The penultimate film in our Andrei Tarkovsky Retrospective is his rarely-screen film from 1983: Nostalgia.

Set in Italy, Nostalgia follows Andrei Gorchakov, a Russian poet who is researching the life of an Italian composer while grappling with deep homesickness and a sense of alienation in a foreign land. As Gorchakov reflects on his past and the world he left behind in Russia, the film explores the themes of memory, longing, and the difficulty of reconciling one’s personal history with the present.

The film’s intimate, reflective tone, combined with its stark, beautiful cinematography, earned Nostalgia widespread acclaim. It was awarded the Best Director prize at the 1983 Cannes Film Festival, a recognition of Tarkovsky’s extraordinary ability to capture the emotional and spiritual depth of his characters. As a work of exile and reflection, Nostalgia serves as both a personal meditation for Tarkovsky and a universal exploration of the human condition, making it an essential part of his cinematic legacy.