The Eight Mountains

“Chlotrudis members loved THE BROKEN CIRCLE BREAKDOWN, but I was somewhat lukewarm on that film, and given the applause and reviews I have glanced at for this overlong film I will be in the minority in my opinion. While visually stunning, this adaptation includes so many things I don’t like about a story. Characters make decisions more to keep a story or a point moving forward than anything that seem like reality. The mountain man bromance that exists between Bruno and Pietro is hard to take, and doesn’t really seem to earn its importance. Despite the nearly two and a half hour running time, the story doesn’t seem nearly fleshed out enough; especially with the under-developed supporting characters lending nothing to support the leads. Ultimately, it was one of those experiences that found me getting increasingly frustrated that the movie wouldn’t just end. 1 1/2 cats“

Chris says: “Pietro and Bruno befriend each other as boys in an isolated region of the Italian Alps. For Pietro and his family, it’s a rustic summer vacation spot, a getaway from Turin; for Bruno, it’s the only home he knows. The boys become close but when Pietro’s family attempts (and fails) to provide Bruno with loftier opportunities, they grow apart. Years later, as adults, they meet again following a death, reconnecting over the construction of a home in the mountains. Over time, though, it’s increasingly apparent that the two men are on alternate paths. Their class differences and contrasting approaches to overcoming them inevitably leads towards fractures in their relationship.

“This Cannes Jury Prize winner, adapted from a novel and co-directed by the filmmaker of Chlotrudis Buried Treasure awardee THE BROKEN CIRCLE BREAKDOWN benefits greatly from its natural settings, breathtaking cinematography, evocative sound design and as the adult Pietro, MARTIN EDEN star Luca Marinelli (unrecognizable until he shaves off his beard.) Strip all of this away, however, and you’re left with a standard coming-of-age parable. As the adult Bruno, Alessandro Borghi’s performance is far less dynamic than Marinelli’s and the many bluesy rock songs on its soundtrack by Daniel Norgren blur together before long. Still, some of its set pieces are inspired—the nail-biting mountain hike with the boys and Pietro’s father, the change-of-pace Nepal sequences, the sinister splendor of the Alps in the dead of winter. THE EIGHT MOUNTAINS is ostensibly about a friendship but its gradually slanted focus on Pietro’s trajectory rather than Bruno’s is what resonates in the end. 3.5 cats