To give The Eight Mountains the most basic summary, it's the story of two friends through the years. One is Pietro (played in youth by Lupo Barbiero, as a teen by Andrea Palma, and in adulthood by Luca Marinelli). The other is Bruno (played in youth by Cristiano Sassella, as a teen by Francesco Palombelli, and in adulthood by Alessandro Borghi). The two are shown growing closer and further apart, depending on how life is going for them, but they certainly form a strong enough bond in childhood to make their lives feel inextricably linked.
I wanted to make sure that I got that out of the way, mainly because I didn't necessarily view the film with a critical eye. I viewed it as if looking through a kaleidoscope at an old photo of me and a childhood friend. So much of this will resonate with people who have had at least one close friendship like this, and I hope that most of us are lucky enough to experience that.
Based on a book of the same name by Paolo Cognetti, this is co-written and co-directed by Felix van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch, a married film-making duo who seem to have many interesting features worth exploring (with the former having directed more while the latter has spent much more time in front of the camera). The two seem to have a real understanding of the mood that they want to capture, hugely helped by leads who can say so much while simultaneously keeping a reservoir of emotion and thoughts just below the surface.
Every incarnation of Pietro and Bruno feels natural and authentic, which is why I went out of my way to name all of the main players bringing them to life. While it took me a while to warm to the pace and tone of the movie, I could invest in the leads from the very first scene. Elisabetta Mazzullo and Surakshya Panta also play a couple of important characters, and both do good work, while Filippo Timi is used sparingly to create what feels like the linchpin for the whole thing.
That's about all I can say though. The film worked on me so effectively that I couldn't rate individual aspects as I usually might. The Eight Mountains is all about friends who become family, and what that means as you start going through tougher patches in life that create division, distance, and different priorities. Kids become firm friends and never want to be away from one another. As they grow up it soon becomes clear whether or not they will stay compatible, which means keeping that friendship by either staying close or ensuring that you give one another space. And then you start to appreciate a variety once you're an adult. The person who has your confidence, the one who can help you through tough times, or even just join you for a drink or two in any nearby drinking establishment. That's the same person you may not see for years at a time, but when you do finally reunite it's as if you haven't been apart. The same old conversations flow easily enough, and there's an additional bonus of being able to cover the new ground that has appeared in the intervening time.
I'm being quite upbeat here, and choosing to selectively pick my own highlights from this, but it should be noted that this isn't all sunshine and rainbows. There's some pain and darkness here, even if it's mainly discussed and described by characters presenting a brave face to those who care for them most, but it's a testament to the handling of the material, and the performances, that the end result is so bittersweet in a way that keeps the amount of sweet outweighing the amount of bitter.
8/10
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