A Platonic Bromance: Emotional Depth in The Eight Mountains

Release Date：Apr/28/2023

Genre：Drama

Director：Felix van Groeningen、Charlotte Vandermeersch

Cast：Lupo Barbiero、Cristiano Sassella、Elena Lietti、Chiara Jorrioz、Filippo Timi

Viola's Rating：8.4

City people aspire to be surrounded by nature; while mountaineers dream about leaving for the hustles and opportunities. Yet the most and truly important thing is to find out where you belong. Italian drama feature film The Eight Mountains, which won the Jury Prize at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, depicts a platonic bromance on a breathtakingly beautiful mountain.

Adapted from the novel of the same name, the story of the film is mainly about an epic journey of friendship and self-discovery set in the captivating Italian Alps, following over four decades the complex and profound relationship between Bruno and Pietro.

Childhood friendship is the most precious and pure of all time, and true friends won’t abandon you even if you haven’t contacted each other for several years. Pietro, the city boy, bonds friendship with Bruno who lives in the mountain. Everything goes well until Pietro’s parents want to provide Bruno education, but his father turns down this proposal. After a decade of separation, when Bruno and Pietro meet again, they’re still the person who understands the other person the best in the world.

Although education is not one of the themes of The Eight Mountains, it still plays a critical role in the flick. With education, there’re more opportunities. It was Pietro’s tutor mom who recognizes Bruno’s intelligence and proposes to take him back to the city. When Pietro encounters a special girl in Nepal, who does a similar job to his mother, he knows where he belongs.

Only city people would call forests, mountains, rivers and valleys “nature” and give them names. To Bruno and other mountaineers, the mountains and the “nature” are where they belong. It’s not a getaway, but the home they depend on, and maybe that’s the reason why when Pietro’s father takes the kids to the glacier for the very first time, it is Bruno who’s able to meet the standard because the mountain has never harmed him.

The relationship between Bruno and Pietro’s father is not the same as, but somehow resembles The Kite Runner, in which the protagonist’s best friend is actually a son of his own father. Although Bruno and Pietro aren’t biologically related, Pietro’s going back to the mountain is also a reconnection to his father and redemption for leaving and misunderstanding.

The Eight Mountains not only describes the bromance between Bruno and Pietro, but also presents ethereal views of the mountains. Aside from the emotive, meaningful and touching story between characters, it’s also a poetic motion picture that moviegoers can enjoy visually.

Picture Credit: IMDb