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23-468: The Last Station is a 2009 internationally-produced English-language biographical drama film written and directed by Michael Hoffman , and based on Jay Parini 's 1990 biographical novel of the same name , which chronicled the final months of Leo Tolstoy 's life. The film stars Christopher Plummer as Tolstoy and Helen Mirren as his wife Sofya Tolstaya . The film is about the battle between Sofya and his disciple Vladimir Chertkov for his legacy and

46-584: A Fairytale (2006), and Howard Stern in Private Parts (1997). In 2018, the musical biopic Bohemian Rhapsody , based on the life of Queen singer Freddie Mercury , became the highest-grossing biopic in history at the time. In 2023, it was surpassed by Oppenheimer , based on the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer and the creation of the atomic bomb in World War II. Rome International Film Festival International Rome Film Fest

69-596: Is a film festival that takes place in Rome during the month of October. The name in Italian is Festa del Cinema di Roma . From 2022, the festival was officially recognized as a competitive festival by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations . The 17th edition of the festival, from which it became competitive festival, took place from 13 to 23 October 2022. Whereas the 18th edition of

92-641: Is often a balance between similarity in looks and ability to portray the characteristics of the person. Anthony Hopkins felt that he should not have played Richard Nixon in Nixon because of a lack of resemblance between the two. The casting of John Wayne as Genghis Khan in The Conqueror was objected to because of the American Wayne being cast as the Mongol warlord. Egyptian critics criticized

115-520: Is opposed, for example, to private property) are at odds with her more aristocratic and conventionally religious views. Contention focuses on a new will that the " Tolstoyans " are attempting to persuade him to sign. It would place all of his copyrights into the public domain , supposedly leaving his family without adequate support. The maneuvering is seen through the eyes of Tolstoy's new secretary, Valentin Bulgakov , who finds himself mediating between

138-720: The Academy Awards and the Screen Actors Guild Awards . The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on 22 June 2010. Biographical film Biopic scholars include George F. Custen of the College of Staten Island and Dennis P. Bingham of Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis . Custen, in Bio/Pics: How Hollywood Constructed Public History (1992), regards the genre as having died with

161-473: The Hollywood studio era , and in particular, Darryl F. Zanuck . On the other hand, Bingham's 2010 study Whose Lives Are They Anyway? The Biopic as Contemporary Film Genre shows how it perpetuates as a codified genre using many of the same tropes used in the studio era that has followed a similar trajectory as that shown by Rick Altman in his study, Film/Genre . Bingham also addresses the male biopic and

184-808: The Russian senate reverted the copyrights of Tolstoy's work to Sofya. Filming took place in the German federal states of Saxony-Anhalt , Brandenburg ( Studio Babelsberg ) and Thuringia , the city of Leipzig in Saxony and at historical locations in Russia. The location for Jasnaja Poljana, the residence of the Tolstoy family, was the Schloss Stülpe palace near Luckenwalde in Brandenburg. The station of

207-579: The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 70% of 145 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.7/10. The website's consensus reads: "Michael Hoffman's script doesn't quite live up to its famous subject, but this Tolstoy biopic benefits from a spellbinding tour de force performance by Helen Mirren." Metacritic , which uses a weighted average , assigned the film a score of 76 out of 100, based on 34 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. Critic Philip French praised McAvoy for bringing "the same amiable diffidence he brought to

230-794: The Moon (1999), Downey as Charlie Chaplin in Chaplin (1992) and as Lewis Strauss in Oppenheimer (2023), Foxx as Ray Charles in Ray (2004), Thompson and Hanks as P. L. Travers and Walt Disney in Saving Mr. Banks (2013), Redmayne as Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything (2014), and Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer in Oppenheimer (2023). Some biopics purposely stretch

253-458: The casting of Louis Gossett Jr. , an African American actor, as Egyptian president Anwar Sadat in the 1983 TV miniseries Sadat . Also, some objected to the casting of Jennifer Lopez in Selena because she is a New York City native of Puerto Rican descent while Selena was Mexican American . Because the figures portrayed are actual people, whose actions and characteristics are known to

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276-432: The copyright of his works. The film premiered at the 2009 Telluride Film Festival . In 1910, the last year of Leo Tolstoy 's life, his disciples, led by Vladimir Chertkov , manoeuvre against his wife, Sofya, for control over Tolstoy's works after his death. The main setting is the Tolstoy country estate of Yasnaya Polyana . Tolstoy and Sofya have had a long, passionate marriage, but his spiritual ideals and asceticism (he

299-676: The end of each screening, the audience votes for the People's Choice Award | Cinema Italia (Fiction) and the People's Choice Award | Cinema Italia (Documentary). Devoted to children films, this sections has two competitive subsections, one for over-12 films and the other under-12. The Rome Film Festival award is a silver statuette shaped after the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius statue, placed in Michelangelo 's Campidoglio Square . The winning film's prize money

322-399: The female biopic as distinct genres from each other, the former generally dealing with great accomplishments, the latter generally dealing with female victimization. Ellen Cheshire's Bio-Pics: a life in pictures (2014) examines UK/US films from the 1990s and 2000s. Each chapter reviews key films linked by profession and concludes with further viewing list. Christopher Robé has also written on

345-749: The festival took place from 18 to 29 October 2023. The 19th edition of the festival took place from 16 to 27 October 2024 in the Auditorium Parco della Musica . The Rome Film Festival official program is divided into several sections: A selection of feature films, with priority given to world premieres. At the end of each screening, the audience votes for the People's Choice Award | Cinema d'Oggi. Feature films that are world premieres, international or European premieres. Feature films from various genres that are world, international or European premieres, with priority given to world premieres. World premieres highlighting new trends in Italian cinema. At

368-539: The film as a "genteel domestic farce" and faulted the director for "pander[ing] to the worst impulses of the cast". Mirren won the Best Actress award at the 2009 Rome International Film Festival and at the 9th AARP Movies for Grownups Awards for her performance. She was also nominated for Best Actress – Drama at the 67th Golden Globe Awards , as was Plummer for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture. Both actors also received nominations for their performances at

391-463: The gender norms that underlie the biopic in his article, "Taking Hollywood Back" in the 2009 issue of Cinema Journal . Roger Ebert defended The Hurricane and distortions in biographical films in general, stating "those who seek the truth about a man from the film of his life might as well seek it from his loving grandmother. ... The Hurricane is not a documentary but a parable ." Casting can be controversial for biographical films. Casting

414-819: The public (or at least historically documented), biopic roles are considered some of the most demanding of actors and actresses. Warren Beatty , Faye Dunaway , Ben Kingsley , Johnny Depp , Jim Carrey , Jamie Foxx , Robert Downey Jr. , Brad Pitt , Emma Thompson , Tom Hanks , Eddie Redmayne , and Cillian Murphy all gained new-found respect as dramatic actors after starring in biopics: Beatty and Dunaway as Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker in Bonnie and Clyde (1967), Kingsley as Mahatma Gandhi in Gandhi (1982), Depp as Ed Wood in Ed Wood (1994), Carrey as Andy Kaufman in Man on

437-575: The role of Idi Amin's confidant in The Last King of Scotland ". Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times called Hoffman's direction "accomplished", and the film's centerpiece "the spectacular back and forth between Christopher Plummer and Helen Mirren...For those who enjoy actors who can play it up without ever overplaying their hands, "The Last Station" is the destination of choice." On the negative side, critic Xan Brooks characterized

460-518: The small German town of Pretzsch stood in for Astapovo , the "last station" of the title. Still a working rural station, the Pretzsch station was closed for two weeks for filming. Sony Pictures Classics acquired distribution rights and gave the film an awards-qualifying limited release on 23 December 2009, with a wide release on 15 January 2010. It was released in Germany on 28 January 2010. On

483-474: The truth. Confessions of a Dangerous Mind was based on game show host Chuck Barris ' widely debunked yet popular memoir of the same name, in which he claimed to be a CIA agent. Kafka incorporated both the life of author Franz Kafka and the surreal aspects of his fiction. The Errol Flynn film They Died with Their Boots On tells the story of Custer but is highly romanticized. The Oliver Stone film The Doors , mainly about Jim Morrison ,

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506-599: The two sides. He also has a love affair with one of the Tolstoyans, Masha. Ultimately, Tolstoy signs the new will and travels to an undisclosed location where he can continue his work undisturbed. After his departure, Sofya unsuccessfully attempts suicide. During the journey, Tolstoy falls ill. The film ends with his death near the Astapovo railway station where Sofya is allowed by their daughter to see him just moments before his death. The closing credits state that in 1914

529-1103: Was highly praised for the similarities between Jim Morrison and actor Val Kilmer , look-wise and singing-wise, but fans and band members did not like the way Val Kilmer portrayed Jim Morrison, and a few of the scenes were even completely made up. In rare cases, sometimes called auto biopics , the subject of the film plays themself. Examples include Jackie Robinson in The Jackie Robinson Story (1950), Muhammad Ali in The Greatest (1977), Audie Murphy in To Hell and Back (1955), Patty Duke in Call Me Anna (1990), Bob Mathias in The Bob Mathias Story (1954), Arlo Guthrie in Alice's Restaurant (1969), Fantasia in Life Is Not

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