Vitus

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...

We just saw Vitus at the San Francisco International Film Festival, with an audience that packed in the theatre and gave the director a round of applause at the end. In the context of Fredi Murer's career, this film address themes that he explored in earlier works such as Alpine Fire and Full Moon, but here with a lighter, less moralistic tone. Murer clearly has a great rapport with children and brings out a credible performance from the nonprofessional actor (but real-life musical virtuoso) Teo Gheorghiu -- especially considering that so much of the film rests on this young pianist's shoulders. Bruno Ganz, whom English-speaking audiences rarely get to hear performing in his own Zurich dialect, unsentimentally embodies the traditional Swiss values that are disappearing under a wave of American-style materialism and yuppie anxiety.

Parents, take your young geniuses to see this film, and take its humane message of love, self-recognition and forgiveness to heart.

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.

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.

VITUS is a film from Switzerland that has garnered many accolades and nearly won an Oscar. And yes, it is that good! Written by Fredi M. Murer, Peter Luisi, and Lukas B. Suter and directed by Murer, VITUS explores the life of a child genius, a lad who from the age of five is obviously gifted in that he can play Bach et al after only a few months lessons and is able to read books and understand concepts that make his stance in a regular kindergarten class untenable. But the film is less about the gifts of a child prodigy than it is a story of how a genius child longs for a normal childhood. It is in the telling of the story that the audience is privileged to discover the joys and trials in a child's view of being extraordinary.

Vitus - played at age 6 by Fabrizio Borsani and at age 12 by Teo Gheorghiu - is referred to as a little Mozart by his parents Helen (Julika Jenkins) and Leo (Urs Jucker), and by the family friends who are amazed at Vitus' gift as a pianist. But as is often the case with gifted children, they are overprotected, not allowed to engage in the normal activities of being a kid. Vitus finds consolation in his grandfather (a brilliant Bruno Ganz) whose creative energy includes Vitus in his longing to fly and to build complex machines. While Vitus continues his love for the piano he also takes risks with his beloved grandfather. Vitus' intelligence serves him well in analyzing the complexities of his father's job and his grandfather's role in that position, and it is his genius that leads the family in a direction no one thought possible. And of course with every story of an extraordinary young lad adapting to a puzzling world, there is also a love interest: Isabel at age 12 (Kristina Lykowa) is his fun-loving babysitter and at age 19 (Tamara Scarpellini) is the queen of his inexperienced heart and fill a void in Vitus' life that otherwise would be empty. Fitting all of these subplots together is made magical by Vitus' constant playing of classical music - a feat the young actor is capable of performing on his own! The cast of this film is not only gifted but is also endearing. Bruno Ganz is a brilliant actor and he is matched by both of the young actors who play Vitus. The story is tender but avoids bathos. It simply is an uplifting, inspiring, entertaining film. A Must See! Grady Harp