Seems like its set in England with English people and an English story

Well, 'seems' seems to be the keyword.

I haven't seen it. I want to, though. You start your post with an opinion and end it with a 'fact'. Shouldn't it be "This COULD be a disgrace to Tolstoy's legacy". But even that reeks of hyperbole.

It is called acting, you know. The way Kate Winslet can play a Nazi or how the very American, very iconic House can be played by a Brit. And those characters, fictional as they are, are still handled with care by the actors, directors and writers.

So I am going to assume that Christopher Plummer handled his role with care, that James McAvoy studied up on his part and that Helen Mirren will convince/impress even you.

I am going to guess that the novel, which this movie is based on, written by Jay Parini, was accurate in spirit, if not in the details and that the film will follow suit.

You don't have to be Russian to play Leo Tolstoy.

I doubt it was filmed as an English story, nor do I think it will be filmed as a Russian story. I imagine if its in anyway faithful to Tolstoy's life, and definitely the conflict in his last years, that it will be a story without borders.

Since the op doesn't explain himself/herself, I don't know what his/her problem is.

I don't know what is meant by "English story".

And if the op thinks the movie was unrealistic, because it was filmed in English, without subtitles, I don't have a problem with that. After all, subtitles aren't really realistic either. Because real life doesn't come with subtitles. What subtitles do is enable you to understand what is going on, and what is being said, but at the same time they are reminding you that you are watching a movie.

Either way (subtitles, or in English) is fine with me.

Nor do I have a problem that the movie used non-Russian actors. Actors play people of different nationality then their own, all the time.

No doubt it has English touches but it his hardly a UK centric disgrace to Tolstoy. After all, it's an unapologetic tribute to a Russian writer who famously and publicly questioned the talents of William Shakespeare.

I would guess you're not all that familiar with England or English stories, because it looks nothing like England and I don't see how a story about Count Lev Tolstoy could be construed as an English story.

Must be the accents you're reacting to. Would you have preferred fake Russian accents? Then would it have been a fitting tribute to Tolstoy's legacy?

I would guess you're not all that familiar with England or English stories, because it looks nothing like England and I don't see how a story about Count Lev Tolstoy could be construed as an English story.

Must be the accents you're reacting to. Would you have preferred fake Russian accents? Then would it have been a fitting tribute to Tolstoy's legacy?

Not really. I just saw the film and was kind of surprised at how Russian it seemed despite the English accents. In fact, I came away thinking I'd not seen anything quite like it before...has an exotic old-world feel about it.

I had a similar reaction. I went into this thinking I would experience the "soul of Russia" at a time of great social turmoil and left feeling I had watched an English parlor drama instead.

~Caitlin

I can't even begin to guess why you might think this movie looks or feels English. I'm not Russian but I am slavic, and I was amazed at just how much attention was paid to detail, and how many things tooked familiar and typically slavic, from the door handles to the cracked concrete of the balcony balustrade. Even the hilarious "rooster" bedroom scene looked to me like it had to have originated in a slavic mind.

Maybe you just expected early 20th century Russia to be more alien.