A poignant film airing on Netflix is gripping readers with its deeply layered story line, ‘beautiful cinematography’ and ‘brilliant’ acting.
The melancholy story adapted from a novel is set in a city renowned for its beauty, but also well known for its crime rates and poverty.
The film, Nostalgia, takes you along narrow cobbled streets with a somehow timeless feeling, despite the modern setting.
Set in Naples, this story is told with true sentiment, it will give you a lump in your throat at times – and as one reviewer said ‘it avoids the dramatic overstatement you might find in a typical Hollywood movie’.
Centred around characters Oreste Spasiano (played by Tommaso Ragno) and Felice Lasco (Pierfrancesco Favino) this film is ‘truly unique’ with its sadness and hope.
Facing the past can be challenging at the best of times, but when Felice returns to Naples after 40 years in other countries, childhood memories are tainted with a tragic and somewhat sinister event.
The layers of this storyline are deep and complex, most of the nostalgic thinking that Felice experiences are happy memories of his childhood adventures with close friend Oreste, however, one prominent trauma taints all of this recalling.
One reviewer on Rotten Tomatoes wrote: “A slow look at the deceptive allure of nostalgia contrasted with the often harsher – but truer – reality.”
Other viewers described being drawn in from the start of the film, while one thought Nostalgia was a ‘visual love poem to Naples’.
Another reviewer on Rotten Tomatoes wrote: “It’s a cross section of the human lives, memories dissolved in miseries give birth to the bittersweet Nostalgia.
“A powerful beautiful tale about a man revisiting the memories he wanted to forget. Such clever sincere heartfelt performances by the cast, the weight people carry on shoulders, the weight of guilt is animated well by Favino.
The reviewe added: “Cinematography is excellent, great work in capturing the beauty of Naples. It’s a slow burn with subtle dramatic nature, it’s a well written critique on naivety driven by selfishness.”
Nostalgia has a 89% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes with many praising the beauty of Naples in the storytelling, however the film also shows the dangers of the city as well as the complexities many living there face.
The movie is filmed in an artistic way with each scene ‘carefully thought out’ – and it’s not rushed, but instead ‘thought-provoking’.
Another viewer reviewing nostalgia on Rotten Tomatoes wrote: “The city of Naples is just as much a character as those portrayed by the actors in the film – it’s beautiful, ramshackle, dangerous and attractive all at once.”