Heidi [2-DVD Digitally Remastered]
(Jason Robards, Patricia Neal, Jane Seymour, et al / 2-Disc DVD / NR / (1993) 2021 / Film Rise - MVD Visual)
Overview: This version of Heidi is considered the definitive version. It stars Jason Robards and Jane Seymour. When Heidi, an orphan, is sent to live with her grandfather in the Alps, she ends up charming the embittered old man.
She is sadly sent to Frankfurt where she befriends Klara, a young girl in a wheelchair. Heidi is a triumph of love, friendship, and forgiveness that will capture your heart.
DVD Verdict: Based on the classic turn of the century novel by Johanna Spyri, this Disney film proved to be faithful to the novel and is truly the best adaptation of the many that were made prior to this one which was released in 1993.
Filmed on location in the novel’s setting of Germany and the Swiss Alps, the film starred Noley Thorton as the eponymous heroine. Heidi is an orphan (in the 19th century if you wanted to make your readers weep you had to make the hero/heroine an orphan, Charles Dickens did it all the time!) who has been adopted by her reclusive curmudgeon grandfather (Jason Robards) who lives in a small home up by the Alps.
Later we discover that her grandfather had turned his back on the Church (or the Church had turned THEIR BACK on him and ex-communicated him) and was living alone up by the mountain. Only Heidi and her charming spirited ways gives him happiness now.
But Heidi has an Aunt, Fraulein Rottenmeier (Jane Seymour) who lives in Frankfurt, Germany. There she meets her wheel-chair bound cousin Klara. The girls are under tight surveillence and discipline by the staunch and temperamental Fraulein Rottenmier.
Jane Seymour doesn’t ham it up though and plays her in a subtle and tone down way. The film is beautiful and well-acted, with a lot of heart and I actually remember the first time I saw it was on the Disney Channel.
Thus, if you are a fan of the old novel, this one is a delight. Heidi is about learning to love again, even after the world has been cold to you. Both the Grandfather and even Fraulein Rottenmeier learn this.
The sweetness, but reliability of Heidi serves as a redemption to both these older adults and thus it is interesting how the children in this story are the smarter ones.
A well-made film that sadly time has forgotten, but due to Film Rise and MVD Visual the 2-Disc DVD is now out and available for all to now purchase. This is a Widescreen Presentation (1.78:1) enhanced for 16x9 TVs that comes with the Bonus Features of English subtitles for the deaf and hearing-impaired.
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