The Last Station (2009), starring Christopher Plummer and Helen Mirren, is based on the novel by Jay Parini, depicting Leo Tolstoy’s final years.
At the end of his life, Tolstoy (Plummer) experienced deep inner conflict between his moral idealism and renunciatory spirituality on the one hand, and his earthly attachments, sensuality, and love for Sofya (Mirren) on the other. The Last Station provides rich material for exploring individuation, the integration of the conscious and unconscious aspects of the personality, and the dynamics of various archetypes and psychological complexes within the film’s characters.
Tolstoy’s story is perhaps one of an incomplete individuation.
Tolstoy, the great moralist, strives for spiritual purity but cannot reconcile his inner opposites – Eros and Logos, body and spirit, love and detachment. Sofya, a projection of his anima, forces him to confront the humanity he would transcend but cannot escape.
From a Jungian perspective, the film explores the tension of opposites – the interplay of masculine and feminine principles, Spirit and matter – the failure of integration, and the confrontation with the Self.
The format of our Jung & Film evenings is that the attendees and facilitators watch the film together on Zoom, followed by a discussion of the film, which includes contributions by facilitators and participants. Before each screening, the facilitators will circulate notes, which discuss and amplify the film.
It is our hope that viewers will become lost in the drama of the film and potentially access aspects of their own experiences and inner life, which they may then choose to share with others during the discussion.