Nostalgia

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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Nostalgia Photos

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Movie Info

To investigate the life of Russian composer Pavel Sosnovsky, Andrei Gorkachov (Oleg Yankovsky) goes to Italy, where Sosnovsky resided before his suicide. Joining Gorkachov on his journey through Tuscany is his interpreter, Eugenia (Domiziana Giordano), who develops an interest in her client that is more than professional. Meanwhile, Gorkachov is beset by powerful feelings of homesickness as he wanders through the ruins of the countryside and meets a doomsaying mystic (Erland Josephson).

Genre:

drama
Original Language:

Russian
Director:

Andrei Tarkovsky
Producer:

Franco Casati, Daniel Toscan du Plantier
Release Date (Streaming):

Aug 10, 2016
Runtime:

2h 10m
Production Co:

Opera Film Produzione
Aspect Ratio:

35mm

Cast & Crew

Oleg Jankovskij
Andrei Gorèakov

Domiziana Giordano
Eugenia

Erland Josephson
Domenico
Voice

Delia Boccardo
Domenico's wife

Laura De Marchi
Chambermaid

Patrizia Terreno
Andrei's wife

Show all Cast & Crew

Critic Reviews for Nostalgia (Nostalghia)

All Critics (22) | Top Critics (4) | Fresh (19) | Rotten (3)

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.

March 4, 2015 | Full Review…

Alan Scherstuhl
Village Voice
Top Critic
Aims for a hushed, hypnotic, incantatory effect, and it does succeed in inducing some kind of trance.

March 4, 2015 | Full Review…

Dave Kehr
Chicago Reader
Top Critic
It's a mood piece that makes you feel like you're drowning in high-grade art swill. If that sounds oppressive, know that it is, but the tonic is invigorating: a clammy atmosphere so unlike the airless options Hollywood's about to spring on us.

May 28, 2013 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…

Joshua Rothkopf
Time Out
Top Critic
Nothing happens.

May 20, 2003 | Full Review…

Vincent Canby
New York Times
Top Critic
What results is a work of devastating beauty just ripe for the GIFing.

June 30, 2020 | Full Review…

CJ Sheu
Critics at Large
Tarkovsky's most emotionally accessible film, and the final no-two-ways-about-it masterpiece of his extraordinary career.

May 28, 2020 | Rating: 5/5 | Full Review…

Tim Brayton
Alternate Ending
...the film seems positively out of place compared with the two decades long string of challenging masterworks that preceded it.

December 29, 2018 | Rating: 6/10 | Full Review…

Nathanael Hood
The Retro Set
Almost seemed to be anticipating Tarkovsky's own demise with its strange sensibility of apocalyptic proselytising juxtaposed with a more soothing, balming, elegiac tone.

November 12, 2018 | Rating: 5/5 | Full Review…

PJ Nabarro
Patrick Nabarro
...transports us to a place that no longer feels temporal, but spiritual.

November 4, 2015 | Rating: 4/4 | Full Review…

Josh Larsen
LarsenOnFilm
A hauntingly beautiful film.

March 4, 2015 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…

David Parkinson
Empire Magazine
Nostalgia engages questions and emotions that are rarely even contemplated in the cinema.

March 4, 2015 | Full Review…

Film4
Tarkovsky's hypnotic framing of Gorchakov's experience is made possible through his signature pacing, extended tracking shots, and slow zooms and focusing.

March 4, 2015 | Rating: 8/10 | Full Review…

John Oursler
PopMatters

View All Critic Reviews (22)

Audience Reviews for Nostalgia (Nostalghia)

Jul 01, 2014

A fine picture directed by Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky, Nostalghia is a well crafted picture that should definitely appeal to fans of his work, this is a powerful picture one that is captivating from the first frame right up to the end, and it does it very well due to a strong sense of wonderful storytelling combined with powerful performances. The elements that make for a great Tarkovsky picture here, and he does great work behind the camera. The story is as usual simple, but Andrei Tarkovsky pulls it off very well due to a great visual style, which has always elevated his picture to fine art. Only a select few of filmmakers have delivered films like Tarkovsky has, and here with Nostalghia he crafts something quite good, and well worth seeing if you enjoy his work. The film is very good, and it is engaging from start to finish. Tarkovsky always manages to convey a sense of surrealism to every one of his movies, and here we have a film that shows us an eccentric, yet brilliant plot that stands out due to Tarkovsky's impeccable filmmaking. I've been a great admirer of his work, and he is able to craft something truly unique with each of his films and here he crafts something very good and is a must if you've enjoyed his work. Nostalghia is a fine drama that captivates from start to finish; this is a well crafted affair that is engaging, thought provoking and memorable from start to finish. Andrei Tarkovsky has never made a bad film or a mediocre movie, he was a filmmaker that honed his craft and expertly made terrific works of cinema, and if you're looking for a very good drama to watch, you'll find what you're looking for in this film.

Alex r Super Reviewer
Nov 10, 2012

Past always screams for our return, because she is the mother that gave us an identity and a life perception. Life perception is all about coherence, and coherence demands a logic to exist. A logic, not THE logic. There is no such thing. What if that logic is gone? What if 1+1=1 despite our beliefs and inner struggle to conform to norms? A journey then begins, which main purpose is to shed some visible light over the tangible and intangible factors that puts the pieces back in their place. The complexity in there, however, relies that there's an emotional variable added to the equation, an undeniably human "x" that has an unbearable power over our lives. It makes us to be dependent of what gave us an origin, either in the form of visions, tears of nostalghia, B&W and sepia-toned dreams and the physical construction of the fantasy places in which our hearts will always reside. What can we do against our fragile human nature, then? There is no other option than cautiously guarding that little flame which keeps us alive and hopeful. 99/100

Edgar C Super Reviewer
Nov 07, 2009

Away from his homeland Russia, Tarkovsky delivered this phenomenal masterpiece, a wonderfully directed film that boasts a most gorgeous cinematography and takes us in a beautiful journey through nostalgia, faith, frustration and a man's longing to find his own path.

Carlos M Super Reviewer
Jun 29, 2009

A Russian poet in Italy researching a biography of a Russian composer experiences homesickness and ennui, and is asked to perform a ritual by a madman. Be warned: it's extremely slow-paced and dreamlike, including an almost 9 miute sequence of a man carrying a candle; but Tarkovsky's visual sense and ability to evoke a peculiar mood is unequalled, and will reward the patient viewer with a powerful cinematic experience.

Greg S Super Reviewer