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Nostalghia

Play trailer 1:31 Poster for Nostalghia Released Jan 8, 1984 2h 5m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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88% Tomatometer 25 Reviews 90% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
Andrei Tarkovsky explained that in Russian the word "nostalghia" conveys "the love for your homeland and the melancholy that arises from being far away." This debilitating form of homesickness is embodied in the film by Andrei (Oleg Yankovsky, The Mirror), a Russian intellectual doing research in Italy. He becomes obsessed with the Botticelli-like beauty of his translator Eugenia (Domiziana Giordano), as well as with the apocalyptic ramblings of a self-destructive wanderer named Domenico (Erland Josephson, The Sacrifice). Written with frequent Michelangelo Antonioni collaborator Tonino Guerra (L'Avventura) and newly restored in 4K from the original camera negative, Nostalghia is a mystical and mysterious collision of East and West, shot with the tactile beauty that only Tarkovsky can provide. As J. Hoberman wrote, "Nostalghia is not so much a movie as a place to inhabit for two hours."
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Critics Consensus

Nostalgia demands patience -- and rewards the investment with a hypnotic viewing experience that finds Tarkovsky in gratifyingly uncompromising form.

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Critics Reviews

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Alan Scherstuhl Village Voice Stick with it. There are shocking acts that rupture the stillness, and then there's one of cinema's great endings, a wrenching, rapturous scene that would set both of those poets into embarrassed rewrites. Mar 4, 2015 Full Review Dave Kehr Chicago Reader Aims for a hushed, hypnotic, incantatory effect, and it does succeed in inducing some kind of trance. Mar 4, 2015 Full Review David Parkinson Empire Magazine A hauntingly beautiful film. Rated: 4/5 Mar 4, 2015 Full Review James Kendrick Q Network Film Desk a singular work of cinematic art, one that is all the more meaningful the more you know about Tarkovsky’s own ennui Rated: 3/4 May 21, 2024 Full Review Diane Carson KDHX (St. Louis) Characteristic of Tarkovsky, "Nostalghia" is comprised of prolonged takes, an absence of exposition, dreamlike moments, existential dread, autobiographical details, and unusual, but striking compositions. Feb 27, 2024 Full Review Nicholas Bell IONCINEMA.com As the title indicates, Nostalghia is a place of mind rather than a film, a thing of everlasting beauty. Rated: 5/5 Nov 12, 2020 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Collem T Slow down. Breathe deep. And submerge yourself into this cinematic masterpiece. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 06/19/24 Full Review Todd The movie is dedicated to the director’s mother, who I assume died from boredom watching her son’s film. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/23/24 Full Review dave s While it is probably safe to say that the films of Andrei Tarkovsky are not to the tastes of all audiences, it is also clear that Tarkovsky probably understood the language of cinema more than any other director. In Nostalgia, a Russian researcher (Oleg Yanovsky), accompanied by an Italian interpreter (Domiziana Giordano), travels to Italy to research the life of a composer. When he crosses paths with doomsayer Domenico (Erland Josephson), the course of his life is altered. Deeply philosophical, the story does seem a bit obtuse at times, but the visuals throughout are absolutely stunning as Tarkovsky perfectly frames and executes every shot, many of them lasting several minutes, with razor-sharp clarity and creativity. While Nostalgia may not be his finest work, it remains an impressive visual achievement. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review William L Loose chronology, autobiographical elements, dreamlike sequences, thematically dense, slowly paced ... do you think that this Tarkovsky fella has a type? Though not one of the director's more immediately sweeping films (lacking the scale of films such as Stalker or Solaris) and treading on familiar territory stylistically despite being one of his last feature film projects, Nostalghia is still another great work from the acclaimed Soviet (or by this point, de facto ex-Soviet) director. A highly introspective piece, the plot revolves around internal longing and external disconnection - characters recognizing echoes of themselves in those around them but unable to rectify more superficial distinctions. Yankovsky's Andrei is a stranger in a foreign land (much like Tarkovsky himself), seeing familiarity in the emotions that surround him in the Italian countryside but finding only longing for their more familiar equivalents that he has lost access to. And yet, life goes on in all of its strange and miraculous beauty and tragedy, independent of what we perceive our role to be or what emotions we feel. Even among Tarkovsky films, Nostalghia gives off the sensation that it is one of the more languid despite barely passing the two hour mark, largely thanks to its lack of explicit plot, chronological progression, or real conflict. Regardless, it's worth making the effort to make your way through for one of the director's slightly lesser-known but dense and ponderous masterpieces that gives plenty of room for contemplation. (4/5) Rated 4 out of 5 stars 06/20/22 Full Review Audience Member Mistério construído a partir do nada, cheio de reflexões filosóficas e poéticas, beirando o surrealismo. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/15/23 Full Review raphael g Incredible, astounding, mind-blowing, poetic, masterful, hypnotic, spellbinding. Words are not enough. This is one of Tarkovsky's masterpieces. Along with "Mirror", it has become my favorite of his movies (and I have now seen them all), followed closely by Ivan's Childhood. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Read all reviews
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Movie Info

Synopsis Andrei Tarkovsky explained that in Russian the word "nostalghia" conveys "the love for your homeland and the melancholy that arises from being far away." This debilitating form of homesickness is embodied in the film by Andrei (Oleg Yankovsky, The Mirror), a Russian intellectual doing research in Italy. He becomes obsessed with the Botticelli-like beauty of his translator Eugenia (Domiziana Giordano), as well as with the apocalyptic ramblings of a self-destructive wanderer named Domenico (Erland Josephson, The Sacrifice). Written with frequent Michelangelo Antonioni collaborator Tonino Guerra (L'Avventura) and newly restored in 4K from the original camera negative, Nostalghia is a mystical and mysterious collision of East and West, shot with the tactile beauty that only Tarkovsky can provide. As J. Hoberman wrote, "Nostalghia is not so much a movie as a place to inhabit for two hours."
Director
Andrei Tarkovsky
Producer
Franco Casati, Daniel Toscan du Plantier
Screenwriter
Tonino Guerra, Andrei Tarkovsky
Production Co
Opera Film Produzione
Genre
Drama
Original Language
Italian
Release Date (Theaters)
Jan 8, 1984, Original
Rerelease Date (Theaters)
Feb 21, 2024
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 30, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA)
$261.3K
Runtime
2h 5m
Aspect Ratio
35mm, Flat (1.66:1)
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