

Director: Fredi M. Murer
Cast: Teo Gheorghiu, Fabrizio Borsani, Julika Jenkins, Urs Jucker, Bruno Ganz 

The film represented Switzerland in Oscar 2007.

The official website
click
http://www.sonyclassics.com/vitus/

Synopsis
This film is about a child prodigy, Vitus, whose parents have high hopes and aspirations of him. They want him to become a great pianist. But like many of these stories, is this in tune with what the child really wants? And often, how does the child fit into a society where he matures much faster than his peers?

My Thoughts

-- For me, the better portion has to be the second half. While the first half boasts of some symbolisms and build up, it fails to "delight". It comes across as a story that we have so frequently heard about, and most likely, we can predict what will happen next ... is it gonna end with yet another predictably uplifting, triumphant realisation?!

-- What I thought are the saving grace are these three components:

(i) The grandfather. He carried his role so well that it really reminds us of some grandfathers that we have come across. His eccentricity and his words of wisdom (wisdom that confers with age?) make the film a worthy watch. His letter at the end also touches all the right chords and message ...

(ii) The director and scriptwriters are very conscientious of peppering the film with symbolisms, similarities or analogies.
e.g., listening, hearing, frequency, music, etc 
e.g., flying, fleeing, freedom, etc 
Also, they deal with the important question of parents versus child, family and love, dreams versus reality, growing up and fitting into society, etc ... In the film, there are a few nice lines that are delivered ...

(iii) The two actors for Vitus (at age 6 and 12) are great pianists. So, if you are a lover of classical music, you will like what they have played ... and be amazed ... Yup, young talents do exist among us ...


Conclusion
I am not sure whether people will find the story entirely credible. Nope, I am not refering to the credibility of child prodigy, but the part whereby the kid earned great amount of money in stocks and shares. Beyond this, it is a nice film about dreams, family and love.