After almost fifty years of marriage, the Countess Sofya, Leo Tolstoy’s devoted wife, passionate lover, muse and secretary — she’s copied out War and Peace six times by hand — suddenly finds her entire world turned upside down. In the name of his newly created religion, the great Russian novelist has renounced his noble title, his property and even his family in favour of poverty, vegetarianism and even celibacy, that after the Countess had born him thirteen children.
When Sofya discovers that Tolstoy’s trusted disciple, Chertkov (whom she despises), may secretly have convinced her husband to sign a new will, leaving the rights to his iconic novels to the Russian people rather than to his family, she is consumed by outrage. Using every bit of cunning and every trick of seduction in her considerable arsenal, she fights fiercely for what she believes is rightfully hers.
Cast: Helen Mirren, Christopher Plummer, Paul Giamatti, Anne-Marie Duff, Kerry Condon, James McAvoy Director: Michael Hoffman Music: Sergei Yevtushenko
