Vitus (film)

Vitus
U.S. theatrical poster
Directed byFredi M. Murer
Written by
Produced byChristian Davi
Christof Neracher
Starring
CinematographyPio Corradi
Edited byMyriam Flury
Music byMario Beretta
Distributed bySony Pictures Classics
Release date
  • 2 February 2006 (2006-02-02) (Switzerland)
Running time
100 minutes
123 minutes (US)
CountrySwitzerland
LanguagesSwiss German, occasional English

Vitus is a 2006 Swiss drama film written and directed by Fredi M. Murer and starring Teo Gheorghiu and Bruno Ganz. It follows a gifted child who longs for an ordinary childhood. It was selected as the Swiss entry for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 79th Academy Awards and was later shortlisted for the award. It won Best Fiction Film at the Swiss Film Prize in 2007.

Synopsis

Vitus is a gifted child whose musical talent leads his parents to push him toward a career as a pianist. Instead, he prefers spending time in his eccentric grandfather’s workshop and longs for a more ordinary childhood. After falling from a balcony, he is regarded as an ordinary boy.[1][2]

Cast

Release

Vitus premiered in February 2006.[2] It had its international premiere at the Berlin Film Festival. By late 2006, it had been sold to more than 30 countries, including the United States.[3]

Reception

Accolades

Vitus was selected as the Swiss entry for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 79th Academy Awards in 2006, and in January 2007 it was shortlisted among the final nine films for the award.[4][5]

In 2006, the film won audience awards at festivals in Rome, Chicago, and Los Angeles.[6] In 2007, it won the Best Fiction Film award at the Swiss Film Prize in Solothurn.[3] It later received additional festival prizes, including the Augenblick Prize at the Strasbourg Augenblick Festival in 2007, the Special Screening Prize at the Pyongyang International Film Festival in 2008, and a shared first audience award at the Festival Internacional de Cine Arte & Cultura in Asunción in 2008.[2]

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, Vitus has an approval rating of 80%, based on 60 reviews.[7] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 63 out of 100, based on 19 critic reviews.[8]

Festival screenings

After its initial release, Vitus continued to screen at international film festivals, including the Seattle International Film Festival and San Francisco International Film Festival in 2007, the Shanghai International Film Festival in 2007, and the Zlín International Film Festival for Children and Youth in 2017.[2]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Vitus". Filmdienst (in German). Retrieved 14 March 2026.
  2. ^ a b c d "Vitus". Swiss Films. Retrieved 14 March 2026.
  3. ^ a b "Awarding of the Swiss Film Prize 2007". Swiss Films. Retrieved 14 March 2026.
  4. ^ "Switzerland selects Murer's Vitus as Oscar pick". Screen Daily. 22 September 2006. Retrieved 14 March 2026.
  5. ^ "Vitus on the shortlist for the Academy Awards". Swiss Films. Retrieved 14 March 2026.
  6. ^ "Local cinema celebrates boom year". SWI swissinfo. 30 December 2006. Retrieved 14 March 2026.
  7. ^ "Vitus". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved 2008-04-07.
  8. ^ "Vitus". Metacritic. Retrieved 14 March 2026.
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