Vitus

Sure this is a movie that everyone loves to hate. A foreign movie about a boy who is gifted on the piano. His parents notice this and immediately set about to make sure the boy is properly educated and makes sure he plays the piano. The boy just wants, you know, to be a boy. No one seems to understand except his grandfather. So you know, they have a SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP. Sure, this is a predictable and syrupy feel-good fluff, but damned if I didn't enjoy it. I LOVED this movie. This is the type of movie that you could say the sum is equal to it's parts, as all the cast and the script combine together to make this as enjoyable as possible. A special nod goes out to the 3 kids playing Vitus, who are all quite great, and to Bruno Ganz who is quite marvelous here too. Again, this wont make any awards list, or be even nominated for anything (it's just a little TOO predictable), but this sure would make audiences cheer.

Vitus portrays a kid who struggles to choose between his parents dreams and his own. Anyone with over ambitious parents can relate! The acting is incredible. Seeing the grandfather in the role was excellent- I first saw him as Hitler in the German film Untergang (Downfall) about Hitler's last days. He does a marvelous job in both films. Anyone interested in foreign film should see it- it's stirred up a bit of chaos for directly portraying Hitler and evoking sympathy for him.

In Vitus, the young boy who plays Vitus at age twelve is an actual Piano prodigy. There was no need to fake piano playing- he really is playing in the film. The person who elected to do this was genius, they added and incredible amount of credibility to the entire feature. The movie is excellent and comes to the US soon. A US remake is already being discussed- a testament to the excellence of the film.

What a great movie to come out of Switzerland, though for those who have followed Fredy Murer's career this shouldn't come as much of a surprise. His humanity truly transcends geographical and language boundaries and what he has to tell us about growing up, and raising children, in a funny, heartwarming but never condescending story that sounds true every step of the way, is simply extraordinary.

The casting is outstanding, too, from the two young real-life pianists to another subtly powerful performance by Bruno Ganz. Sony Classics will release it this summer (I just saw it at the Tribeca Film Festival) - go and see it if you missed it. Hard to believe that they apparently had a hard time raising money for this, but now it seems to have all been worth it. It was also the country's official Acadamy Award entry for best foreign language film (though it didn't win).

Got a chance to talk to the director after the screening, such a nice man, too...

I saw this movie at the Palm Springs Film Festival and absolutely loved it. I didn't want it to end. It just got better and better. I almost didn't go to see it because there were so many other choices. I thought it was just going to be about a child prodigy, but it was about so much more. There were many stories besides the many one, and every one of them was unique and kept my interest. Screenwriters could learn a lot by analyzing the elements that composed this film and then writing more good ones like this. The acting was superb. I thought that the young piano player stole the show. He was perfectly cast. However, the real life piano player who played the character was also excellent in his role. It was so nice to have a complex plot without being in the middle of a story with family members screaming at each other. They may have had different plans for the piano player's life, but at heart they all loved each other.

Saw a screening tonight at Tribeca Film Festival - good news for American Audiences: Sony Classics will be distributing Vitus here beginning June 07.

Director Muller says Vitus grew out of his own childhood fantasy: to be a genius. Other fantasies also play out in this completely guileless, charming story.

(Teo Gheorghiu is, in fact, a brilliant pianist. Now 14, he played in person before the screening and proved that, in fact, all the musicianship on display is real. The 5-yr old Vitus also plays.) Happier, and funnier, than Little Man Tate. IMO, what is thoroughly unpredictable about this film is the absence of nasty, bitter adults and children you'd have likely found in an American version ... except for the "boss's son" character, who is a cliché, but not one you have to look at for long.

Vitus demonstrates that fantasy can be a personal, human pastime, not just a cartoon or computer-generated effect. Terrific little film.