The Eight Mountains

"This film spoke to me on so many levels. The cinematography is gorgeous, of course, but the narrative itself felt so personal and heartfelt. I had a childhood very similar to Pietro’s, and many of the childhood scenes closely echoed childhood memories. I love the book that inspired this film - and it is the most beautiful, faithful adaptation one could have wished for. The themes of difficult, yet loving father-child relationships, deep, wordless friendships, grief processing and a passionate love for mountains are rendered in all their beauty and complexity. I had a hard time accessing a copy of it, and then hesitated to watch it because it hit a little to close to home, plot-wise. But I am glad I finally sat down in front of it — it will definitely be one of my favourite and most emotional watches of the year. There’s just… something about Pietro and Bruno’s relationship - at the border between fusional friendship and queer love, which really speaks to me. It could really go either way - I love it as a celebration of deeply rooted male friendship, but I could also read it as inchoate queer love, and the blurring of those lines between love, caring, and understanding. A definite rec."