Lev Tolstoy

The packaging for this 1984 film about the death of Leo Tolstoy appears to match that of the 1954 film biography listed at IMDb, but this is not really a biography, it is an account of the final two years of Leo Tolstoy's life. There are flashbacks and other devices to show how Tolstoy's life up to this point brought him to the state of mind he was in around the time of his death. Much is made of his feelings of guilt about his wealth, and his view of the failings of charity and kindness shown by wealthy persons who gain their wealth through exploitation of workers.

The portrayal of his wife is especially unflattering, but Tolstoy himself comes across as a person who isn't very good at getting along with other people. His spiritual selfishness and heavy-handed rule over his family is contrasted with his sensitivity to the injustices of the wider world. The film shows Tolstoy as a person who can love abstract ideals or generalities about people, but has difficulty in actually loving real people (such as his family). Was Tolstoy really such a pompous old goat in his later years? I'm not an expert, but from reading a couple biographies and comparing what I've read of his later works to his earlier writing I suspect that this film may have some accuracy in its portrayal.

I enjoyed the film as an historical specimen of mid-1980s Soviet cinema, and as a Russian portrayal of what the Russian empire was in 1907-1909. It's an interesting film. There are some good lines, such as Tolstoy sitting with some family members and being visited by a noble guest, and quipping about Frederick the Great being the greatest king of Germany, but even he (Frederick) couldn't stand the Germans. A comment that might have significance considering the contempt Russian nobility had for the serfs, or the preference for French over Russian as a court language in the early 20th Century.

I don't understand Russian, so I was at the mercy of the subtitles, and found it irritating that many comments went untranslated (I can recognize the basic Russian greetings and so forth, but these untranslated bits didn't seem like meaningless comments, and without a subtitle I don't know if I was missing something).

It's a biopic in two parts of the later life of Leo Tolstoy. Each piece is about 80 minutes long.

"Insomnia" shows an elderly Tolstoy (Sergey Gerasimov) reflecting on his life with considerable discontent. He seems stressed by all the people around him, including his wife, Sophia (Tamara Makarova, who is Gerasimov's wife). On the other hand, he gets along better with his children, especially Tatiana (Marina Ustimenko). His doctor, Dushan Makovitsky (Berivoj Navratil) is also present. Part 1, for me, was tedious and inconclusive.

The second part, "Departure," recounts his departure in his last days from the family estate, Yasnaya Polyana, in the company of his doctor. We see hints of Sophia's search for a document, though its nature is not discussed. Tolstoy and his doctor stop several times before the train station at Astapovo, once at a monastery, once at his sister's home, and he even plans to rent a room in a small village. However, his fame pursues him and the peace and quiet he desires. Tolstoy decides to travel to the isolation of the Caucasus. However, he falls ill on the train, and they need to stop at Astapovo. The frenzy over his coming death is illustrated by the busy telegraph room at the station as reporters send dispatches to their newspapers.

Something is always lost in watching a foreign-language film with subtitles, and that's the case here. Narrative coherence is sometimes challenging to follow. The film has a realistic setting and in the character of the actors not present in the star-infested case of "The Last Station" that tells some of the same stories. Technically, the Russian film is not nearly as polished, though they managed 6000 Slovakian extras for the funeral scene.

Leo Tolstoy's internal turmoil over his aristocratic background and his desire to honor every person regardless of status comes through nicely.