The Eight Mountains

The Eight Mountains is Felix van Groeningen and his wife Charlotte Vandermeersch's latest film. Van Groegingen directed 'Beautiful Boy' and the brilliant 'Broken Circle Breakdown'. 'The Eight Mountains' though is a different beast. Based on the book of the same name written by Paolo Cognetti it charts 25 years or so in the lives of two best friends who meet in a tiny village in the Italian alps. The two friends Pietro and Bruno seem inseparable as they more or less live a mountain life but they are different. Pietro is the lead character and via his narration we see themes of self doubt, self discovery, regret, belonging. The cinematography is obviously therefore brilliant with vast sweeping mountainous landscapes and lakes.
But what makes this film stand out is the writing. The dialogue and the moments of deep emotion are truly brilliant. The film itself explores family, friendships in small communities but asks the viewer to think about their life choices......who did life correctly? Who made the right choices? Who won at life? Who conquered it? Along the way are relationship dramas and some tragedy but by the end I was left philosophising over a magnificently emotional picture.

'The Eight Mountains' is one of the most profoundly beautiful and moving films I have seen in recent years. Stunning film.
10/10

it's tough to think about this movie in any other language that isn't Italian. Some really small details would lose a lot of value when dubbed or translated i believe, thank God i was able to experience it in Italian.

what a beautiful beautiful story. precious friendship, makes you crave for a similar one in your life.
also shows such a beautiful part of the mountain life. I wouldn't last a day without internet, without all the commodities I'm used to, and yet this movie made me crave the pure essential life up there.

true gem of a movie

Set in the one of the most beautiful places in the world, The Eight Mountains is a wonderful existential contemplation on the paths in life we take

It comes across as a bit too manipulative at times (man, that ending), but it still manages to make the most of simple, relatable situations to explore the weight of individual choices and values in life. As I’m also coming from a family of mountain and hiking enthusiasts, it was extremely easy to empathize with the characters.

On friendship and on the mountain.

The novel was a bit rushed and empty. The film tries to overcome the novel limitations by diluting the plot in over two hours. This move improves the quality of the original plot, but I still did not find the overall result really memorable. Nice sceneries, but perhaps a bit repetitive.