Nostalgia (1983)

A Russian poet and his interpreter travel to Italy to research the life of an 18th-century composer.

Director:

Andrei Tarkovsky (as Andrey Tarkovsky)

Writers:

Andrei Tarkovsky (screenplay) (as Andrey Tarkovsky), Tonino Guerra (screenplay)

Stars:

Oleg Yankovskiy, Erland Josephson, Domiziana Giordano

3 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Oleg Yankovskiy	...	Andrei Gorchakov (as Oleg Jankovsky)
Erland Josephson	...	Domenico
Domiziana Giordano	...	Eugenia
Patrizia Terreno	...	Andrei's Wife
Laura De Marchi	...	Chambermaid
Delia Boccardo	...	Domenico's Wife
Milena Vukotic	...	Civil Servant
Raffaele Di Mario
Rate Furlan
Livio Galassi
Elena Magoia
Piero Vida

Storyline

The Russian poet Andrei Gorchakov, accompanied by guide and translator Eugenia, is traveling through Italy researching the life of an 18th-century Russian composer. In an ancient spa town, he meets the lunatic Domenico, who years earlier had imprisoned his own family in his house for seven years to save them from the evils of the world. Seeing some deep truth in Domenico's act, Andrei becomes drawn to him. In a series of dreams, the poet's nostalgia for his homeland and his longing for his wife, his ambivalent feelings for Eugenia and Italy, and his sense of kinship with Domenico become intertwined.

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Plot Keywords:

one word title | raining | little girl | lighter | cigarette lighter | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Italy Soviet Union

Language:

Russian Italian

Release Date:

March 1992 (USA)

Also Known As:

Nostalghia

Filming Locations:

Chiesa sommersa di San Vittorino, Cittaducale, Rieti, Lazio, Italy

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$11,537, 15 September 2002

Gross USA:

$41,014

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$55,269

Company Credits

Production Co:

Rai 2, Sovinfilm

Technical Specs

Runtime:

125 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This was Andrey Tarkovsky's first film directed outside of the USSR. It was supposed to be filmed in Italy with the support of Mosfilm, with most of the dialogue in Italian. When Mosfilm support was inexplicably withdrawn, Tarkovsky used part of the budget provided by Italian State Television and French film company Gaumont to complete the film in Italy and cut some Russian scenes from the screenplay, while recreating Russian locations for other scenes in Italy.

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Quotes

Andrei Gorchakov: We don't know what madness is. They're troublesome, inconvenient, we refuse to understand them. But they're certainly closer to the truth.

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Crazy Credits

Before the end credits: To the memory of my mother. - Andrei Tarkovsky

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Connections

Featured in Brows Held High: Gerry Redux! (2014)

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Soundtracks

Kumushki
Traditional Russian folk song
[Heard over the opening credits]

User Reviews

1+1=1 : or even a thousand raindrops makes ONE big pool, even inside the house

Tarkovsky keeps the emphasis on nostalghia and not on sentiment or melancholia. Giuseppe Lanci's (Kaos '84, Caro Diario '94) beautiful colorful cinematography alternated with b/w footage, is reminiscent of Traffic (Soderbergh, 2000), although the content and the pace of that film is very different. The point is, that different filming materials can emphasize different perspectives from different people or different periods in the life of the same person. Luminous or dark. Even a long and slow shot can tell a complete story in this film, as the actors seem to duplicate themselves or substitute others. Miniature landscapes to create surprising visual perspectives are discovered at the ride-in and ride-out of the camera. All those details couldn't be appreciated if the shots were any shorter or the pace any faster. Nevertheless, there are instances where Tarkovsky doesn't seem to know what he wanted exactly and motives stay implicit unfortunately. But that's poetry. See the film again and discover new perspectives. Anyway, there is a strong taste of longing for association of people in the present, in the future and even in the past throughout the film.

Nostalghia is almost entirely (as far the dialogue part of the film goes) in Italian language and the music consists exclusively from legendary composers with some experimental touches here and there. It is on the verge of being arthouse with its sometimes subtle and sometimes experimental light and sound FX. Even the dog seems to have had acting classes. Also I feel that what Godard tried so many times (le Mepris? Week End?) but utterly failed most consistently, Tarkovsky achieves gloriously, although the film shouldn't be much longer.

10 points out of 10 :-)