Director Jan Zabeil's 2017 adventure drama "Three Peaks" won acclaim on the film festival circuit and it now comes to DVD in America via Kino Lorber. To say the film isn't for everyone is an understatement but patience is a virtue here as the glacially-paced story finally kicks into gear an hour into its 89 minute running-time. Until then, the movie plays out so slowly that it makes Peter Weir's "Picnic at Hanging Rock" resemble "The Fast and the Furious". The film follows the emotional ups and downs of Lea (Berenice Bejo), a young French mother who is divorced from her unseen American husband. She and her German boyfriend of two years, Aaron (Alexander Fehling) are raising her young son Tristan (Arian Montgomery) and there are concerns about the nature of Aaron's relationship with him. The movie opens with the three main characters arriving for a holiday stay at a small, remote cottage located at the base of the spectacular, snow-capped Dolomite mountains in Italy. Although Lea and Aaron are clearly in a loving relationship, they are haunted by how Tristan regards Aaron, who goes above-and-beyond to ingratiate himself to the boy. However, Lea worries that Aaron is assuming the role of father to Tristan at the expensive of his relationship with his real father. (Since we never see the father, we have to rely on Lea's assurance to Aaron that he is "a good man". ) Tristan himself sees confused. At times he calls Aaron "daddy" and at other times he seems to resent his presence, a feeling echoed when Aaron confesses to Lea that he sometimes feels the same way about Tristan. Director Zabeil is in no hurry to get to any aspect of the film that resonates with any particular sense of drama. Consequently, we observe some occasional bickering and lovemaking between the couple even as we try to empathize with their dilemma. The main problem with the script (written by Zabeil) is that the character of Tristan is inconsistent. At times, he idolizes Aaron as a father figure but inexplicably at other times, he pulls cruel minor pranks on him and demands that Aaron promise to "leave my mommy alone", which would imply he has witnessed some form of abuse when, in fact, he hasn't. The bottom line is that the kid isn't particularly likable and we end up sympathizing with Aaron, who still feels like "the other man", haunted by the spiritual presence of the boy's father.The confusing presentation of the relationships isn't helped by the fact that, for some reason, the main characters alternate speaking in German, French and English.
The movie transitions to the adventure genre when Aaron takes Tristan on a hike in the mountains. Tristan disobeys Aaron and wanders away, immediately getting lost. In his desperate search for the boy, Aaron becomes seriously injured and largely incapacitated. Director Zabeil is given the opportunity to ratchet up the suspense to a full boil but opts instead to keep things merely simmering. There are some unnerving scenes but Zabeil can't quite close the deal by making them dramatic enough to keep the viewer on edge. The film ends on an intriguing note that some might find a bit too ambiguous. The small cast is uniformly excellent (the only other characters are nameless members of a rescue team) and Axel Schneppat's cinematography is suitably stunning. The movie is never boring but it also doesn't pay off in ways we anticipate.
The Kino Lorber DVD presents an excellent transfer. Bonus features are the original trailer and trailers for other art house feature films available from the company.