"... The final sequence of Nostalghia is one of the most captivating ever put on film. The viewer becomes completely swept away by Tarkovsky's world where the elements reign supreme—fire and water are everywhere. The atmosphere Tarkovsky creates is one of constantly dripping water, unsettling mists, and dew seeping through the eternally damp walls. Coupled with these memorable visuals is a remarkable highlighting of sounds (a job admirably performed by Remo Ugolinelli) such as the echoing drip of water or the swirling of the drafts."
— Cinebooks Database

"... Eine mit vollendeter Meisterschaft inszenierte Traumreise durch die Bruchstellen der abendländischen Kultur - mit suggestiven Bildvisionen, die von einem dicht geflochtenen Netz religiöser und literarischer Querverweise kommentiert werden."
— Lexikon des Internationalen Films

"... Ich wollte hier von der russischen Form von Nostalgie erzählen, von jenem für unsere Nation so spezifischen Seelenzustand, der in uns Russen aufkommt, wenn wir weit weg von der Heimat sind. Hierin sah ich, wenn man so will, meine patriotische Pflicht, so wie ich diese selbst empfinde und begreife. Ich wollte von der schicksalhaften Bindung der Russen an ihre nationalen Wurzeln, ihre Vergangenheit und Kultur, an Heimaterde, Freunde und Verwandte sprechen, über jene tiefe Bindung, von der sie ihr ganzes Leben lang nicht loskommen, gleich, wohin sie das Schicksal verschlägt. ... In Italien drehte ich einen Film, der zutiefst russisch ist."
— Andrej Tarkovskij: Die versiegelte Zeit. Frankfurt/M. 1988, S. 206

"... Andrei used to tell me that cinema uses time like a narrative element, while the photography normally remains constant for the duration of a sequence. It is precisely time that the ‘dynamic photography’ exploits to render a different consistency to the film. An example is the atmospheric conditions within nature: if during a cloudy day the sun comes out at a certain moment this will modify the condition of the light. In an interior space if someone enters a dark room and turns on the light this will change the condition of the light. However, this is all tied to precise actions. This discourse is amplified in Nostalghia, where in addition to variations in natural light were added variations which correspond to emotional motivation rather than any sense of logic.
- Were there any particular technical corrections that were adopted in function of these emotionally motivated changes?
- During the shooting phase we used a transport mechanism posted in front the lights -a series of metal sheets hung on a frame- to vary the light intensity without modifying the color temperature. While in the post production there was a much more marked technical intervention because the film was printed with a system called ENR at Roma Technicolor laboratory. With the ENR process I was able to desaturate the colors to the maximum and augment the contrast in a scene, even if this restricted me to print on color positive even the sequences shot in black and white.
- During some scenes you also used different shooting speeds, sometimes barely noticeable.
- During the filming Andrei would ask for certain precise frames a slight increase in shooting speed, hardly noticeable, and therefore far from the slow motion effect we have been accustomed to seeing in many films. This was solely to have greater suspension, therefore always in the service of a certain atmosphere in the film. Technically this variation in speed consisted of a slight adjustment of the diaphragm. Andrei was very precise and exacting with his choice of photography, and not only myself but the whole troupe was so impressed by his personality that we complied voluntarily with his every request. ..."
— Interview with DoP Guiseppe Lanci: The Shape of Light

Nostalghia.com - An Andrei Tarkovsky Information Site

Nostalghia.cz

If it were not for the supplements, the old FoxLorber DVD presents a far more superior transfer, inspite of the letterboxing. But this is just to say that a definitive release is still to come.