Nostalgia

The excellent Pierfrancesco Favino (Padrenostro IFF21, The Traitor IFF20) stars in suspenseful drama Nostalgia, a bittersweet exploration of the complexity of homecoming.

After forty years spent in the Middle East and Africa, businessman Felice Lasco (Favino) returns to his hometown of Rione Sanità in Naples. Visiting his ageing mother, Teresa (Aurora Quattrocchi), he is upset to discover she has moved from his childhood home to a poorly maintained ground floor apartment. While he has forgotten how to speak the Neapolitan dialect, he feels that despite the years which have passed, everything is the same.

Wandering his old neighbourhood’s streets, he is caught up in memories of his past and criminal youth. Despite local priest Don Luigi’s (Francesco Di Leva) advice to leave his past behind, he seeks out childhood friend Oreste (Tommaso Ragno), now a feared local mobster.

Directed and co-written by Mario Martone, this atmospheric adaptation of Ermanno Rea’s 2016 novel is an absorbing tale of regrets and a nostalgic love-letter to Naples.