When Mosfilm support was withdrawn, Tarkovsky used part of the budget provided by Italian State Television and French film company Gaumont to complete the film in Italy and cut some Russian scenes from the script, while recreating Russian locations for other scenes in Italy. Initially the film was titled Viaggio in Italia ( Voyage to Italy), but since there was already a film Journey to Italy (1954) by Roberto Rossellini, starring Ingrid Bergman, that bore that name, they searched for something else, eventually deciding upon Nostalghia. The film was in pre-production as far back as 1980. It was to be filmed in Italy with the support of Mosfilm, with most of the dialogue in Italian. This was Andrei Tarkovsky's first film directed outside of the Soviet Union. Oleg Yankovsky as Andrei Gorchakov (credited as Oleg Jankovsky).The final shot shows Andrei and a dog resting on the ground of Abbey of San Galgano, with a countryside with a wooden house in the background. When he finally achieves his goal, he collapses and dies. He enters the empty pool and repeatedly attempts to walk from one end to the other without letting the candle extinguish, as he experiences signs of his illness. Meanwhile, Andrei returns to the mineral pool in Bagno Vignoni ( Val d'Orcia) to fulfill his promise, only to find that the pool has been drained. Finally, he plays the fourth movement of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and immolates himself while an onlooker imitates the action of him writhing on the ground in agony. Later, Domenico delivers a speech in the city about the need of mankind of being true brothers and sisters and to return to a simpler way of life. Eugenia is with her boyfriend, but he seems uninterested in her and appears to be involved in dubious business affairs. Andrei says he has, although that is not true. Andrei seems to cut his research short and plans to leave for Russia, until he gets a call from Eugenia, who wishes to say goodbye and tell him that she met Domenico in Rome by chance and that he asked if Andrei has walked across the pool himself as he promised. Before leaving, Domenico gives Andrei his candle and asks him if he will cross the waters with the candle for him.ĭuring a dream-like sequence, Andrei sees himself as Domenico and has visions of his wife, Eugenia and Mary, mother of Jesus as being all one and the same. He also learns that Domenico had a family and was obsessed in keeping them inside his house in order to save them from the end of the world, until they were freed by the local police after seven years. Andrei later learns that Domenico used to live in a lunatic asylum until the post- fascistic state closed them and now lives in the street. They both share a feeling of alienation from their surroundings. He claims that when finally achieving it, he will save the world. Eugenia is smitten with Andrei and is offended that he will not sleep with her, claiming that she has a better boyfriend waiting for her.Īndrei meets and befriends a strange man named Domenico, who is famous in the village for trying to cross through the waters of a mineral pool with a lit candle. Andrei decides at the last minute that he does not want to enter.īack at their hotel Andrei feels displaced and longs to go back to Russia, but unnamed circumstances seem to get in the way. He and his comely interpreter Eugenia travel to a convent in the Tuscan countryside, to look at frescoes by Piero della Francesca. The Russian writer Andrei Gorchakov travels to Italy to research the life of 18th-century Russian composer Pavel Sosnovsky, who lived there and committed suicide after his return to Russia. The film received nine total votes in the 2012 Sight & Sound polls of the greatest films ever made. It received generally positive reviews from critics. The film won the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury, the prize for Best Director and the FIPRESCI Prize at the 1983 Cannes Film Festival. The film utilizes autobiographical elements drawn from Tarkovsky's own experiences visiting Italy, and explores themes surrounding the untranslatability of art and culture. The film depicts a Russian writer ( Oleg Yankovsky) who visits Italy to carry out research about an 18th-century Russian composer, but is stricken by homesickness. Tarkovsky co-wrote the screenplay with Tonino Guerra. Nostalghia (UK: Nostalgia) is a 1983 Soviet- Italian drama film directed by Andrei Tarkovsky and starring Oleg Yankovsky, Domiziana Giordano, and Erland Josephson.
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