Nostalghia is a slow-moving, symbolic, and deeply introspective piece about the significant societal dysfunction that still plagues and pushes people – whether in times of war or not – to dangerous ends. Nostalghia follows famed Russian writer Andrei Gorchakov (Oleg Yankovsky) as he travels to an impoverished section of the Tuscan countryside in Italy, where also famed 18th-century composer Pavel Sosnovsky once lived. Gorchakov, along with his translator Eugenia (Dimiziana Giordano), discovers some of the atrocities brought by war and capitalism. They go through various locations such as churches, farms, and near-abandoned spaces turned into homeless shelters, learning of the universal traits of impoverishment and inhumane neglect seen globally. Andrei must confront these realities in concurrence with his own research and mental state to, according to crazy man Domenico (Erland Josephson), “save the world” before death catches up.

Nostalghia is severely grim from start to finish. While nothing precisely eventful happens, the slow pace and scrutinizing focus on every little detail within each shot – from characters and their struggles to spaces and their destruction – forces viewers to contend with the subject matter. In this way, director Andrei Tarkovsky illuminates many common unfairnesses, from gender roles in religion to the promise of prosperity and a better life in Europe, only for in-film Andrei to discover the same barren livelihoods he left in Russia. This grimness is partly balanced with sweeping natural beauties or engaging architecture that ensures one is in awe of as much as in aw for the characters. Tarkovsky forces empathy for those usually ignored, like old man Domenico, whose pure intentions are lost in his consequential actions. One is angled to care even if the long pauses can be a bit much; the heaviness of religion, war, impoverishment, and their personal effects are far too cumbersome to resist. While some of the subject matter gets lost in translation, as Andrei himself points out about poetry, for the most part, Nostalghia is a decently long-winded and strongly open-ended journey into the depths of society-wide tragedies – and a hidden gem of Italian slow cinema that should be sat through at least once.

Nostalghia
1983
dir. Andrei Tarkovsky
125 min.

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