Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.5

Nostalghia 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov April 28, 2024

Andrei Tarkovsky (1983) arrives on 4K Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the release include recent program with director of photography Giuseppe Lanci; new audio commentary by critic Daniel Bird; documentary film by Tonino Guerra; and re-release trailer. In Italian, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

In the 1980s, Andrei Tarkovsky was one of only a few Soviet directors who enjoyed almost complete creative freedom. His films still had to be approved by the communist censors and, of course, their domestic distribution was managed entirely by apparatchiks in the Ministry of Culture who determined where they were appropriate to screen. However, Tarkovsky’s international success had become so valuable to the Kremlin that he had effectively earned the right to shoot without permanent state supervision.

Because of his unprecedented success, Tarkovsky was also granted the right to work overseas, which is how Nostalghia came to exist. However, this film underwent several significant changes between conception and production. For example, Tarkovsky’s original choice to play the male lead was refused an international passport and replaced. After Mosfilm refused proper financial support for the film, Tarkovsky also made various new adjustments and then shot entirely on location in Italy. (The original concept for the film reportedly had large sections, which in the current version are the flashbacks, that were supposed to feature dialog/narration in Russian and material shot in the U.S.S.R.). The current version of the film was edited and assembled by an Italian team in Italy as well.

The above information is not offered to imply that Nostalghia was a compromise that Tarkovsky was forced to accept. While in Italy, Tarkovsky had total control over the production process, and once all work was completed, he was very pleased with the current version of the film. However, it is not difficult to tell that the current version is an evolved version of the film, which would have looked quite different with Mosfilm supporting its production and different sections done entirely in the U.S.S.R.

The current version of Nostalghia follows Soviet poet Andrei Gorchakov (Oleg Yankovski) during his trip to Italy, where he hopes to gather material about the life and work of a brilliant but forgotten Russian composer. Andrei is assisted by the young and beautiful translator Eugenia (Domiziana Giordano), who has inexplicably fallen in love with him and is struggling to manage her feelings and emotions. While traveling and interacting, the two unexpectedly begin to tackle timeless subjects that reveal plenty about their philosophy of life, gradually forcing both to reexamine some of their key beliefs. After a chance encounter with an eccentric character (Erland Josephson), Andrei is also overwhelmed by a powerful but strangely illuminating nostalgia about his homeland.

The structural similarities between Nostalghia and Stalker, which Tarkovsky had completed just a few years earlier, are undeniable. In both films, a journey is broken into several very atmospheric sections that switch and keep the viewer’s mind in a contemplative mode. Even though they visit very different places, both films also produce a wide range of similarly breathtaking visuals.

But in Nostalghia Tarkovsky is a visitor with a camera in a foreign place that is not helping him present a convincing cinematic deconstruction of the grand, multi-layered concept of the Russian soul, which was undoubtedly the goal of his film. At best, Nostalghia only manages to reconfirm the existence of a unique bond between the Russian soul and Mother Russia and suggest that its endurance has often been misinterpreted by the rest of the world. (The contrasting views on the nature of existence that the poet, the translator, and the eccentric character share are supposed to provide structure and clarity to the ambitious cinematic deconstruction, but instead transform the film into a strikingly introverted affair). As a result, when its final credits begin to appear, Nostalghia leaves the wrong impression that it only helped Tarkovsky prove that he could be a visual master even when he is removed from his natural environment.

Nostalghia 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Kino Lorber's release of Nostalghia is a 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray combo pack. The 4K Blu-ray is Region-Free. However, the Blu-ray is Region-A "locked".

Please note that some of the screencaptures that appear with this article are taken from the 4K Blu-ray and downscaled to 1080p. Therefore, they do not accurately reflect the quality of the 4K content on the 4K Blu-ray disc

Screencaptures #1-26 are from the Blu-ray.
Screencaptures #31-39 are from the 4K Blu-ray.

The release introduces a recent 4K restoration of Nostalghia that was completed under the supervision of director of photography Giuseppe Lanci at Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia - Cineteca Nazionale, Italy. In native 4K, the 4K makeover cannot be viewed with HDR or Dolby Vision grades. I spent a lot of time with the native 4K and 1080p presentations of it.

Nostalghia made its high-definition debut with this release, also from Kino Lorber, in 2014. I have the previous release in my library, so it was very easy for me to do plenty of comparisons.

The quality of the 4K makeover and its technical presentation are a mixed bag. For example, there are various, very easy to appreciate improvements in terms of delineation, clarity, and depth. However, these improvements are not as impressive as they may initially appear because the older master that was used to produce the previous release has plenty of limitations. Some of these limitations are serious, too. Also, a lot of darker areas reveal pretty big macroblocking patterns. The majority of them are a lot easier to see in 1080p (you can see examples in screencaptures #10 and 11). However, I also spotted various anomalies in native 4K, which surprised me quite a lot because I expected the substantially higher bitrates of this presentation to hide them very well or effectively eliminate them. Color balance is very inconsistent, too. This film features a lot of stylization work that intentionally desaturates some primaries and arranges supporting nuances in very interesting ways that support its unique atmosphere, but not as conveyed by the new 4K makeover. Now, the entire film reveals very strong teal/turquoise saturation that gives it a digital appearance. (For reference, in many areas the change is extremely similar to that introduced on the new 4K makeover of Snapshot). Image stability is excellent. The surface of the visuals is very healthy, too. My score is 3.25/5.00.

Nostalghia 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this release: Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature.

Clarity, sharpness, and stability are excellent, as I expected. However, there are at least two spots where the continuity of the English translation is broken. It is possible that for some reason my player skips a second there, but I do not think that this is what happens. Most likely, there is a tiny glitch on the translation file. It is easy to tell what is being said, but this is something that I noticed.

Nostalghia 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

4K BLU-RAY DISC

• Commentary - this new audio commentary was recorded by critic Daniel Bird.

BLU-RAY DISC

• Commentary - this new audio commentary was recorded by critic Daniel Bird.

• Voyage in Time - this extensive documentary on the making of Nostalghia was produced by Tonino Guerra for RAI in 1983. In Italian, with English subtitles. (65 min).

• Interview with Director of Photography Guiseppe Lanci - in this recent program, Giuseppe Lanci discusses his background, career in the film industry, and collaboration with Andrei Tarkovsky on Nostalghia. In Italian, with English subtitles. (28 min).

• Re-release Trailer - presented here is the recent trailer for the 4K restoration of Nostalghia. With English text. (2 min).

Nostalghia 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Several of the films Andrei Tarkovsky directed are legit masterpieces of cinema that will be admired for as long as films are viewed. While very ambitious, often strikingly beautiful too, Nostalghia, which was the first film Tarkovsky shot outside the U.S.S.R., is not one of them. It sets out to present a convincing cinematic deconstruction of the grand, multi-layered concept of the Russian soul, but remains a frustratingly introverted affair. Kino Lorber's release introduces a recent 4K restoration of Nostalghia that was supervised by director of photography Giuseppe Lanci. Parts of the 4K restoration look good, but the work that was done should have been a lot more convincing.