diskutant As most germans at a certain age I grew up with the anime series, which I rewatched a few months ago. It's still great. This movie not so much though. Just 100 minutes are too short for the story. It starts with the Grandfather not wanting Heidi with him. But the next moment he wants her to stay. The development of the characters and their bonding is missing. It just happens out of the blue. The part in Frankfurt you get no idea how Heidi suffers because of Rottenmeier, or that Heidi is missing the hills so sadly. This happens with every other story element. The movie just starts one topic and finishes it in the next scene, but the viewer doesn't even know why. The most baffling scene is at the end, when Klara suddenly starts to walk, before it wasn't even mentioned this could be something to hope for. All this means the movie is missing all emotions the story has to offer. I think with like 30 minutes more, the movie could be so much better.It's quite sad, because the scenery of the alps and the village are really beautiful and are done with attention to details. It's beautiful to watch.

Finfy I was skeptical the first time I saw that Heidi was going to be adapted into a movie again since I grew up with the animated series on television and I remember it even today but this movie surprised me.You can feel how much the movie team wanted to make a movie that people knowing the original would love.Heidis actor is a wonderful girl. I could barely imagine anyone who would fit the role better than her. Klara and every other actor fit their role and play them with a lot of charm.The pictures in the movie are beautiful. You can almost feel Heidis love for them when she is in Frankfurt and how much she misses them. The movie is well shot and has a wonderful and catching score which contributes to the overall positive mood of the movie.I am glad they got to put every big plot point in the movie. Especially Klaras arc later in the series. We get a wonderful ending and in the end a wonderful movie for kids and fans of the originals.

Michi Moesenbacher Because of the excellent reviews, I have to admit my expectations for the movie were quite high. Yes it is beautifully filmed and overall enjoyable, but ... It is supposed to be a children movie. I did not once during the entire movie hear either my son or one other child in the cinema laugh and for that the 100 mins are quite long. Of course, the story is not complete, you could not bring it all into a movie. But still, I left the cinema with the feeling, that I did see a cute girl (she could not have been cast better!) which is being pushed from here to there and she can not do much to influence her fate. Luckily it all turns out well in the end. However, I did NOT see the stubborn little girl who is feeding the animals, talking to the trees, rescuing a baby bird, reading to grandmother, saving Schnucki by feeding her only the best mountain herbs and pushing not only Peter but also her own grandfather to be the best persons they can be. I missed Josef - the dog and the general good heartiness of various human characters. Overally they all seemed a little hollow to me. I have to admit, I never read the original book, but this is what I would have expected from my childhood memories about Heidi. I am sorry to say, the movie raised expectations that were not met as far as I am concerned. I am not sure that children will fall in love with that movie in the same way many children still do when they see the old TV series.

Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de) "Heidi" is a new German(-language) film that brings back Johanna Spyri's title character to the big screen, a little girl who discovers how much she loves live at the countryside/in the mountains. Unfortunately, her aunt(?) who took care of her after Heidi's mother's death is not exactly a great talent in terms of upbringing and literally sells her to a family in the city of Frankfurt, who are looking for a companion for her wheelchair-bound daughter. It certainly is a tough decision who's worse: Fräulein Rottenmeier or Dete? These two sure make Heidi suffer a lot. This movie here has quite a few big names in terms of German cinema: Schüttler, Haase, Mehmet, Lohmeyer are all well-known here and then of course there is Bruno Ganz, who is a big star abroad as well.However, let's not forget the child actors. I thought the trio did a good job. They all showed that they have talent in terms of acting and that they were deserving to play major characters in such a big film. Nice choices by the casting directors. The story is good as well. I must say that the emotional moments could have needed better elaboration sometimes, like Öhi growing closer to Heidi or when Klara suddenly is able to walk at the end. Then again, this is all seen and displayed through the eyes of children and for them it's more about discovering something new than about feeling something. And it's certainly not that they were free of all emotion, just a case of "is good, but could have been great". There are also funny moments in there. More severe scenes like Peter beating the goats or destroying the wheelchair are mitigated by the "sharing cheese and ham" talk and the boy's guilty conscience.The movie runs for roughly 105 minutes which is fairly long for a kids movie, but nothing that breaks records or anything. If your kids have the attention span, this film is certainly worth a watch. Maybe my lack of emotional response also has to do with me living in cities for my entire life. People who lived in the countryside or even in the mountains may respond even more positive to this film than I did. Of course, I still managed to enjoy the beautiful scenery and animals in here in the first and last chapters in the mountains. Good movie. Not among year-best for me, but I recommend it.