28/04/2023 - Though lacking in any real originality, Denis Imbert’s movie based upon explorer-writer Sylvain Tesson’s autobiography shows how nature has the power to heal deep wounds

The success of The Eight Mountains [+see also:
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The film is loosely based on the autobiographical book of the same name by the French writer with a passion for extreme experiences and solo travels, Sylvain Tesson, who previously toplined The Velvet Queen [+see also:
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In reality, this movie by Imbert – who’s now on his third feature-length directorial effort after a comedy, a children’s adventure film and a family TV series – which he co-wrote with Diastème, aspires to prove how direct, absolute, exclusive and impervious contact with nature can heal and soothe deep wounds, and “close negative chapters” in our lives, as stated in the film. And it succeeds in this, despite not coming up with anything new or especially ground-breaking, cinematographically speaking, and even manages to sidestep the picture-postcard stereotype of a welcoming, touristic France.

The protagonist isn’t particularly likeable, his Gascon-like behaviour eventually leading to an unimpressive fall from a window, which leaves him with broken bones and unsightly scars on his face: people look at him uncomfortably, which ultimately lends more humanity to this man who now suffers from epileptic seizures. As he crosses this rugged, inhospitable yet beautiful terrain (“ultra-ruralness”), accompanied at various points by friends (Jonathan Zaccaï), fellow errant souls (Dylan Robert) and his sister (Izïa Higelin), Pierre focuses on himself and writes phrases in his notebook which no editor with a sense for limits would accept (“A girlfriend who never disappoints: liberty”). In fact, as an anti-progressive ecological individualist and a conservative escapist, Tesson’s prose often feels self-satisfied (“Napoleon said that there are two types of man: those who command and those who obey. He forgot about men who escape. To escape is to command! To command destiny so that it no longer has a hold over you”). It’s a far cry away from the Waldensian forest-based simplicity of Sean Penn’s Into the Wild.

But Jean Dujardin’s Pierre is also open to casual, fleeting encounters which might offer him enrichment: a man in a town square, a young shepherdess in the mountains, and Yves, a real Aubrac countryman. And, in a stroke of genius on the director’s part, the film is nigh-on documentary-like, lending itself to reflections on modern-day issues such as the depopulation of small mountain towns and the lack of work in the countryside.

On the Wandering Path is produced by Radar Films in co-production with TF1 Studio, La Production Dujardin - JD Prod, Apollo Films, Echo Studio, France 3 Cinéma and Auvergne Rhône Alpes Cinéma. Newen Connect are managing international sales.

(Translated from Italian)