Dir. Paul Marcus, UK, 2005, 104 mins
Cast: Emma Bolger, Max Von Sydow, Geraldine Chaplin, Diana Rigg
There have been some eighteen screen versions of "Heidi", including the 1937 one starring Shirley Temple; several Swiss and German films, which is not surprising, in view of the fact that the story is set in Switzerland and was written by Swiss author Johanna Spyri; a handful of animations and numerous television series. These include an American/German one in 1968, starring Michael Redgrave as Grandpa and Jean Simmons as Fräulein Rottenmeier and two UK ones in 1953 and 1974. However there has never until now been a British big screen version. Even so, we probably all feel we know the story backwards. I for one was dreading going to see this new adaptation, expecting that British or not it was going to be something along the lines of the sort of schmalz Disney used to make years ago starring the young Hayley Mills. Surprising really that Walt never thought of casting her as Heidi.
But as it turns out I was totally wrong in my preconception. One of the main reasons is an absolute knock out of a performance in the title role by young Emma Bolger, who proved what an unselfconscious delight she could be, when she played Paddy Considine and Samantha Morton's youngest daughter in In America three years ago. Now eleven years old with a smile that almost literally seems to make the sun come out, she brings a very positive energy and an intense curiosity about everything to the character, managing to be totally enchanting without making us want to throw up. Much of the credit though must go to screenwriter Brian Finch, who wrote the BAFTA award winning television film Goodnight Mr Tom, in which grumpy old man John Thaw fostered a young evacuee in World War II. Once more Finch has taken a story with the potential for total soppiness and kept it down to earth and unsentimental. Playing the grumpy old man in this is Max Von Sydow as Heidi'a grandpa, who finds himself put unwillingly in charge of the orphaned Heidi, when her aunt dumps her on him in his solitary Alpine hideaway. No sooner however has Heidi melted his heart, made friends with her young neighbour Peter (Samuel Friend) and grandpa's goats and generally settled in nicely, than Auntie uproots her again, having discovered she can make a Swiss franc or two by placing Heidi with a family in Frankfurt, who need a companion for their wheelchair bound daughter Clara (Jessica Claridge). But while Heidi and Clara soon become good friends, the fly in the ointment is the stern, buttoned up and onomatopoeically named Mrs Rottenmeier (Geraldine Chaplin), who runs the household for Clara's widowed and often absent father (Robert Bathurst of television's Cold Feet). She takes against Heidi with a passion. However both Bathurst and Diana Rigg, as Clara's glamorous but kindly grandmother, both take the little girl to their hearts, and after a few more ups and downs, Heidi is finally reunited with Grandpa and her beloved Alps without losing her new friends.
If I'm being picky I have to admit the normally vulnerable Geraldine Chaplin does go a bit over the top as the villainous Rottenmeier, but it's good to see her and Rigg both playing against the type of roles in which they're usually cast. Director Paul Marcus with the help of a strong cast has managed to create the cinematic equivalent of the quality children’s drama we used to get on BBC television at Saturday teatime. A good family film for a summer holiday outing and the DVD will make a suitable Christmas present for children, if it’s out in time.
Carol Allen
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