A Mountain Thing

A brief Review and Commentary on, “A World Apart”
by Mountain Shadow Director, John Bennison

“To leave or to stay are the two poles of human history. The right to migrate corresponds to the right to stay.” - Anthropologist Vito Teti

In the snowy, remote mountains of the Abruzzi national park fifty miles east of Rome, you might think you could find a world away from left-wing/right-wing politics, debate over gender identity in schools, the pros and cons of welcoming alien refugees and immigrants, or even the urgent call to – in the words of a newly-arrived teacher from the world out there to his grade school students – “save the world before dinner.”

But, as Italian filmmaker, Riccardo Milani depicts in his film that tells the real-life story of one little mountain village, it’s really the same story wherever you go. It’s really just a matter of how you tell, or re-tell, that story; in order to arrive at a different ending to the particular version in which you find yourselves.

At one point in this particular story, one of two main characters observes, “You know what? We’ve never really decided what changes and what stays.” This pre-theatrical release film that Mountain Shadow has snagged for this month’s show has been dubbed a comic drama. You may find an amusing chuckle or two in some of the ironic turn of events. But the underlying message to be found in this film is no laughing matter.

The film was enthusiastically enjoyed by our audiences. jb