Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		5.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

The Eight Mountains Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman May 28, 2024

Are you lucky enough to have had a friend you've known since childhood? If so, that kind of long lasting, if at least occasionally fraught, relationship may encourage your patience as the probably overlong but still rather affecting The Eight Mountains tells its story of Pietro (played Lupo Barbiero, Andrea Palma and then Luca Marinelli at various ages) and Bruno (similarly played by Francesco Palombelli, Cristiano Sassella and Alessandro Borghi), who meet as little boys in an isolated village in the Italian Alps, and whose lives continue to intersect, at least intermittently, as they grow to adulthood. Rather interestingly The Eight Mountains was culled from a celebrated tome by first time Italian novelist Paolo Cognetti who (and here's the interesting part) is himself a filmmaker known mostly for New York City set documentaries. Cognetti didn't adapt or helm this feature however, and instead Felix van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch teamed to handle both of those jobs. The result is an emotionally resonant and visually sumptuous film, but attempts to weave Buddhist concepts into a tale that is really more about what generally might be termed "the road not taken" (vis a vis both life choices and how to interact with various people, including relatives) may not really organically aid the story in any meaningful way.

The first part of this film reminded me quite a bit of My Father's Glory and maybe even slightly more of My Mother's Castle, at least insofar as it documents the roaming outdoor adventures of a little boy (in this case, two little boys) in a gorgeous European country setting. The Italian Alps are a bit more hardscrabble looking than Marcel Pagnol's France, and that ruggedness is perhaps more personified by "native" Bruno than by transplant Pietro, something the continues to inform the film, if subliminally at times. A brief interlude during the boys' teen years documents them perhaps growing apart, but then the bulk of the story finds them as 20 somethings with vastly different goals and "lifestyle" choices.

It's here that The Eight Mountains becomes more convoluted, as it turns out Pietro's relationship with his father had been wobbly for years before his father's death, and that after that death Pietro becomes more aware that his father had more or less adopted Bruno as a pseudo- son. The two "set up shop" in a high mountain setting in order to finish a cabin Pietro's father had wanted to build. Kind of unexpectedly, that choice ends up defining how the two choose to either "move on" or not, and while the film spends a good deal of time (arguably too much time) with sidebar characters like wives and/or girlfriends, I'd argue that the underlying story here is really about Pietro's feelings of abandonment and coming to terms with Bruno's relationships with Pietro's family.

The potentially high falutin' "eight mountains" element frankly seems shoehorned into the proceedings, and even Pietro's late narration after some devastating news may not seem particularly insightful. Despite these potential narrative stumbles, The Eight Mountains is still rather ravishing a lot of the time, and its depiction of friendship in all of its glory and tribulations finds several small truths along the way, if no really overarching significance.

The Eight Mountains Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Eight Mountains is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion's Sideshow imprint with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.33:1. Captured with Arri Alexas at source resolutions of 4.5K (according the IMDb), I wouldn't be surprised if this had a 4K DI, though I haven't been able to track down any authoritative information in that regard. One way or the other, while it's perhaps surprising that such a scenic film is presented in (more or less) Academy Ratio, the gorgeous alpine vistas give this film an almost jaw dropping grandeur at times. Detail levels on everything from mountainside fields and stone outcroppings to textures on the thick fabrics some of the native wear in inclement weather are typically excellent. There are some very low light scenes that play to candlelight or the like in some shadowy interior settings where shadow detail may not be completely optimal.

The Eight Mountains Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Eight Mountains features a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track in the original Italian. The glut of outdoor material provides some really well done ambient environmental effects which are immersive and realistic sounding. The film has a rather unusual score by Swedish singer songwriter Daniel Nordgren, and I have to say I'm not completely sure the songs utilized help establish mood, but they sound fine. Dialogue (including Pietro's narration) is presented cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

The Eight Mountains Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Meet the Filmmakers (HD; 20:05) has good interviews with Felix van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch, as well as some appealing behind the scenes footage.


• The Making of The Eight Mountains (HD; 15:21) has some amazing footage of what shooting on a mountainside was like. This one is in 1.78:1 and shows what a widescreen offering might have looked like. Subtitled in English.


• Trailer (HD; 2:00)

An insert leaflet contains some writing by Michael Joshua Rowin.

The Eight Mountains Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Without joking too horribly, the sight of two guys on the side of a mountain may lead to wonder when one of them is suddenly going to burst out with "I wish I knew how to quit you!", but rather ironically in that regard The Eight Mountains might actually be at least partially about one character "quitting" the other. I'm not sure all of the narrative strands here finally unite, and some of the philosophical blather struck me as just that, but the film still has undeniable emotional pull and some absolutely gobsmacking scenery. Technical merits are solid and the supplements very enjoyable. Recommended.