"Everything I know, I know because of love." --Leo Tolstoy

The Last Station is a look at the end of Tolstoy's life. Tolstoy had developed a philosophy based on his reading of the Gospels, especially the Sermon on the Mount, which was at odds with the world around him. He rejected the concept of private property and embraced non-violent resistance. His ideas were based in the supremacy of love. Even though Tolstoy was part of the aristocracy he advocated equality for all people.

A group of followers, the Tolstoyans, had developed. Some lived communally near his estate. They were vegetarians, valued chastity, and held things in common. The leader of the Tolstoyans was Tolstoy's disciple Vladimir Chertkov. It was as if Tolstoy had started his own religion. Chertkov frequently refers to Tolstoy as "the Master." One of his followers says of Tolstoy that he is not the Christ, but one of the prophets, speaking God's word. Tolstoy was excommunicated by the Russian Orthodox Church.

The film revolves around the conflict created because of Tolstoy's ideas. Chertkov advocates taking the Tolstoyan philosophy to new levels. On the other side of the argument is Tolstoy's wife Sofya. The crux of the issue is the possibility of a new will in which Tolstoy would leave the rights of his work to the public domain, sharing them with all people. Leo and Sofya are something of a religiously mixed marriage. She does not subscribe to his philosophy. Indeed, she feels she has some claim on his works. Through the years she has been a combination of his muse, editor, and collaborator. She copied War and Peace by hand six times because she was the only one who could read his handwriting. She only wants what is right for her and the family. Chertkov argues that that is less important than serving all humankind.

The audience is brought into this struggle through the character of Valentin Bulgakov, newly hired to be Tolstoy's private secretary. He is a worshipful devotee of Tolstoy's ideas. He is also innocent and naïve. He is recruited by both Chertkov and Sofya to spy on the other. He is thrilled to be in Tolstoy's presence, and at first overwhelmed by the interest Tolstoy takes in him. At one point when Tolstoy asks something, Valentin begins to quote something Tolstoy has written; Tolstoy replies "I say a lot of things. What do you say? What do you think?" Valentin also allows us to see the private Tolstoy, and the ways he doesn't live up to his own ideals. Indeed, Tolstoy says of himself, "I'm not a very good Tolstoyan myself."

Valentin spends time both in the Tolstoy home and in the Tolstoyan commune. He is a part of both worlds and affected by both. He serves as an audience surrogate to allow us to ponder the validity of claims of each side. One of the key issues is the concept of love that is so central to all of Tolstoy's ideas. For Chertkov (and sometimes even for Tolstoy) love is an abstract. That is why sexual relationships are discouraged in the commune. But we see that Tolstoy may try to avoid that part of his love for Sofya but cannot. Likewise, Valentin has his eyes opened to the physical aspect of love in his relationship with Masha, a teacher in the commune. Valentin states the real problem with the Tolstoyan concept of love in a scene where Chertkov speaks of doing what they are doing for the love of mankind. Valentin responds that he's never met mankind, only imperfect men and women. Love in the abstract is always tempting because it can be so broad, so "important." But love in the abstract is really only an illusion if it doesn't find a way to be expressed in the concrete.

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