film roundup

The Eight Mountains (Dirs. Felix van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch). Starring: Luca Marinelli, Alessandro Borghi, Elena Lietti. A decades-spanning friendship between two Italian men, one very city, the other quite country, forms the basis for this gently tragic drama cowritten and co-directed by Felix van Groeningen (Beautiful Boy) and Charlotte Vandermeersch. Pietro and Bruno, played mostly by Luca Marinelli and Alessandro Borghi from their thirties onward, have known each other since they were boys. Their youthful friendship ceased until the death of Pietro’s father, Giovanni, which unites the men in a project to finish a mountain retreat that Giovanni hoped to build. The lush vistas of the Italian alps, and a few other far-flung lo- cales, provide a stunning backdrop to the ebb and flow of the relationship between the two protagonists, though it often feels like the film is straining for a subtlety that you wish would emerge more naturally.

[N/R] HHH

One Fine Morning (Dir. Mia Hansen-Løve). Starring: Léa Seydoux, Pascal Greggory, Melvil Poupaud. Léa Seydoux is exceptional in writerdirector Mia Hansen-Løve’s latest as Sandra Kienzler, a young French woman who has an affair with her married friend Clément (Melvil Poupaud) while overseeing the care of her neurodegenerative father Georg (Pascal Greggory). Those familiar with Hansen-Løve’s serene approach to drama will recognize many of her touchstones—subtle narrative ellipses, monumental choices made in the quietest of ways.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 24