Nostalghia was the first non sci-fi movie I saw from Tarkovskij (I though understanding the audio would make it better), and maybe that was a wrong decision. It would have been better to start with the earlier movies. Now that I saw his last work though, Sacrifice, and understood it as well, I could understand this movie better. Nostalghia has a similar anti-modernism like sacrifice, various themes, and despite it's just two hours long, it's one of the slowest Tarkovskij films. This and Sacrifice represent well the director's last years of filmmaking. Although Nostalghia wasn't my favourite Tarkovskij, I still consider a masterpiece, just as Sacrifice.

Andrei Tarkovsky's Nostalghia (1983) is as great an example of Fine Art as I have ever seen in any medium, cinema or otherwise.The film as a whole can be considered to be a montage of scenes and images that are only very loosely, and at times not at all, connected to each other in a "straight", literal sense. True enough, there is an overarching general temporal sequence in the scenes of the film, but this temporal sequence does little to aid the viewer in a strictly rational answer to the seemingly simple query: "What Is This Film All About?" As a work of Fine Art, I would liken Nostalghia to the work of Impressionist painters such as Monet, Renoir, Degas, and Cezanne. The artistic motivation of these painters was not in any way to portray reality in photographic accuracy, as did painters of bygone eras. Indeed, the invention of the camera made such an artistic motivation superfluous for painters. What the Impressionist painters tried to do, with varying degrees of success, was to portray reality with less than photographic, literal accuracy in favor of a portrayal that has more of a non-rational "impact" on the viewer, on the intellectual and/or emotional and/or visceral levels of experience. As such, the Truth of Impressionist paintings as it is conveyed to the viewer is not an "absolute truth" but, instead, a contextual, even an interpretive truth.So too, the portrayal of reality, and the subsequent Truth of that portrayal in the viewer's experience of Tarkovsky's Nostalghia is on a non-rational, purely subjective, contextual, interpretive, and perhaps even intuitive level. This film offers a non-obvious mixture of sometimes disjointed dramatic scenes, sometimes deep philosophical dialogue, isolated imagery, sometimes admittedly strange symbolism, innovative cinematography, & sometimes radical editing in an attempt to deliver an "impact", an "Impression" on the viewer on the intellectual, emotional, and visceral planes of his viewing experience.The exact "meaning" or "truth" of that impact is decidedly intended by Tarkovsky to be unique to the individual viewer of the film, and is incumbent on the individual viewer to decide for himself.

I've read comments written before, And I'm surprised how some people are criticizing the movie,and I think that they have to read some good deep poetry before trying to criticize the film, and I'm sure that they will not understand it too! This man is a poet, he writes images and metaphors, so he can make poetic films too! So If you are not interested in poetry you can simply don't watch the movie !And If you are interested in such thing ! You can enjoy hundreds of metaphors ,allegories, and symbolical images, You can see clearly then the philosophy of Andrei..And you can Enjoy that depressed view(most of the times) about Life , Children , Love , and that reaction toward the people who always deal with him like a stranger... But Is he really a stranger ?? Or people are the real strangers ?? and that lead to a question ,that if he is a real stranger , does that mean that he is wrong !??And We can't forget his reaction toward leaving his country , and how he feels uncomfortable , like living in a high place where there is less oxygen ! That place which he can't never find real own peace in!

This is one of the most beautiful movies I have ever seen. The main plot is about a Russian poet who comes to Italy to do some research on a composer. For those who love Action Thrillers: I have to say that this movie is probably not for you. This requires patience and a good deal of thinking. This isn't something you can watch with half your mind on what you're going to buy at the grocery store. What I love the most about this movie, is that you can see the characters thinking. What I find lacking in most movies, is the constant action, constant talking. In Nostalghia, you find yourself immersed in the character's thoughts. Tarkovsky uses a great deal of visual metaphores as well; you have to pay close attention to what you're watching. It could turn out to be something completely different from what you thought it was to be.All in all; this isn't something to be watched "lightheartedly". I recommend it to everyone. It truly is a work of art.