''Heidi'' is a 2005 British family film directed by

Paul Marcus Paul Coryn Valentine Marcus (30 May 1954 – 13 February 2011) was a BAFTA winning British television director and producer.Obituary '' London Guardian'', 4 March 2011. His most notable success was as producer of the television series ''Prime Su ...

. It is based on the iconic 1881 novel ''

Heidi ''Heidi'' (; ) is a work of children's fiction published in 1881 by Swiss author Johanna Spyri, originally published in two parts as ''Heidi: Her Years of Wandering and Learning'' (german: Heidis Lehr- und Wanderjahre) and ''Heidi: How She Use ...

'' by

Johanna Spyri Louise Spyri (; ; 12 June 1827 – 7 July 1901) was a Swiss author of novels, notably children's stories, and is best known for her book '' Heidi''. Born in Hirzel, a rural area in the canton of Zurich, Switzerland, as a child she spent se ...

, and stars Irish child actress Emma Bolger in the title role, alongside

Max Von Sydow Max von Sydow ( , ; born Carl Adolf von Sydow; 10 April 1929 – 8 March 2020) was a Swedish-French actor. He had a 70-year career in European and American cinema, television, and theatre, appearing in more than 150 films and several television ...

and

Diana Rigg Dame Enid Diana Elizabeth Rigg (20 July 193810 September 2020) was an English actress of stage and screen. Her roles include Emma Peel in the TV series '' The Avengers'' (1965–1968); Countess Teresa di Vicenzo, wife of James Bond, in ''On H ...

Plot

Heidi, a cheerful girl, is taken to live with her grandfather in the Swiss Alps. She becomes close friends with Peter, a goatherd, and spends much of her time with the boy and his goats outdoors. Heidi is sent to the wealthy Sesemann family in Frankfurt, to be the hired companion of Clara Sesemann, an invalid. The strict housekeeper, Fräulein Rottenmeier, views the household disruptions Heidi causes as her misbehavior and places Heidi under increasing restrictions. Heidi grows homesick and pale. Her one diversion is learning to read and write, motivated by the thought of going home and reading to Peter's blind grandmother. Clara's grandmother visits and becomes a friend to Heidi. After Heidi becomes seriously ill, the adults allow her to return to her grandfather. Heidi and Clara stay in touch and exchange letters. Clara's doctor, believing the fresh mountain air and wholesome companionship will do her good, recommends that Clara visit Heidi. Clara visits again the following season and spends a wonderful summer with Heidi, growing stronger on goat milk and fresh air. Peter, jealous of Heidi and Clara's friendship, pushes Clara's empty wheelchair down the mountain. The wheelchair is destroyed. While retrieving the wheelchair for Clara, Heidi nearly falls into a ravine. Clara rushes to save her and finds herself able to walk. Her grandmother and father are overcome with joy, and the doctor promises to take care of Heidi when her grandfather's no longer able to do so.

Cast

Emma Bolger Emma Bolger (born 5 January 1996 in Dublin) is an Irish actress who first gained notability as a child actress in the role of Ariel in the Jim Sheridan film '' In America''. Career At the age of seven, in 2002, Bolger became known for her rol ...

as Heidi *

as Grandfather *

Geraldine Chaplin Geraldine Leigh Chaplin (born July 31, 1944) is an American actress. She is the daughter of Charlie Chaplin, the first of eight children with his fourth wife, Oona O'Neill. After beginnings in dance and modeling, she turned her attention to act ...

as Rottenmeier *

as Grandmamma *

Pauline McLynn Pauline McLynn (born 11 July 1962) is an Irish character actress and author. She is best known for her roles as Mrs Doyle in the Channel 4 sitcom ''Father Ted'', Libby Croker in the Channel 4 comedy drama '' Shameless'', Tip Haddem in the BBC ...

as Aunt Dete * Sam Friend as Peter * Jessica Claridge as Clara * Del Synnott as Sebastian *

Kellie Shirley Kelly Jane Shirley (born 11 July 1981), known professionally as Kellie Shirley is an English actress who works in film, television, theatre and radio. She hails from Croydon via a large Northern Irish family. She has also co-presented programme ...

as Tinette *

Robert Bathurst Robert Guy Bathurst (born 22 February 1957) is an English actor. Bathurst was born in The Gold Coast (now Ghana) in 1957, where his father was working as a management consultant. In 1959 his family moved to Ballybrack, Dublin, Ireland and Bath ...

as Mr. Sessemann *

Oliver Ford Davies Oliver Robert Ford Davies (born 12 August 1939) is an English actor and writer, best known for his extensive theatre work, and to a broader audience for his role as Sio Bibble in ''Star Wars'' Episodes I to III. He is also known for his role ...

as Dr. Classen *

Caroline Pegg Caroline may refer to: People *Caroline (given name), a feminine given name * J. C. Caroline (born 1933), American college and National Football League player * Jordan Caroline (born 1996), American (men's) basketball player Places Antarctica * ...

as Bridget * Jessica James as Grannie * Alexander Main as Frankfurt Boy * Karl Johnson as Old Man

Production

The soundtrack is composed by

Jocelyn Pook Jocelyn Pook (, rhyming with "book"; born 14 February 1960) is an English composer and viola player. She is known for her scores for many films, including ''Eyes Wide Shut'', ''The Merchant of Venice'' and '' The Wife''. Education Pook gradua ...

. The mountain scenes were shot mostly in

Julian Alps The Julian Alps ( sl, Julijske Alpe, it, Alpi Giulie, , ) are a mountain range of the Southern Limestone Alps that stretch from northeastern Italy to Slovenia, where they rise to 2,864 m at Mount Triglav, the highest peak in Slovenia. A large p ...

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

, scenes of Frankfurt in

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the are ...

and village scenes in Neath, and

Llanelli Llanelli (" St Elli's Parish"; ) is a market town and the largest community in Carmarthenshire and the preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is located on the Loughor estuary north-west of Swansea and south-east of the county town, Carmarth ...

, Wales. The Sesemann house in Frankfurt was shot at Stradey Castle in Llanelli.

References

External links

*
''Heidi''
at

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

2005 films 2005 drama films Heidi films Films directed by Paul Marcus Films scored by Jocelyn Pook British drama films 2000s English-language films 2000s British films {{2000s-UK-film-stub