I heard Dame Helen Mirren interviewed on NPR this morning. Her new film is apparently in theaters now, and received a nomination for the Golden Globe awards. The film is called "The Last Station;" I first heard of it November, 2008, and posted a comment here. I won't repeat myself (much), but the novel and film are based on the last year of the life of Count Leo Tolstoy, one of the many people who saw and proclaimed the wisdom of Henry George's ideas over the decades. Christopher Plummer plays Tolstoy, and Dame Helen his wife.
The book, by Jay Parini, who teaches at Middlebury College, opens with "The year has turned again, bringing us to the end of the first decade of the new century. I write the strange numbers in my diary. 1910. Is it possible?"
I don't pretend to understand the movie business, but it seems odd to me that a film which is just now in the theaters is also up for a major award. I hope it does well.
You might enjoy an interview with Jay Parini by Ramona Koval on Australian radio from 2 years ago.
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