Nostalgia Reviews

1983

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from 1185 members

Director Andrei Tarkovsky recasts his lifelong cinematic motif of humanity's quest for faith in the waterlogged and mist-ensconced countryside of Italy for his philosophical masterpiece NOSTALGIA. Andrei Gorchakov (Oleg Yankovsky) is a misanthropic Russian scholar researching the life of an exiled Russian composer who committed .. Read more

Starring	Oleg Yankovsky, Domiziana Giordano, Erland Josephson
Director	Andrei Tarkovsky
Genres	Drama

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Critics' reviews (3) of Nostalgia
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Andrei Tarkovsky's first non-Soviet picture is clearly the work of an exile who can never regain his lost past. Yet, in rejecting a possible affair and his intellectual researches to undertake the eternal quest for enlightenment, Oleg Yankovsky finds redemption of sorts as he rises to the symbolic challenge of carrying a lighted candle across a sulphurous spa — a challenge posed by Erland Josephson, the apocalypse-obsessed resident of a Tuscan shrine town. Contrasting monochrome flashbacks with desaturated colour landscapes, Tarkovsky poetically employs langorous takes which not only convey Yankovsky's fragile mental and spiritual condition, but also heighten the mesmerising mysticism of this metaphysical allegory.
- Radio Times
- Posted 29 Jan 2006
"...In its stately, measured way NOSTALGHIA, in its culminating spirit of affirmation, becomes akin to a religious experience..."
- Los Angeles Times
- Posted 11 Mar 2005
Another of Tarkovsky's strange, hauntingly beautiful meditations on man's search for self. The film may forsake the... read more on Time Out
- Time Out
- Posted 04 Nov 2008
Most helpful members' reviews (3) of Nostalgia
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30 out of 31 people found this review helpful

Tarkovsky novices beware

Andrei Tarkovsky was a great director, loved by most high-brow film critics: think Bergman crossed with Kubrick, but Russian and not as accessible! He made only... more

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- - Stephen Simpson from Croydon, England
  - Posted 30 Nov 2005 21:07
30 out of 54 people found this review helpful

Excruciating

I saw this film 20 years ago at the Tyneside Cinema in Newcastle. It is quite the most stupendously, unbelievably, gob-smackingly boring film I have seen in my... more

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- - Joe Rohmer from Newcastle upon Tyne, England
  - Posted 21 Aug 2004 04:02
5 out of 6 people found this review helpful

Lost in translation????

I tried so hard with this .... persevered for an eternity but still could not fully grasp this renowned masterpiece which I had so desperately hoped to enjoy... more

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- - Jenny from Falmouth Cornwall
  - Posted 20 Feb 2006 16:21
Most recent members' reviews (2) of Nostalgia
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2 out of 2 people found this review helpful

looks so wonderful but ...

Oh dear, this is the kind of film that makes the viewer think he/she isn't deep enough to understand it. In fact, it is utterly beautiful to look at but ... more

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- - A customer from london
  - Posted 17 Sep 2008 20:02
30 out of 31 people found this review helpful

Tarkovsky novices beware

Andrei Tarkovsky was a great director, loved by most high-brow film critics: think Bergman crossed with Kubrick, but Russian and not as accessible! He made only... more

Report this review
- - Stephen Simpson from Croydon, England
  - Posted 30 Nov 2005 21:07

30 out of 31 people found this review helpful

Tarkovsky novices beware

Andrei Tarkovsky was a great director, loved by most high-brow film critics: think Bergman crossed with Kubrick, but Russian and not as accessible! He made only... more

Report this review
- - Stephen Simpson from Croydon, England
  - Posted 30 Nov 2005 21:07
30 out of 54 people found this review helpful

Excruciating

I saw this film 20 years ago at the Tyneside Cinema in Newcastle. It is quite the most stupendously, unbelievably, gob-smackingly boring film I have seen in my... more

Report this review
- - Joe Rohmer from Newcastle upon Tyne, England
  - Posted 21 Aug 2004 04:02
5 out of 6 people found this review helpful

Lost in translation????

I tried so hard with this .... persevered for an eternity but still could not fully grasp this renowned masterpiece which I had so desperately hoped to enjoy... more

Report this review
- - Jenny from Falmouth Cornwall
  - Posted 20 Feb 2006 16:21
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful

From Russia

Tarkovsky a brilliant and sadly missed director who has not been bettered since his untimely departure from this mortal coil. All his films have an air that ... more

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- - A customer from Scotland
  - Posted 14 Jun 2007 19:35
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful

[Highly rated reviewer]

Tarkovsky's least successful film

Another poster has suggested that even Tarkovsky fans don't rate this one, and, as a huge Tarkovsky fan, I would like to say there's a good reason why... more

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- - Savage from London, England
  - Posted 06 Apr 2006 12:54
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful

Nostalgia

Although this was a very beautifully filmed & directed film, I found it hard to follow at times & a little bit too long. A nice story though & ... more

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- - Kelly Houghton from Bicester
  - Posted 09 Feb 2008 19:34
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful

looks so wonderful but ...

Oh dear, this is the kind of film that makes the viewer think he/she isn't deep enough to understand it. In fact, it is utterly beautiful to look at but ... more

Report this review
- - A customer from london
  - Posted 17 Sep 2008 20:02
1 out of 1 person found this review helpful

[Highly rated reviewer]

I don't agree

I'm not qualified to argue my corner with any authority here, but personally I do not agree with the general consensus that this is Tarkovsky's least ... more

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- - Andrews from London
  - Posted 11 Oct 2008 11:03
1 out of 1 person found this review helpful

lost in italy

I hadn't seen this for ages. Whilst it is much clunkier than I remember, it is still a fantastic meditation on the meaning of life. I had forgotten the long... more

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- - A customer from Hitchin
  - Posted 10 Dec 2008 13:19
6 out of 12 people found this review helpful

Possibly

Possibly the best film ever made

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- - A customer from rorriM!
  - Posted 05 Apr 2005 12:14

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Critics' reviews (3)
Andrei Tarkovsky's first non-Soviet picture is clearly the work of an exile who can never regain his lost past. Yet, in rejecting a possible affair and his intellectual researches to undertake the eternal quest for enlightenment, Oleg Yankovsky finds redemption of sorts as he rises to the symbolic challenge of carrying a lighted candle across a sulphurous spa — a challenge posed by Erland Josephson, the apocalypse-obsessed resident of a Tuscan shrine town. Contrasting monochrome flashbacks with desaturated colour landscapes, Tarkovsky poetically employs langorous takes which not only convey Yankovsky's fragile mental and spiritual condition, but also heighten the mesmerising mysticism of this metaphysical allegory.
- Radio Times
- Posted 29 Jan 2006
"...In its stately, measured way NOSTALGHIA, in its culminating spirit of affirmation, becomes akin to a religious experience..."
- Los Angeles Times
- Posted 11 Mar 2005
Another of Tarkovsky's strange, hauntingly beautiful meditations on man's search for self. The film may forsake the... read more on Time Out
- Time Out
- Posted 04 Nov 2008

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