Marvelous acting in 'The Last Station'

THE LAST STATION

3 and a half stars

Rated R

The ensemble cast puts on an acting showcase in this historical drama written and directed by Michael Hoffman (“Restoration” and “A Midsummer’s Night Dream”).

Based on the 1990 novel by Jay Parini, the film explores the turbulent final year in the life of Russian writer and philosopher Leo Tolstoy (Christopher Plummer from “The Insider” and “The Man Who Would Be King”).

The movie could pass as a finely crafted stage play. The simple premise is a tug of war between Tolstoy’s wife of 48 years, Countess Sofya (Helen Mirren from “The Queen” and “Gosford Park”) and Tolstoy’s trusted disciple and righthand man, Vladimir Chertkov (Paul Giammati from “The Illusionist” and HBO’s “John Adams” miniseries), over the rights to the literary works (including “War and Peace” and “Anna Karenina”) and vast estate of this great man regarded as a living saint.

Chertkov represents the interests of the Russian people. Sofya wants the estate to stay within the family, passing to her as surviving spouse and then to their 13 children.

Besides being a devoted wife, Sofya has been a passionate lover, muse and secretary to this man with a long bushy white beard and mustache. She has even copied “War and Peace” by hand six times. She uses every trick of seduction in her feminine arsenal to deter her husband from signing a new will.

At the opening of the film, Chertkov is under house arrest in Moscow and precluded from seeing Tolstoy. He hires the young, ambitious writer Valentin Bulgakov (James McAvoy from “The Last King of Scotland”), to be Tolstoy’s private secretary. Valentin keeps a diary of what is going on at Tolstoy’s private country mansion located nearby a commune of devoted followers. He serves as the eyes and ears of the audience into this private world.

Although Valentin practices celibacy, he can’t resist the seductive charms of Masha (Kerry Condon from “Rome”), a cute and spunky fellow comrade. Valentin’s blossoming romance is contrasted with the feisty love-hate relationship between Tolstoy and his wife.

Mirren is simply marvelous, giving an acting tour de force. She compares her plight to a woman in an opera who feels abandoned by the man she loves. Plummer shows off his thespian gifts, going from a jovial and carefree existence to explosive shouting matches with his conniving wife.

One of many great scenes between Mirren and Plummer involves her craving for love and affection. Mirren declares that she is the little bird waiting to hear the “cock a doodle doo” love call of her mate.

The movie’s strengths include a beautiful country setting, a wonderful musical score and great lines of dialogue. The title is derived from the end point of a railroad line.

Hoffman, a former Rhodes Scholar at Oxford, shows a meticulous touch for getting every detail just right. After viewing the completed film, which took 18 drafts and 20 years before reaching the big screen, Parini said, “My vision – as embodied in the novel – had been well served. I felt damn lucky.”

Mirren and Plummer are nominated for Academy Awards in the respective categories of best actress and best supporting actor after similar SAG and Golden Globe nods. The movie has also been nominated for five Independent Spirit Awards including best feature, best director and best screenplay. It has already won an award for best international literature adaptation. It has to be considered one of the best movies of 2009. It finally arrives for metropolitan Kansas City audiences with discerning tastes for quality filmmaking.

Opening at AMC Town Center 20 and Studio 30, the Glenwood Arts and the Cinemark Palace on the Plaza.

THE WHITE RIBBON

2 and a half stars

Rated R

This Oscar-nominated and Golden Globe-winning foreign language film from Germany is written and directed by Michael Haneke (“Funny Games,” “Cache” and “The Piano Teacher”). A schoolteacher tells the story of strange events that happened on the eve of World War I in a small farming village in northern Germany.

This disturbing trip down memory lane intimates that the toxic evil seeds of Nazi Germany were planted in this generation of children who were abused and strictly disciplined by their parents. All the children are pure Aryan stock with predominantly light complexions and blond hair.

The movie spans 15 months, beginning in the summer of 1913 with a widowed doctor breaking his collarbone when thrown from his horse. This was not an accident, because a wire was strung between two trees by someone familiar with the doctor’s daily riding habits.

The doctor’s wife died in childbirth five years ago and left him responsible for raising two children. The midwife, a single woman of around 40, has become invaluable as a housekeeper and receptionist. She has a handicapped child.

A second and far more tragic incident occurs when the wife of a tenant farmer falls to her death through the rotten floorboards of a sawmill. Other strange, unexplained events include a whole field of cabbages on the baron’s land decapitated by a scythe, the baron’s son being kidnapped and tortured, a farmer hanging himself, a deliberate act of arson setting a barn on fire, the stabbing of a parakeet, the opening of a window exposing a newborn baby to the freezing temperature outside and the serious beating of the midwife’s bastard child.

The audience is immersed in this bygone world where everything seems so civilized on the surface. Immoral physical and emotional behavior runs rampant behind closed doors.

The schoolteacher also serves as the choir director at the Protestant church. He has fallen in love with the baron’s nanny. He takes a stab at playing amateur detective and attempts to expose the culprits of the various misdeeds. He has a sneaking suspicion that his pupils are hiding something.

The cold, aloof and sarcastic baron is the most powerful figure in this drama and the employer of half of the village. He is respected, but not popular. He treats the baroness like a doormat and she takes off for Italy with her son. She is sick and tired of the persecution, threats and perverse acts of revenge. She sees the village as being dominated by malice, envy, apathy and brutality.

The pastor is a strict disciplinarian who maintains a mood of sorrowful piety. He uses the cane to administer punishment to his two oldest children, Martin and Klara. The title of the movie comes from the ribbon tied around Martin’s upper left arm and in Klara’s hair to remind them of the purity of the soul and youthful innocence. It is also symbolically intended to ward off the sins of selfishness, envy, indecency, lying and sloth.

The story takes a painstakingly slow and methodical approach. There are too many characters to keep track of over the course of nearly 2½ hours. The camera seems to linger over the same terrains. There are long stretches without any dialogue.

The movie was originally shot in color and then altered to black and white in post-production. The movie is badly in need of editing for American audiences who will quickly lose patience. The movie seems to drag on and never want to come to a conclusion.

The ambiguous ending leaves the crimes and the dark happenings unexplained. The movie will remind you of M. Night Shyamalan’s “The Village” (2004) and Lars von Trier’s “Dogville” (2003).

The movie has been hailed by critics’ groups for its outstanding digital cinematography. It won best film, best director and best screenwriter at the European Film Awards. It also won the prestigious Palme d’ Or at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival.

The dialogue is in German with English subtitles. Now playing at the Rio and the Tivoli in Westport.

Top 5 Flick Picks

1. The Last Station

2. My Name Is Khan (exclusively at AMC Studio 30)

3. Avatar

4. Oscar Nominated Short Films 2010 (exclusively at the Tivoli)

5. The White Ribbon

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