During the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Ángel Flores, a promising Spanish actor returns to Spain to fulfill the last dying wish of his theatre master Miguel Lama. Ten years earlier, as a result of his personal tragedy, Ángel had escaped to Mexico where he had become a TV soap star. Miguel Lama’s last wish for Ángel is to travel to a remote monastery up in the mountains of Northern Spain and there to read each page of Dostoyevsky’s thousand-page-novel The Brothers Karamazov three times, then to come to his graveside in the monastery cemetery every night to tell him about the progress made in reading the novel. This mysterious experience reveals the secret of Ángel’s tragedy and helps him understand the role of reading in healing inner personal traumas. Ángel also learns that no dictator in the East, West, South or North who destroys his own people and neighbors will be able to eliminate the importance of authentic literature as the cornerstone of humanity.
In impoverished Baghdad under Saddam's dictatorship, 16-year-old Amal hopes to regain her social status at school by volunteering to find a book as a class gift for the departing literature teacher. Meanwhile, her emotionally fragile little brother becomes obsessed with the notion that a visiting uncle from America--whom he confuses with Santa Claus--will bring him toys. Ashamed never to have been able to give his son a toy, the child's father sells some more prized family possessions and buys a model car for him.
The Mozart Residence is home to several "new owners" of all origins: a new concierge, Paco, of Spanish origin, who has just been released from prison, arrives at the residence. Around it, the hall and the mailboxes, the "ballet" of the Residence Mozart is organized.
Camille is an emancipated 30-something woman who has no desire to settle down and have a family, preferring to coast along on a succession of ephemeral relationships and one-night stands. However, her lifestyle fails to satisfy her fully, and in a moment of depression she runs into a complete stranger, Alexis, whom she instantly falls in love with. Alexis, alas, is married, with two children, and works for the Socialist Party. None of this is going to deter Camille though…
The main characters of the film are lost in a labyrinth of timelessness where they have to sort out the real from the imaginary.
"[Last Station / Verjin kayan] is inspired by the play 'Sojourn at Ararat', written and directed by Gerald Papasian and Nora Armani who also perform in the film. The play was premièred in 1986 in Edinburgh and went on to make a world tour. The film tells the story of three people on tour with a play against the background of a time in which new nations emerge and old rulers make desperate efforts to cling on to power. The scenes in the play are comments on the life of three actors, the Man, the Woman - an Armenian couple - and the Stage Manager, a dissident Russian who was once a famous Shakespearian actor. The picture of the three becomes increasingly clear as the journey passes more and more locations and they meet more and more people." - IFFR
By browsing this website, you accept our cookies policy.