Nostalgia

Acclaimed writer/director Mario Martone’s absorbing and suspenseful drama follows a man with a troubled past who returns to his native Neapolitan neighbourhood after 40 years of absence. Rione Sanità, Naples. Present day. 50-something businessman Felice Lasco (Pierfrancesco Favino) returns from the Middle East to visit his ageing mother (Aurora Quattrocchi). Wandering the streets, Felice rediscovers the city, its codes and rituals, and memories that still haunt him. Despite local priest Don Luigi’s (Francesco Di Leva) advice to leave his past behind, he seeks out his boyhood friend Oreste (Tommaso Ragno), now a feared local mobster... Beautifully shot and superbly realised, Nostalgia gradually and subtly reveals itself as the parable of a man and a city teetering between redemption and damnation. Vibrantly capturing the pulsing heart of southern Italy’s biggest city, it’s a deeply felt exploration of the complexity of homecoming. (Palace Films)