- Helen Mirren is quite delightful as Sofya, Tolstoy’s melodramatic, fuck-the-poor wife. Christopher Plummer is a shade less delightful as Leo Tolstoy. He’s really sporting the big beards lately.
- I’m not sure if I’m a fan of Paul Giamatti overall, but I’m definitely not a fan of him in this. His character seemed a little one-note, and having him spend much of his time literally twirling his moustache did nothing to make me feel that he was very much beyond a devious cardboard villain with very transparent ulterior motives. His saving grace was when his moustache was somewhat off kilter and he said “There was a problem with the [moustache] wax.” Nice.
- I forgot I like James McAvoy.
- Worst suicide attempt ever: lying face down on a dock and then rolling into a pond. Fail.
- While I enjoyed the “I’m still your little chicken / you’re still my big cock” scene, I have to say neither Leo nor Sofya seem to know what a chicken sounds like. I think the name Tolstoy might translate to English as “Bluth”.
- I was happy they repeatedly referred to the generally unseen Russian peasants as “muzjiks”, because this is the seven letter word that will get you the most number of points as the first play in Scrabble. You’ll thank me for this information later.
- I liked the asymmetrical collars and wooden buttons on much of the clothing. Definitely proto Star Trek fashion.
- I like “South Russia” as a geographical location. It’s like saying “South Canada”. Just… no.
- The paparazzi following Tolstoy around was pretty weird, I guess because it never occurred to me that this was already a problem in 1910. It does make you appreciate our modern social networking, though; it must be much easier to announce Tolstoy’s death in less than 140 characters than it is to say “Okay, I’m standing on a box now, I have an announcement, this is a press conference, people!”
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