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Translating a Novel into Film
Parini, graduate of West Side High School in Scranton and Lafeyette College, published The Last Station in 1990.
“Of all of the books I have written, this one has always stood out as a favorite,” said Parini.
The Last Station tells the story of the last year of Tolstoy’s life from six different points of view, such as that of his wife, doctor and daughter. Tolstoy’s perspective is drafted from words he actually spoke during his life.
Parini explained that making the film version of the story took years.
According to Parini, actor Anthony Quinn approached him to make a film from his book. Quinn planned to play Tolstoy. After 10 years of writing 18 different scripts and building a friendship, Quinn unrepentantly died.
Parini and producer Bonnie Arnold (Toy Story, Dances with Wolves) still believed that they had a potential movie in their hands. It would take 10 more years for the film to actually be released in 2009 with the help of director and screenplay writer Michael Hoffman.
After several obstacles in trying to get actors to stay onboard for the project, the filming was finally able to begin. Actor Christopher Plummer played Leo Tolstoy and was nominated for an Academy Award, as was fellow cast member Helen Mirren, who played Countess Sofya Andreevna Tolstoy. Other cast members were James McAvoy as Tolstoy’s personal secretary Valentin Bulgakov and Paul Giamatti as Tolstoy’s chief follower Vladimir Chertkov.
“The script is really my book,” Parini said. After all of the versions he made throughout the years, the film turned out to be a replica of his very first work on the actual novel.
Parini showed a 10-minute clip of the film. The scene shown was of when McAvoy’s character met Tolstoy for the first time.
Parini is also a poet, political activist and professor of English at Middlebury College. The Last Station has been published in 32 languages and the film has been seen across the country to date. He is currently writing a novel about Herman Melville entitled The Passages of H.M. He has also just completed a script for a second film based on his book Benjamin’s Crossing. He received an honorary degree from The University of Scranton in 2005.
For more information on Schemel Forum, contact Sondra Myers, director of the Schemel Forum at 941-4089 or myerss2@scranton.edu.
