Nostalghia   Andrei A. Tarkovski

In Nostalghia I wanted to depict the Russian form of nostalgia, that mental state entirely specific to our nation which grips us when we are far away from home. (Andrei A. Tarkovski)

Tarkovski’s first film to be made abroad (Italy) tells the story of a Russian writer, Andrei Gortshakov, travelling in Italy in the steps of a composer from his home country in order to write his biography. Far from Russia, he is confronted with the feeling of “nostalghia” (the “Russian soul”) – the longing for a homeland whose images we carry with and within ourselves. Tarkovski captures these inner moods in the form of landscapes and images that have partly stood still and leads the audience from reality to memory, from there to dream and back to reality.