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Bruno Ganz, Fabrizio Borsani, Julika Jenkins

Vitus is a boy who almost seems to be from another planet: He has hearing like a bat, plays piano like a virtuoso and studies encyclopedias at the age of five. His parents anticipate a brilliant futur...( read more  read more... )e for him as a great concert pianist. However, Vitus prefers to spend all his time in his eccentric grandfather's (Bruno Ganz) workshop. He dreams of flying an airplane, he dreams of being a normal child. Ultimately, with one dramatic leap, Vitus takes control of his life.

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76% liked it

13,604 ratings

Critics

64% liked it

58 critics

PG, 2 hrs. 3 min.

Directed by: Fredi M. Murer

Release Date: June 29, 2007

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DVD Release Date: November 27, 2007

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Flixster Reviews (579)

  • EarthlyAlien
    November 12, 2008
    EarthlyAlien
    Isabel, age 12: "How long are you gonna stay in your room?
    Vitus, age 6: Until I'm an adult. If you want, you can come with me.
    Isabel, age 12: Until we're adults? Really? That's extreme.
    Vitus, age 6: Do you want to know how bats reproduce?
    Isabel, ag...( read more)e 12: No, thanks. What do you want to be when you grow up?
    Vitus, age 6: I don't know yet.
    Isabel, age 12: You know so much, but not that?"

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    The first time I saw Forrest Gump I was appalled. I watched it late (14, 15) and I was in such a cynical mood that I scoffed and laughed. The second time I saw it I was moved almost to tears by the film. By using fantastical events to manipulate emotion and to give us a filtered history lesson, Robert Zemeckis reached pure cinematic bliss with that film. Sometimes watching a film twice is a good idea. Upon reflection, I resolved to be less cynical - to try to "get" the point of the film. Vitus, Switzerland's official 2006 Academy Awards entry for Best Foreign Language Film, is a lot like Forrest Gump, but even cynics might find it hard to resist. And I want to see it again.

    Vitus is a boy genius, a prodigy, whose parents don't know how to cultivate his many talents. Early in the film, the boy, at age 6, plays the piano at a dinner party for his parents' business associates. Everyone is impressed and several key players are jealous, which is encouraged by proud mum and dad. But their confidence in little Vitus originates from a parent/child relationship and the child has already begun to advance beyond his and, perhaps, their years.

    Vitus is the kind of film that's been done many, many times before. Wonder kids, prodigies, super gifted children who only want to be "normal." The reason it works so well is 'cause its main goal is always to develop the central character. Two actors play the boy (over a period of 6 years) who progresses from an inquisitive prodigy into a young man with immense depth of understanding, not to mention top notch smarts. This kid can do anything, play concert piano, do complex mathematics, and even teach himself to fly a plane - a real plane. But in expanding his intellect, he loses his youthful innocence almost immediately. It's almost as though he tries to cram 20 years worth of life experience into less than 6 years. And everyone but his grandfather (played by the great Bruno Ganz) expects him to balance this accelerated socialization, because, after all, he's a genius.

    Vitus' parents are keenly interested in seeing to it that he gets the right book learning but fail to address his emotional needs. The effect on the boy is extremely moving. Think about how it would be to understand scientifically the act of sexual intercourse at six years old, but have no actual working knowledge of how it is managed. Or to be able to read about love, its basic definition and how it is described so beautifully in literature. And if you're twelve, a genius with access to the Internet, unlimited financial resources, and you got a crush on your older baby-sitter, how would you go about making her your girlfriend?

    With all the depth and penetration of a novel, one might expect that Vitus was adapted from one. It is, however, crafted from an original screenplay by Swiss writer-director Fredi M. Murer, whose own genius is made evident here in a brilliantly structured piece that dramatizes the conflict between loving parents' wishes and expectations for us and the impulse to choose for ourselves. Murer gets it right from top to bottom with this handsome production never letting the fantastical elements invade the real world emotional dilemmas present in the characters' lives. Having great intelligence proves to be quite a burden, and it must have been tough for Murer to capture the magic of the boy's genius without slipping completely into cliché.

    Vitus, on top of all that, is also a brilliant glorification of the power of music, and in that, may well have been inspired by or intentionally adapted to the particular gifts of its star. Actor Teo Gheorghiu (age 14 when this was made) actually plays Bach and Mendelshohn on the piano as witnessed here, making the fullest exposure of his command of the keyboard from all angles possible. Talk about precocious genius.

    Once all that's out of the way, we have an enormous actor named Bruno Ganz, who is often confused as being German, but who's very much Swiss. His performance here makes you want to hug him. Seemingly omnipresent in European and American Film, he's the kind of actor who can literally play any role (from an angel to Hitler). I don't think he's ever done a more sympathetically balanced role. He is the understanding and impishly eccentric engineer-dabbler and domestic spaghetti-maker in heart and mind. He convinces us that he may well have provided at least some of the smart genes that went into Vitus' DNA, and is a model of - if not adult behaviour - a certain creative spirit. Ganz always seems to enjoy his character roles, but never more than this, and we with him.

    Vitus considers the adult world, and the genius coming of age in it, with delicacy, compassion, and the subtle humour of the human comedy at large. Much that is universal can be read into this tale of a shy, weird kid trying to fit into a world that worships his attributes while still not knowing quite what to make of him as a person. As a parable of fairy-tale genius springing into a modern world of pervading normality, Vitus teaches, amuses and enriches. It's more than charming, it's more than smart, it's wise. It's the kind of film every parent on this Earth should take their children to watch.
  • Cinema101
    August 13, 2007
    Cinema101
    8/10

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    This film is right up there with Once and Ratatouille as one of the most feel-good movies I've seen this year. A charming...( read more) little drama about a boy genius who only wants to be treated like a normal human being and enjoy a normal, joyful childhood. Of course his parents could care less, living vicariously and inconsiderately through him. The film steers clear of many of the obvious cliches, providing many deeply formed characters and an often engaging screenplay.

    Vitus is an inspiring experience. Veering towards ridiculousness towards the end, the film is saved by its subtle script and generally wonderful performances. As an added bonus, the music is just as beautiful as the film's message.
  • dogluvr52
    October 29, 2009
    dogluvr52
    AMAZING!!! BRILLIANT!!
  • QuantumSomatics
    August 27, 2009
    QuantumSomatics
    I click with autistic /Asperger syndrome children - The movie makes a very strong point of the genius of these children. A must see.
  • Paris2Australia
    April 17, 2009
    Paris2Australia
    amazing how he's so intelligent!!!
    nice apartment that he lives in secretly
  • rex889
    March 29, 2009
    rex889
    UNa película diferente. Vitus, Recomendable.
  • yomisso
    January 11, 2009
    yomisso
    This is the 2nd movie that has made me cry watching it...it's a fabulous story and the main actor does all his own playing.
  • egyptiansushi
    November 27, 2008
    egyptiansushi
    I wish this had a plot. :(
  • hopeenb
    October 27, 2008
    hopeenb
    This movie is really great! The story is absolutly cute, funny, entertaning and very very interesting!
    This actor(Teo Gheorghiu) who plays Vitus role is incredible great, really funny and just very real and authentic in his role!
  • Michael9636
    September 14, 2008
    Michael9636
    This movie was very underrated. The young actor was amazing.

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Critic Reviews

August 3, 2007
Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times

It's a simple, gentle tale that pulls its audience in almost imperceptibly; by its end, you just might be blinking away unexpected tears. full review

View more Vitus reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

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