Nostos: The Return

Director: Franco Piavoli

1989 / 85min / DCP

Rather than weighing the merits of one translation of The Odyssey against those of another, Piavoli dispenses with language—or, at least, readily comprehensible language—altogether, giving us an interpretation of the Homeric epic that is first and foremost a sensual, audiovisual experience, what dialogue there is spoken in a hotchpotch of ancient Thessalonian Greek, Sanskrit, and Latin. Free of the anxiety of influence, Piavoli—in his first foray into fiction filmmaking in a career that stretches back to the 1950s—transforms his source into a lyric memory piece, difficult to describe, impossible to forget, and at times positively overwhelming in its beauty.

Distributor: Istituto Luce Cinecittà

The film was restored in 2K by Cineteca Milano in 2017 from a 35mm positive print. The restoration was carried out under the supervision of Franco Piavoli.

Part of Classical Cinema