Nostalgia

Naples, Camorra, crime, revenge. You feel as if not much can be added. But Martone gives it a good shake, and mostly succeeds. Some elements - the returning Neapolitan's aged mother - seem fresh and touching. Others - the priest who has the whole district on a string - are not new.

You can sort of half-guess the ending, and as it drew closer, I'm murmuring, let's not go there. If you reinterpret the ending as opportunistic rather than planned, nostalgic rather than spiteful, that might help get you over the line.

For pop connoisseurs, there's an obscure psychedelic 1967 track. Not 13th Floor Elevators, or Cryan' Shames, but "Greengrass" by The Ones.

This is a plot which has already been used before: the lead character who comes back home after many years away and who suddenly finds out all the changes that occured during his - or her - absence. Italian movies have already given us such topics: FORGET PALERMO. Or French LE FILS from Pierre Granier Deferra, starring Yves Montand. More or less same scheme. This movie which I review now is full of nostaligia, as its title says, It is not a crime film, but a drama with some social elements about Italy today. With of course the Mafia and church influence on the Italian society. It is rather dark, a bit gloomy but beautiful, really worth the view. Flawless acting and directing too; excellent camera work.

Home is where the heart is?

The protagonist of this beautiful Italian film is hunting for what once was. Pierfrancesco Favino plays Felice, who returns to his hometown of Naples after 40 years. He finds that the city has not changed since he hastily left there as a 15-year-old. Well, that's what he believes and his naive upbringing of his hometown is conveyed to us as viewers. We would like to believe him. But sense problems. Felice almost ran away after a serious incident involving both him and his best friend growing up. The filmmakers take a long time to tell us what happened, and I won't give away anything here.

The film shows with insight what different path choices do to people over time. It's just that the protagonist fails to take this perspective into account. He longs to return to something that no longer exists.

The film is slow and lingering. Beautifully photographed. Excellent acting performances from all the cast. I understand very well that this was Italy's Oscar candidate the year it came out.

Watch it because you want to see Naples through the eyes and feelings of the main character. Watch it because it's something different from 90 percent of what goes on in theaters and is streamed. Here are real emotions, hope, longing and sadness.

It's a really beautiful movie, especially the visuals. You don't see the typical Napoli, the one from the post cards or the tourism agencies. Instead you see the real one, the poor families, the mafia, the struggle, and most importantly, the desire of the people to survive. It felt so real, I never lived what the characters went through but at some moments, it really felt like the things on screen had happened to me before. The writing is also really good, the way the elements are brought is not heavy, and even if we don't have all the cards to understand at the beginning, we don't feel left out. Things we see at the beginning of the movie make sense when they happen, and even more sense once we get the full picture. It was also refreshing to see bits of Arabic culture, instead of having a really cliché view of it. I loved watching it, but i think if i had to watch it on my own, instead that at the movie theater, I wouldn't have been 100% focused on it and I guess I would have been bored at some point. Despite that, I still recommend it.

Beautiful film, intense characters. I was in la Sanita recently and actually spent time at the church of Don Luigi in the film and heard all about the Catholic local church movement rehabilitating the catacombs and the area, and the youth reclaming their neighbourhood. Naples has a soul and Nostalgia portrays that well. Loved that the film did not sugarcoat the city, and kept grit and all... the filming conveys a true to life filter. The real Naples still reeks of its history of violence and behind the Italian cliche romance, a lot of people have lived in fear. Beautiful movie and flowing acting. Loved the Oreste character portrayal. Nice fusion of Arabic culture as well.