Andrei Tarkovsky was a Russian film maker primarily working in the 1970s and 80s, widely considered one of the greatest film directors in cinematic history. Viewing his films is an immersive experience inviting an intuitive understanding of these metaphysical and prophetic films.
“There are no great masters left” (That’s the real evil of our time) the hearts path is covered in shadow “ . These words are some of the opening lines of Domenico’s speech atop the statue of Marcus Aurelius on the Capitoline Hill in Rome in the film “Nostalgia” by Andrei Tarkovsky. After delivering the speech Domenico sets alight to himself in an act of self immolation. It is of course no accident that the action takes place on the statue of Marcus Aurelius, the stoic Roman philosopher/ Emperor, ( known today for his book “Meditations”) whose reign itself marked the end of the golden era. His son, Commodus succeeded him, ignored the senate and all advice to become the worst ruler in Roman history, ultimately he was assassinated and the empire plunged into civil war,
The Campidoglio in Rome was the ancient seat of power and also a place where sacrifices were regularly carried out. Domenico sacrifices himself in an ambiguous act of purification by fire ostensibly for his ideas of a world gone astray. This ultimately futile act is continued in the film by the character Andrei who in his last act of life carries the candle and it’s’ flame given to him by Domenico across a dried out pool, the sacrifice is thus completed and compensated for. The film speaks through its’ exiled characters of a paradise lost, of childhood and a moral innocence, of a humanity that has lost its way through materialism and loss of faith.
