Ukhod velikogo startsa

This dramatization of the last days of the renowned Leo Tolstoy is well-crafted and very interesting, and it is also provocative in its portrayal of the writer, his family, and his friends. Once you see the movie, it is easy to see why his wife and others made every effort to have it banned. Yet it is fortunate that it survives, since it is worth seeing both as a historical drama and for its implied commentary.

When Yakov Protazanov made this feature, Tolstoy had passed away just a couple of years earlier, and so the memory of him would still have been fresh in his viewer's minds. The movie consists of a series of vignettes from the famous writer's declining days, as he wrestles with his conscience and his own family, becoming increasingly disheartened over the problems he sees around him.

It must have been a controversial way to portray someone so well-known and respected. Although Tolstoy is clearly presented in a positive and occasionally even idealized light, Protazanov and actor Vladimir Shaternikov also depict him as helplessly weak in the face of his steely wife (icily played by Olga Petrova), and he finds few constructive answers to ease his troubled mind.

The settings are detailed and very authentic looking, and in fact much of it was filmed on location. Moreover, the story does correspond with many of the general facts that are known about Tolstoy's final days. Protazanov's interpretation of these facts is certainly provocative, but he has some things worth saying about them, and this movie deserves to be seen.