Popular reviews

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  Review by Eli Hayes ★★★★★ 23

  "Feelings unspoken are unforgettable."

  Every single one of Andrei Tarkovsky's films are contenders for my favorite film of all-time. Every single one of them. However, this is the one that speaks to me the most strongly, the most personally. It reminds me of my father, who passed away only a short two years ago. It reminds me of my home, which I love and miss so dearly. It reminds me of my past, my childhood. There is so much going on in Nostalghia, so much to take in, that to some, it may come off as perplexing.

  To those people I say, "I understand," because indeed it is a very complicated, even mystifying film. Therefore, instead of going on and…

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  Review by Vadim Rizov ★★★ 9

  [deep breath] There are people who believe the idea of Godard making an unsuccessful film is purely hypothetical, and they get very upset with intellectually-underperforming philistines who aren't with the program, a level of dedication with a certain level of faith-investment I find hard to muster. That commitment goes for Tarkovsky too, but (ulp) I'm an agnostic. So look: Nostalghia is gorgeous, in non-maximalist ways that have to do with slivers of light and shade reflected on the tiniest of surfaces. (I could see a film like this serving as the basis for e.g. the entire Lisandro Alonso project thus far.) Tarkovsky understands that the compositional differences that ensue when moving a camera even six inches can be enormous, and…

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  Review by Brendan Michaels ★★★★½ 10

  Today I turn 18 years old.

  That didn't really hit me until watching this movie, and how fitting of a movie to watch for my birthday. A film where the character reflects on the good old times and the nostalgia of his past. I might not understand Tarkovsky's films at first glance but the emotions are palpable.

  Each frame feels like an accomplishment of the soul, long takes that are impressive in the size and scope the film creates. Tarkovsky's images are grand, emotional, and moving, both literally and metaphysically.

  I can't say much on the first watch but all I have to say is that this reminds me of the people who I have met and the journey that is life that I still am going forward with. I want to thank everyone who brought me here. I legitimately could not have done this without you all.

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  Review by reibureibu ★★★★★ 23

  Feels like we live our lives in terms of goals and goalposts, of reaching that One Big Moment and dedicating our concerted efforts towards such accomplishments. Academic achievements, career promotions, artistic works, there's always that something which preoccupies our waking mind and it feels like we submit to guilt and regret if we're not constantly on that grind. Or at least, that's how I feel, that existence is only truly justified if we have something to show for it: that fancy piece of paper stating we graduated from some place somewhere, that off-white embossed business card with our shiny new title in the center, our art hung up in some random gallery just so we can officially say "we made…

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  Review by Andre de Nervaux ★★★★★ 13

  The last shot is easily one of the greatest shots I've seen in cinematic history

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  Review by Edgar Cochran ★★★★★ 6

  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…

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  Review by Chris 🦑 ★★★★★ 3

  me: math is so simple lol 1+1=2

  andrei tarkovsky: one drop plus one drop makes one bigger drop... not 2

  me: holy FUCK HE'S RIGHT????

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  Review by CJ Probst ★★★★★ 21

  Every time I watch an Andrei Tarkovskiy film I am left completely and utterly drained. His films require an intense concentration and are often times trialing, if you do not fall onto his wavelength it is incredibly easy to get sidetracked and have your mind begin to wander during long takes in which very little appears to be happening. Taskovskiy’s films can be extremely abstract without any recognizable or traditional plotlines anywhere to be found. This is particularly true in the case of the existentially contemplative Nostalghia, his penultimate achievement.

  For the first time I will be watching his work in reverse order, the most recent first. Upon only his second installment this has already become an interesting endeavor because…

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  Review by Josh Larsen ★★★★★ 2

  It would take many viewings to get a more specific handle on Tarkovsky’s thematic aims, yet I was more than content to simply swim in the movie’s mysteries and possibilities. A seemingly mundane scene of Andrei resting in his hotel room becomes a wealth of clues and composition, as Tarkovsky creates entrancing drama out of a single take. He and cinematographer Giuseppe Lanci subtly adjust the lighting to emphasize different depths of the mise en scene, directing our attention from the window, say, to Andrei disappearing in darkness on the bed. At one point the rain outside oddly infiltrates the room, forming a puddle on the floor. Then, without warning, the same dog from the opening vision emerges from the bathroom and lies down next to the bed. Without a single cut, reality, dreams and memories have all merged.

  Full review here.

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  Review by YI JIAN ★★★★½ 5

  Art is translatable. Poetry can be written in pictures just like how movie subtitles are justified. Visually translated feelings, and emotions evoked through moving images are all legitimate. The nostalgia that we obtain from this film which was translated from the director's is nevertheless genuine.

  Tarkovsky saw himself as a wearied poet sharing his nostalgia for his homeland while in Italy, reflected as a dreamlike Stalker-ish place in ruins, sunny outside yet raining indoors. I love how this film is entirely defined by the candle scene at the end, a lyrical meditation on determination, faith and perhaps grief? Through Tarkovsky's lenses everything seems to have a higher, more personal meaning. A man trying to walk across St. Catherine's pool with…

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  Review by Jake Cole ★★★★½ 5

  It's sometimes difficult to square the pompous, narcissistic dourness evident in Andrei Tarkovsky's worldview with the expansiveness his vision nonetheless allowed. Nostalghia, both the director's first foray outside Russia and a self-reflexive emotional chronicle about being separated from Russia, lays bare the myopia underlying Tarkovsky's perspective before transcending it. This is a kind of version of The Wizard of Oz, albeit one where the sedentary, monochromatic glimpses of home are feverishly idealized, to the point that the escape (in this case, Italy) is de-saturated in the frame to better resemble the familiar. Gorchakov, a clear avatar for Tarkovsky, feels lost in the vast, symmetrical constructions of Italy's ancient architecture, and one is reminded, in the birthplace of Christianity, that God…

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  Review by Marcissus ★★★★★ 9

  [five minutes into watching an English translation of nostalgia]

  tarkovsky: nothing can be translated. art is untranslateable

  me: oh