Review by Eric Hillis (@hilliseric)
Directed by: Andrei Tarkovsky
Starring: Oleg Yankovskiy, Erland Josephson, Domiziana Giordano
Nostalgia shows signs of Tarkovsky running out of metaphorical steam, if not metaphysical mist. It should be seen for its magical climax, and as a complete study of his ouevre, but it's certainly not a recommended starting point for an exploration of his work.
Following the general disappointment of their Stalker disc, Curzon Artificial Eye get their hi-def Andrei Tarkovsky releases back on track with this impressive transfer of Nostalgia, the director's first movie made outside of the Soviet Union, though you wouldn't know it. Tarkovsky fills the fields and churches of rural Italy with his trademark fog, dogs and raindrops to such an extent it borders dangerously close to self parody.
At the time cinephiles were likely fascinated to see how Tarkovsky would approach shooting in another land, especially one with as rich a cinematic tradition as Italy, but save for the appearance of Catholic temples, Nostalgia could just as well have been shot in an abandoned industrial estate in Estonia. Tarkovsky isn't interested in the sun-soaked tourist vision of Italy; he prefers to seek beauty in the grime, in the crumbling ruins and damp, steam drenched spas.
This is reflected in the narrative. A Russian poet, Andrei Gorchakov (Oleg Yankovsky), has spent the past two years in Italy researching the life of an 18th century Russian composer who lived in the Mediterranean nation in exile before returning home and committing suicide. Accompanying him is a pretty blonde translator, Eugenia (Domiziana Giordano), who does her best to initiate a romantic entanglement with the emotionally disengaged Andrei, but to no avail. After pouring her heart out to the writer, he dismisses her as "insane". Yet, it's with someone genuinely insane that Andrei strikes up a bond - a crazy old coot, Domenico (Erland Josephson), considered something of the village idiot in the rural hamlet where the film's action largely takes place.
Domenico was released from an asylum, having spent time there for keeping his family prisoner in their home for seven years. Now he spends his days on a Quixotic quest - to carry a lit candle from one end of a dried up mineral pool to the other. Domenico believes the completion of this task will prevent the end of the world, but he has yet to be successful.
Nostalgia is best known for its legendary climax in which, in one unbroken real-time take, Tarkovsky has his leading man complete such a task, and this alone is reason enough to recommend the film. There's also plenty of the stunning imagery you expect from Tarkovsky, but at this point it's a little too familiar - there are only so many slow zooms through abandoned structures you can be impressed by.
The film highlights the filmmaker's trouble with female characters. Like so many of the European auteurs of the mid 20th century, in Tarkovsky's films women tend to fall into one of two categories - objects and obstacles; here, Eugenia is both, a harpy whose purpose is to attempt to seduce our hero with her flesh, thus preventing him from reaching a higher form of enlightenment. It's the sort of troubling depiction of woman you find in religious fundamentalism.
His second to last narrative film, Nostalgia shows signs of Tarkovsky running out of metaphorical steam, if not metaphysical mist. It should be seen for its magical climax, and as a complete study of his ouevre, but it's certainly not a recommended starting point for an exploration of his work.
Nostalgia is available on blu-ray and DVD from Curzon Artificial Eye now.