Monday, May 24, 2010

Another Day, Another Movie

The Kenworthy Performance Arts Center of Moscow is a place for all kinds of quality artistic and cinematic experiences. Meaning, that nearly everyone who comes there is either over the age of fifty or a geek in some way or the other. So far I fit into the latter category but twenty more years and I will be both. 

On Friday, I went to the Kenworthy to watch The Last Station, a film starring Helen Mirren and Christopher Plummer . As expected, I was the only one in the audience without any serious health issues or disillusionment about life. But on the other hand, it also made for great movie-viewing because unlike other theater experiences, here no one felt the need to be continuously restless or flip out their phone, or answer a text message while the entire universe lit up with the light from the screen of their electronic gadget. 

The Last Station is a movie that demands you to slow down. So if you are going with the mindset of one used to the mind-numbing pace of events in current Hollywood movies, then The Last Station is not for you. It's also not a movie for those easily tired by the old, and would rather spend time looking or talking to toned, young (as opposed to youthful) minds and bodies. But if you have a sense of appreciation for history,  literature and for all those grandparent-like people filled with wisdom, then The Last Station will work quite fine for you. In short, it's a historical drama about the last few months of Leo Tolstoy while he tries to balance the life of privilege he was born into with the life devoid of material things that he aspires for, and the impact of this struggle on his wife of many years, Sofya.    



For those seeking an old-fashioned good movie with some seriously breathtaking acting by Helen Mirren, this one is a good watch. 



1 comment:

  1. I loved the way you described your movie-watching experience.
    '...or flip out their phone, or answer a text message while the entire universe lit up with the light from the screen of their electronic gadget.'...Superb line!

    ReplyDelete