Vitus

Vitus ***

Directed by Fredi M. Murer
Written by Fredi M. Murer and Peter Luisi

Starring:
Fabrizio Borsani as Vitus - age 6
Teo Gheorghiu as Vitus von Holzen - age 12
Julika Jenkins as Helen von Holzen, mother
Urs Jucker as Leo von Holzen, father
Bruno Ganz as Grandfather
Eleni Haupt as Luisa
Kristina Lykowa as Isabel - age 12
Tamara Scarpellini as Isabel - age 19
Daniel Rohr as Hoffmann jun.
Norbert Schwientek as Hoffmann sen.
Daniel Fueter as Direktor Konservatorium
Livia S. Reinhard as Kindergärtnerin
Susanne Kunz as Primarlehrerin
Thomas Mathys as Arzt

123 Minutes(Rated PG for mild thematic elements and language.)
-------------------------------------
"Vitus" is a charming little German film, and based on the box office intake and its slow disappearance from the screens this weekend, not a big success. And its a shame, because for about an hour and forty five minutes of the film I really was enjoying it-its biopic feeling for a fictional character, its sweet characters, its gentle comedy. While it did kind of loose me during its final fifteen minutes, there is plenty throughout to make up for its brief lull. While I was watching I was struck by its similarities in character to the title character in a film I saw last night called "Joshua." The only difference is that Joshua used his brains for evil and "Vitus" uses his brains for good. But it is interesting how I managed to see both of them within a twenty four period, both with a similar lead child.

"Vitus" is the story of Vitus von Holzen, a young child genius who is years ahead of himself in school, and even more years ahead of anybody when it comes to playing the piano. His mother is struck silly when someone describes her son as a "wunderkind" and decides to make sure that he is given the best of everything when it comes to anything. This has an effect on him when he is twelve and he is in a class where he knows everything, and carted from piano teacher to piano teacher to make sure his needs are met. Vitus would rather spend time with his pilot dreaming grandfather who teaches his basic carpeting skills in his garage, plays chess with him, and is pretty much Vitus' best friend. He also is madly in love with his former babysitter Isabel, who had dreams of being a rock star. One night Vitus takes a pair of wings that his grandfather constructed for him when he was a younger child, and jumps off hoping to fly. He hits his head and at that point his 180 IQ slips down to 120, and everything seems on the brink of ruin for the young boy-but Vitus has much more planned up his smart little sleeve.

Without much of a plot to guide, there is a lot of emphasis on the audience to actually like the Vitus character, which is made easy at an early age by young actor Fabrizio Borsani who is quite the adorable little one. I did not really look much into "Vitus" while I was watching it, but was struck by so much charm and wit. I loved so much about this movie-the gentle relationship between Vitus and his grandfather, the rather unstable one between him and his mother, his early proposal to Isabel. There is a moment of brief comedy smack in the middle of "Vitus." It is all just a pleasure to watch, without the burden of deep meaning in every single shot. There is a nice message at the end, and a theme is brought back, but for the most part this is not a strenuous film to watch, and is very easy going. But it is a certain type of entertainment. I'll just mention what I thought to be one of the funniest moments in the film, and then you can decide for yourself if you want to put yourself through this:

Vitus has been demoted to regular school after his injury and has made friends with a boy in the class-the type who like to teach complicated and stupid handshakes when they meet you involving pounds and twists of the hands. The two become friends, and one day they are riding their bikes in circles wearing headphones. We can hear Vitus' headphones as he listens to classical music, but when his friend passes by we hear the rap music he is listening to. As they ride in circles, Vitus will pass and we will hear a tiny bit of the classic as he drives by, and the same for the friend with his rap music. This goes on for about a minute with no real point except for it being quite the laugh. It's little moments like this that "Vitus" is full of little moments of genius comedy like this, and strong moments of heart. It's a real winner, and a charmer from start to finish.