I recently revisited two film and television adaptations of Johanna Spiri's "Heidi", the 1978 TV series and the 2015 film version, both of which were co-produced in Germany and Switzerland. At the same time, I also reviewed some chapters of Johanna Spiri's original book. This review gave me a new understanding of such a story, so I took the opportunity to rewrite this review, which actually includes my analysis of the original.
The first thing to talk about is little Heidi, the protagonist of this story. Maybe Heidi was very young when she lost her parents, so she had almost no impression of her own parents. But even from the original book, Heidi didn't have much affection for her aunt Didi. In fact, it can be seen from Didi's actions that she is very neglectful of Heidi. Whether she started taking Heidi to her grandfather's place or sent it to Clara's house later, she was only thinking about herself. In such a lack of caring environment, it is obviously not conducive to Heidi's growth, but fortunately, Heidi was able to get out of this environment early. Although Heidi's grandfather was a withdrawn and eccentric person, in fact, grandfather was a very kind-hearted person who knew how to care about others. Heidi's arrival just happened to inspire grandfather's good side. Grandpa really loves and takes care of Heidi as his granddaughter. Grandpa lives in such an environment full of sunshine and grass, far away from the hustle and bustle of the city, which is very beneficial to Heidi's growth. However, grandpa's life of being alone and hardly interacting with the villagers is no problem for him, but Heidi still needs to communicate with people to grow up, but grandpa only wants to let Heidi stay by his side to accompany him , did not want to let Heidi go down the mountain to contact the villagers (this is also related to Grandpa's bad reputation among the villagers, which will be discussed later). It is not good for Heidi to grow here in the long run. At this time, Heidi needs to live in a new environment. Clara's home has become lifeless under the leadership of the stern and authoritarian housekeeper Miss Rotmeyer, but in such a family that pays attention to all manners and rules, Heidi can learn how to live with her by living here. People communicated, and through the experience here, I found out what my grandpa's problem was. Fortunately, because of the existence of a master (Clara's father) who is understanding and tolerant to Heidi and a kind and caring grandma (Clara), Heidi can have a chance to breathe, so as not to suffer. I have always lived in depression. Unfortunately, these two can do nothing more, and there is nothing they can do to make any changes here. It is impossible for Heidi to live in this environment for a long time, but because of this, Heidi finally found a truly ideal environment. This environment is to bring Heidi back to Grandpa and to bring Grandpa back to the village. After Heidi returned to the mountain, she gradually influenced her grandfather, making her finally willing to communicate with the villagers, and the villagers are now willing to accept the arrival of her grandfather. The previous problems in this environment were resolved, and Heidi finally found the life she deserved.
Well, it's time to talk about the two people Heidi led the change, Grandpa and Clara. At the beginning, Grandpa had no good impression in the minds of the villagers at the foot of the mountain. There were many bad rumors about him, and there were even rumors that he had killed people. However, if you read the original book, you will find that these are all non-existent. The reason why Grandpa is not understood by the villagers is not only because of his eccentric personality and lack of communication and contact, but more importantly, because Grandpa never goes to church. In such an era when almost everyone believes in religion, religious belief is also a bond that builds trust between people. The first thing that Grandpa did when he returned to the village was to go to the church to worship, that is, from this moment on, he was accepted by the church and the local villagers, and the villagers' trust and understanding of him was established. It can be said that Heidi has contributed to so many changes in Grandpa. Grandpa's lonely and peaceful life in the mountains for many years was suddenly interrupted by a little girl who forced his way in. At this time, Grandpa learned to care and take care of the people who live with him, and even extended to care about other people who are related to Heidi (for example, building a house for the Pitts). But at this time, Heidi could do so much, and there was nothing she could do if she wanted to go further. After living in Clara's house, Heidi realized that it was the right choice for her grandfather to return to the village, so after she returned to her grandfather's side, she was able to influence him to go down the mountain and live in the village. Although it can be roughly guessed that it is because of the premature death of her mother and her physical weakness, the reason why Clara cannot walk is not clearly explained in the original book. Perhaps it was because of the fear that her daughter would be hurt, so the family let the strict but loyal Miss Rotmeyer take care of the housework, but this made the whole family feel a deadly atmosphere, which may be why They brought Heidi here. And Heidi's arrival has indeed injected a breath of fresh air into the home. It is precisely because of Heidi's unwillingness to be bound by rules that it brings a lot of fun to Clara. Clara needs to come through Heidi. Regulate your mood and release your inner stress. But in the same way, Heidi's influence on Clara ends here. For Clara, she must completely change the environment to make her mind and body really open up. However, it is obviously impossible to change Miss Rotmeier, so Heidi must go back to the mountain and promise that Clara will come over in the future. Finally, when Clara came to the mountain, she finally released her heart completely, which really opened her heart and allowed herself to finally stand up and walk.
The original book involves a lot of religion. In addition to what was just mentioned, the last school Heidi attended was run by the church. The highest place Heidi looked for in Frankfurt was the church tower. I don't think all of these are the author's intention to preach, but because religion was a part of most people's lives at that time, the author just naturally brought these into his works. As for the little shepherd boy Pete, he can be said to be the person Heidi is most attached to besides her grandfather on the mountain. Although Pete is a child who has never liked to study, because he often plays with Heidi and often provides help to Heidi and grandpa, his impression is basically good in the early stage. It's just that in the later period, Pitt made a few mistakes and made people feel bad (if Pitt has grown into a teenager in the later stage, but still gives people the feeling of ignorance, I don't know whether this is intentional or unintentional). I don't know if the author's portrayal of Pete is due to her prejudice against such children, which I'm not sure yet. The original work itself has been analyzed here, and then I will talk about the two adaptations I have seen before.
Let's talk about the 1978 TV series first. So far, this is still the most restored version of the original, and most of the details of the original are covered in this version. I have only watched the French and English versions of this drama so far. From what I have watched, neither of these two versions is the full version. Compared with the English version, there are fewer deletions, but the French version also contains some Fragments not available in the English version. My biggest regret about this drama now is that I haven't seen the real soundtrack version - the German version (although I heard that it was released, but I still can't find the source or the real thing), or the national match that has been broadcast in China Version. This version of Heidi's star, Katia Polletin, is a bit older, and although the show tries to dress her up like a baby, she still reveals her age on a few occasions. Her age is just right for Heidi in the later period. However, in the play, she performed very well, and many times her emotions were expressed very naturally, without giving people a deliberate or blunt feeling. It's hard to imagine that this version of Pitt's star Stefan Arpagaus is actually the youngest, and the big brother has become the little brother. Although most of the time the effect presented is invisible, but it is still very interesting to know this. The actor of this version of Clara is Katharina Böhm, which is also an excellent performance for such a role, and it is a good performance of Clara's character and psychological state. This time, the main actor of Grandpa is René Deltgen. The performance of this image is very good. It is very good to play the character of the role of Grandpa, and it feels unassuming and unpretentious. I feel that the interpretation of other characters is also very successful. Basically, the characters involved in the original work have appeared here, and they have been perfectly displayed. Most of the Alps scenes in the show were filmed on the peak of the Grevasalvas (including the houses on the mountain) in the Engadine, Switzerland, which later became a tourist attraction because of the show. In the play, Clara's home was shot in Zurich, in addition to the location specified in the original book in Frankfurt am Main. And the episode of Heidi going to the church tower was shot in Heppenheim. In contrast, the filming location of the show is actually more famous.
Then talk about the 2015 movie version. In general, this movie is still loyal to the original routine, but perhaps considering the limitation of the length of the film, the plots contained in the original book have been cut off a lot, and even some key plots have not been involved. Perhaps it is because the religious elements of the original book make it difficult for people to understand, and the religious elements are less involved in this film. The film also made a few changes, but the changes were unreasonable, which made people look a little strange. But in general, these are not affecting the overall situation, this film is still a relatively successful adaptation of the original. The film starring Heidi is Anuk Steffen, who gives a more optimistic and lively, cheerful feeling by comparison, but this is more because of her younger age. While she was more age-appropriate for the role of Heidi, she felt a little underwhelming in performance, although her image more than made up for it. Clara's actor is Isabelle Ottmann, and I feel like she's better looking but underperforming. Several times I performed a little too hard, but the final performance was not very good. In the original novel, the plot of climbing the tower and adopting a kitten was only related to Heidi alone, and Clara was also involved in this film. Judging from her physical condition, she is not allowed to go out easily, and Heidi sneaking Clara out this time alone is a big disaster, which will also put Heidi at a disadvantage in this house in the future. Pitt's actor is Quirin Agrippi. This time, he simply showed Pitt's vices in the early stage, and a few mistakes in the later stage are a lot more. This made Pete a character who didn't make a good impression the whole time, and this kind of adaptation is actually rare. Surprisingly, this time Grandpa's actor is actually Bruno Ganz, an actor who played the Führer in "The Destruction of an Empire". For such a choice, I feel that it is not enough. But fortunately, the old drama bone has been very successful in shaping the image of grandfather, and he can still grasp it many times, and he has not lost control (although he still feels a bit like talking when he loses his temper). By the way, if someone like the "Führer" really lives in seclusion on the mountain, I am afraid that even if he goes to the church, he will not be able to get the understanding of the villagers. But this time, it seems that grandpa is not so resistant to religion at the beginning, and he doesn't need to go to church for worship in the later period. This may be related to the film's intention to dilute the religious elements of the original. In addition, the plot of grandpa building a house for Pitt's family was removed, which also made him lose some of his due performance in the early stage. For the other characters, I feel that Clara's father has failed to portray this time. In this film, he gives a feeling of not being able to take charge of the family very well, especially making Clara angry. This kind of thing will not happen in the original book. Some other characters that should be there are not well represented in this film. For example, Pete's mother and grandmother only appeared in this film, and their roles in the original work were not reflected. The most attractive part of this film is its beautiful scenery (but this is also because of the technological progress in recent years and better shooting conditions. The 1978 version can be shot more beautifully if there is current shooting technology). The scenes of the Alps were all shot in Switzerland, mainly including the town of Suffels on the Rhinewald and the village of Lach in the Albula Valley. Clara's home was shot in many locations in Germany.
This article will be published as a general review of both editions.
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