Gabriel and the Mountain

GABRIEL AND THE MOUNTAIN is based on the true story of Brazilian student Gabriel Buchmann played by Joao Zappa) who takes a year off to hike in Africa before continuing his education in 2009. After a brief prologue, we pick up Gabriel's trip about two months before it's scheduled end (the movie is broken down into four chapters: Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia and Malawi).

In Tanzania, Gabriel greets his Brazilian girlfriend Cristina (Caroline Abras) and she remains for the Zambian portion of the story. While Cristina's presence give the movie some background into Gabriel, it conversely, also impedes the progress of it. The Kenya and Malawi chapters are interesting as they depict Gabriel exploring alone and having to make friends with the locals he meets along the way. Boyfriend and girlfriend stories are commonplace. Further, the couple end up visiting tourist sites - again, a diminution of the tale's exploration theme. Abras is good in the role, but it smacks of the commercial needs of the filmmakers over their artistic ones.

What's most interesting about the movie is Director Fellipe Barbosa's decision to use the actual people Gabriel met along the way to play themselves, with a couple of exceptions*. While not professional performers, it gives the movie a verisimilitude above and beyond the norm. Barbosa also has the people do voice-overs of their present day feelings for Gabriel, a decade later. It's an interesting device, even if takes some getting used to (one is reminded of Terence Malick's recent work).

The Voice-overs and the Chapters are intended to give the movie a structure, but, it isn't fully satisfying. We never get a true sense of the full year-long journey. Gabriel himself is depicted as a prickly, selfish sort. One gives the Barbosa credit for not making him into a saint, but, it can be difficult to fully identify with him, or his adventure. Ultimately, one feels a bit frustrated - much like Gabriel's trip itself.

* The main exception is Cristina, his girlfriend. Understandable, considering the circumstances.

Young sustainable traveler student João Pedro Zappa works his way through interchangeably scenic African countries, with the aid of interchangeably affable African locals. The fact that the lead is a plausibly non movie star type is an asset and, when he links up with his equally unglamorous lady friend and they bicker about missing out on the bunji jumps between romantic interludes, attention picks up for a while.

Some added impact from the photos of the real traveler who lost his life on this excursion (they tell you that in the opening scene) but this one is a very long 127 minutes.

I didn't like INTO THE WILD enough to want to revisit it.

28th STOCKHOLM INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL. DAY 3, NOV 10th 2017. "Gabriel and the Mountain" (Gabriel e a montanha) (2017) had its Swedish premiere at the festival on Nov 9th.

‪Backpacking captured. If Lonely Planet was a film, it would be "Gabriel and the Mountain" (2017) by Brazilian director Fellipe Barbosa.‬

‪Like travelling. For real. You're there with Gabriel, walking beside him on the slopes of Kilimanjaro, Tanzania or trekking to reach the Sapitwa peak, talking with same people, kissing his girlfriend, jumping from the cliff by a waterfall, drinking wine on a beach in Zanzibar.‬

Main character, Gabriel, travels through Africa. The opening sequence of the film is beautiful, stunning. The film starts with the discovery of his body; therefore his death, the fact that you know he will die on an African mountain looms over the rest of the film. Gabriel is played well, the viewer gets to know all sides of his personality. He tries to avoid 'tourist traps' and travel as cheap and sustainable as possible, making contact and blending in with the locals. The visit of his girlfriend adds an interesting element to the film in my opinion, their relationship and (how her presence influences) his travels provide food for thought.

Authentic, a lot of the characters (seem to) play themselves, multiple languages are used and I believe it was shot in the original locations.

However, it felt very long for 127 minutes, some conversations and scenes are just tedious. I felt like there was too much dialogue at times, balance was lost here and there. But overall a very beautiful film which does a good job and capturing the essence of backpacking and the challenges a traveller faces.

Highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys films such as Into The Wild.

Many of the characters in this film were people that Gabriel met on his real life journey. Recreating a dramatic story might have led to a film that glorifies 'the victim' or that leads to a flat depictions of characters and events. But, not in this one. Gabriel is complex character who can be selfish and selfless, naive and expert, conventional and unpredictable. It is not another 'Into the Wild', first of all, because it is set in Africa and addresses cultural differences and economic inequality. Furthermore, Gabriel does not break his social ties. Sharing experiences is important to him.