8 /10 1 Votes
100% Rotten Tomatoes Directed by Alain Gsponer Director Alain Gsponer | 7.5/10 IMDb 3.4/5 MyMovies Written by Petra Biondina Volpe Cinematography Matthias Fleischer | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Produced by Jakob ClaussenLukas HobiUlrike PutzReto Schärli Starring Bruno GanzAnuk SteffenKatharina SchüttlerQuirin AgrippiIsabelle OttmannAnna SchinzRebecca Indermaur Initial release 10 December 2015 (Germany) Languages German, Schwyzerdütsch, Afrikaans Awards German Film Award for Best Children's Film Cast Anuk Steffen, Bruno Ganz, Quirin Agrippi, Isabelle Ottmann, Katharina Schüttler Similar Heidi movies, Bruno Ganz movies Profiles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Heidi is a 2015 Swiss family film directed by Alain Gsponer, which is based on the novel of the same name by Johanna Spyri. It stars Anuk Steffen in the title role, alongside Bruno Ganz, Katharina Schüttler, Quirin Agrippi, Isabelle Ottmann and Anna Schinz. The film was also released in South Africa with an Afrikaans voice over audio track and has been dubbed for the English-speaking world.
Contents
Plot synopsis
After living for several years with her Aunt Dete (Schinz) young orphan Heidi (Steffan) is brought to live in the mountains with her elderly grandfather Alpöhi (Ganz). Despite being known as a fearsome and hermit like character he soon learns to love Heidi. She quickly makes friends with goatherd Peter (Agrippi), a boy just a little older than her. For the next few years Heidi grows up happy with her grandfather and Peter, although she is sometimes unhappy that she cannot go into the village to school, especially in winter when Peter does not look after the goats.
Some time later Aunt Dete returns and tricks Heidi into running away with her to Frankfurt to become a companion to a young girl Klara (Ottmann) in an upper class family townhouse. Klara is confined to a wheelchair and lost her mother at an early age. Although her father loves her he is away on business a lot and she is left with her strict governess Fräulein Rottenmeier (Schüttler). It takes Heidi a very long time to fit into polite society but she forms a bond with Klara and learns to read. In the end though the desire to go back to the open spaces of the mountains becomes too strong for a homesick Heidi and Klara's father returns her to her grandfather, much to Klara's sadness.
Heidi settles back into mountain life with her Grandfather and Peter but writes to Klara a lot. In the end Klara's grandmother allows her to visit Heidi in the mountains. There Heidi and Klara re-connect, initially to the annoyance of Peter who ruins her wheelchair. However without the chair Klara realises that her paralysis is in her mind and was brought about by the loss of her mother. She then learns to walk before being taken home by her grateful father.
At the end of the film it is shown that Heidi and her grandfather move to the village so Heidi can continue to learn to read and write, so she can achieve her dream of being an author. It is implied that she and Peter remain good friends and that Klara and her see each other on a regular basis.
Cast
Production
The ten year old Steffen was chosen from among five hundred young actresses. The film was shot on location in the Alps, mainly in the region of Grisons, including Bergün and Rheinwald.
Release
The film debuted theatrically in Germany on 10 December 2015.