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VITUS Send This Review to a Friend
There have been other films about gifted children, but the charming Swiss film “Vitus,” directed by veteran filmmaker Fredi M.Murer, is imaginatively different. As a little boy, Vitus is a piano prodigy. He’s also mentally brilliant. As he grows up, under the encouragement of his parents, he finds himself the oddball at school and a social misfit, which makes him rebellious. But Vitus concocts his own secret method of relief.
Just how far the lad will go and where his mental agility takes him constitute the pleasant surprises of this story that is both warm-hearted and amusing. As he grows up, Vitus develops a loving relationship with his unconventional grandfather as his mentor, another of the film’s pluses, since the grandfather is effectively played by the renowned Bruno Ganz. He tunes into Vitus with understanding, and the conspiracy into which the pair eventually enter trading on 12-year-old Vitus’ remarkable computer skills is delightful.
Another factor that makes the import so audience-friendly is that Vitus is portrayed by Teo Gheorghiu, who is a real-life piano prodigy and does his own work at the keyboard. The lad takes to the screen comfortably and becomes very likable. He has nursed a crush on his childhood babysitter, and at 12, he recognizes her in a record store. One of the film’s more amusing scenes occurs when he proposes to her and logically analyses why an age difference would be practical.
Vitus’ parents are portrayed sympathetically by Julika Jenkins and Urs Jucker as having problems coping but wanting their son to achieve the most out of his talent for his own sake, not only theirs. However, Vitus has ideas about independence, as expressed in his grandfather-inspired unusual ending.
“Vitus” is a film that affords considerable pleasure as a result of its spirit, good performances and a jaunty outlook that overrides occasional credibility problems. A Sony Pictures Classics release.
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