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.

Decent adaptation Overall quite well done. The costumes and settings are nicely done. And of course, the presence of the national hero among the local actors, Bruno Ganz, also contributed positively to this movie.However, I think the filmmakers relied a bit much on the here so called Jöö effect (=cuteness factor) with the presence (alone) of the cute girl representing Heidi. I noticed also some unnecessary overuse of background music in some parts. The movie goes conform with the (overly?) "positive" basic mood of Disney movies. Not to criticize, given the targeted audience, youth and children. But often, as here, it does not add that much to the depth of the story. But the acting of the two youngsters representing Heidi and Geissenpeter is remarkable indeed, given that apparently they appeared on screen the first time.Nevertheless, IMO a bit overrated with 7.5 at the moment.

Yesterday, i went to the Cinema to look Heidi with my wife to to please her. Besides of the good reviews and the participation of Bruno Ganz I didn't expect too much. But the film convinced me totally, especially emotional. The film is very faithful to the books of J. Spyri even to small details. They are used very good to compound the overall story. Therefore, the film lacks inventions for the story telling. Instead it is using a proper selection of the original material given. As J. Spyri defined the idealised view on Switzerland, this Swiss film showed it as the story was intended . The looks of the Dörfli, the mountain pasture and Frankfurt are really faithful and believable while idealised as it was intended. The Alps panorama was breathtaking as could be expected from a Swiss film. The casting was very good. The short scene of the Alp-Öhi with the Grandma Sesemann played by H. Hoger showed the great actors chosen. The children were very good, too. Anuk Steffen had to carry the complete weight of the story with leading adult actors and she really did. The facial expressions and the language with the mild Swiss dialect was perfect. The roles of Fräulein Rottenmeier and the teacher was laid out overacted. I think it was made to attract children for this film. For a film targeting only adults this was too much. The story is well known, I think and of course J. Spyris master work making it one of Swiss national epics (Quotation from B. Ganz why he took the role). The film follows this absolutely truthfully. For the content of both books, the time is too short so psychological developments could only be hinted at. Another half hour of an extended version concentrating on the development of personal relationships as Heidi <-> Alp-Öhi would make the film perfect. But then it may be too long for a young audience.

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.