Week 10: Nostalghia (35mm)

Dir. Andrei Tarkovsky (1983); Russia/Italy, 125 m

Starring: Oleg Yankoskiy, Erland Josephson, Domiziana Giordano

Programmed by: Owen Peterson

Friday, December 3rd at 7:00PM & 9:30PM
Saturday, December 4th at 7:00PM & 9:30PM
Sunday, December 5th at 3:00PM

In his first non-Soviet film, Andrei Tarkovsky reckons with his own exile from the Soviet Union as the government’s strict censorship forced him to take his cinematic endeavors elsewhere. What is received is Nostalghia; a vessel by which Tarkovsky copes with the alienation, displacement, and unfamiliarity within himself on this new terrain.

Nostalghia tells the story of Russian poet Andrei Gorchakov (Oleg Yankoskiy) who travels to Tuscany to research for his next novel. Upon his arrival, Andrei is stricken with severe homesickness and often imagines various moments of his family and life back home. It is through his research that Andrei befriends and takes interest in a local man by the name of Domenico (Erland Josephson), a former asylum patient who desires to save the world by way of crossing a mineral pool with a candle in hand. Andrei’s research trip turns to pilgrimage as Domenico bestows his mission to cross the pool upon Andrei, leaving him with a decision: to stay and complete the ‘treacherous’ journey or return to the comfort of his family home in Russia. By way of evocative, impressionistic imagery, Nostalghia’s true meaning lies within the introspection of its audience, making it an essential theatrical viewing for cinephiles and students alike!