By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Fredi M. Murer
Starring: Julika Jenkins | Teo Gheorghiu | Urs Jucker
Country: switzerland
Year: 2007
Running time: 100
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0478829/
Bruce says: “**Spoilers**
“VITUS is a surprisingly slick and competent drama about a child prodigy who desperately wants to be normal. When we first see Vitus (Teo Gheorghiu) he is twelve and has stolen a private plane which he is about to taxi down a runway at a small, private airport. In a sudden flashback, Vitus is introduced to the audience as a 5 year old who is fascinated by music and his father’s hearing aid inventions. When asked to play piano at his parent’s cocktail party he perversely plays a chopsticks equivalent as he receives condescending smiles form his parents’ guests. Suddenly he stops and begins playing a complex sonata that leaves
everyone speechless. One guest puts his parents in contact with a music conservatory that accepts him. Reviled by his classmates, Vitus is one lonely kid whose only friend is his non-judgmental grandfather. A freak accident resulting in a severe head injury gives Vitus a taste of normalcy. No longer able to answer mathematical riddles or sight read complicated music. Vitus has become the child he hoped to be. His parents, however, are beside themselves.
“As Vitus spends more time with his grandfather, he slowly lets the cat out of the bag. His injury and loss of functionality have been one big fake. Worried about his father’s business and his grandfather’s dwindling life savings, Vitus cooks up a scheme to rescue his father, make his grandfather rich and challenge his innate talents.
“A film like VITUS would never work without the genuine talent of its young star Teo Gheorghiu who fortunately plays Vitus in a less than endearing fashion. At times one wishes to take over the disciplinarian role in the family and teach the kid a real lesson or two. By the film’s conclusion it is evident that Vitus is a kid who needs to learn life’s lessons on his own – neither discipline nor tutelage will make a much of a dent. One can, however, sympathize with the perpetual frustration his parents endure as they make futile attempts at creating a normal parent-child bond. 3.5 cats
‘VITUS screened at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival”