copywright to his early works. Meanwhile Valetin himself is tested when he falls for Masha, a tolsoyan with her own ideas about what constitutes being true to Tolsoy’s ideals.
The story encompasses contradictions of idealism in a messy real world, the difference between inspiring a social movement and keeping it going, as well as the wonder and pain of love. The film stars Christopher Plummer as Tolstoy, Helen Mirren as Sofyia, Paul Giamattie as Chertov, Kerry Condon as Masha and James McAvoy at Valentin.
OUTRO:
