The Eight Mountains - Movie Review

Critics Score - 9 of 10

General Audience Score - 7 of 10

Each and every year there are plenty of foreign films released that end up being among my very favorite movies of the calendar year, incredible filmmakers from across the globe are constantly delivering some of our best cinema. Last year the Lukas Dhont film from Belgium, Close, and the Iranian film Holy Spider, both made my personal top ten list. The year before the Anders Thomas Jensen film Riders Of Justice from Denmark and in 2020 the Bosnian film Quo Vadis, Aida? were my second favorite films in their respective years. This year will undoubtedly be no exception, i.e. a beautiful new Italian film from directors Felix Van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch called The Eight Mountains is currently available to steam on the Criterion channel. For all the Discovery channel lovers out there, this film’s destination is as gorgeous as they come, although the film itself is slower paced and the almost two and a half hour runtime will try the patience of some general audiences. At it’s core, this is a sentimental film about a plutonic male friendship, akin to something like the A24 film, First Cow, albeit with different character motivations and relationship dynamics. While this foreign film that’s almost completely in spoken Italian won’t be as much of a general crowd pleaser as it will be for cinephiles and critics, there’s really a wonderful piece of cinema waiting for anybody willing to climb The Eight Mountains.

SYNOPSIS - This voyage into the heart of the Italian Alps begins with a shot of a mountainside and we hear a voice speaking, “I didn’t expect to find a friend like Bruno in my life.” The shot changes to two tall pine trees growing right next to each other, their branches intertwined in a way that almost looks like they’re embracing while the voice continues to tell us that in the summer of 1984, his parents rented a house in a mountain village where only one other little boy lived, as fate would have it. The Eight Mountains title opens white against black on the screen before giving us a beautiful shot of this small town nestled into the Italian hills and mountainsides. The camera soaks in the gorgeous landscapes as the stunning cinematography is capturing magnificent shots, one after the other, as we meet the mother Francesca (Elena Lietti) and son, young Pietro Guasti (Lupo Barbiero) as they come to rent a house. Soon Pietro encounters the other young lad, Bruno (Christiano Sassella), who comes over for breakfast the following morning. Soon the two boys do what any other twelve year olds do that don’t have the luxury tv or phone screens available, they go outside and explore. They’re climbing into old buildings, running through hillside pastures and trying to build a dam with sticks and rocks in a stream. But the summer ends and then Pietro must return home to the city where his father works and he goes to school and the boys part ways. The Guasti family frequents the village and the boys reunite semi-regularly as Pietro’s father Giovanni (Filippo Timi), takes a liking to the numerous mountains surrounding the small town and begins expeditions, climbing the many scenic peaks.

As the first act of the film winds down, the film jumps into the boy’s teen years where Pietro gets angry with his father, tells him he doesn’t want to be like him and there’s a bit of a falling out between the two. Another jump forward takes us into what we assume is the late 90’s, the young boys are now fully bearded men and reconnect when Pietro (Luca Marinelli) goes to the village after his father passes and he reunites with Bruno (Alessandro Borghi). We discover Pietro hasn’t spoken with his father in over a decade, and in his absence, Giovanni and Bruno have connected and worked together on some projects, but also spent time together trekking the peaks and mountains of the area. As a dying wish, Bruno made a promise to rebuild a decrepit old house way up in the mountains that Giovanni had purchased and left for his son. But as the house project gets underway, the two childhood friends reestablish their relationship and as the film moves into it’s second act, their friendship becomes not only the focal point of the film, but the house they construct over the course of the summer provides a recurring visual reminder and stabilizing symbol of that friendship. The Eight Mountains mainly focuses on Pietro’s side of the journey and of the pair’s friendship, we watch as he crosses paths with many reflective aspects of life such as childhood memories, finding oneself, the pursuit of love, as well as regret and loss.

Now don’t mistake me, this film won’t be for everyone. In some ways, it isn’t an outstanding feat of cinema, there’s no special effects, no incredible production or sound design work or various technical achievements. But it is outstanding in how it flourishes in the simplicity of certain aspects of the filmmaking that it makes full use of. Two examples are it’s screenwriting and cinematography. To start with the story, the screenplay weaves a methodically drawn out narrative that really picks up some momentum into the second act as it explores Pietro’s friendship and relationship with Bruno, as well as some of the other characters. While the film’s pacing does meander a bit while it tries to get going, by the conclusion, the dynamics of the main character’s relationships completely captivate, somewhat similar to how A River Runs Through It does the same with it’s central protagonist as he recounts his life’s experiences. The editing, while letting us linger with these prolonged shots of the mountain’s beauty, certainly could’ve been tightened up towards the beginning, but I felt that most of the film’s almost two and a half hour run was justified as the slower pacing fit well tonally with the film. As I mentioned several times now, the cinematography and visuals are, again, absolutely gorgeous. Some of the shot compositions of the mountains are striking, in particular, there’s a couple drone shots of Pietro crossing a ridge line with snow covered mountains behind him, they are absolutely breathtaking shots. And although the film utilizes all unknown actors, at least to those of us here in the United States, they are doing some exceptional work. The two lead actors, Luca Marinelli and Alessandro Borghi who soak up a majority of the screen time, are able to bring these characters with all their flaws and imperfections and their sometimes troubled relationship, to life. This film made the rounds at film festivals over the last year and a half, but it’s finally getting to be available for the general public to view, so make it a point to seek this film out if you want a beautiful trip to the Italian Alps without the airfare.

SUMMARY - Foreign films just don’t have the mainstream appeal that films in spoken English do, which is a shame because this is one of the best movies of whichever year you count it towards, either 2022 or 2023. If you live in the U.S and don’t have one, go get a free week trial to the Criterion Channel to watch this film because, like me, anybody that cares to venture The Eight Mountains might find exactly what they didn’t know they were looking for.