When Heidi’s mother dies, she is sent by her aunt to the mountains to live with her grandfather. The rough and solitary man lives at the edge of the village and takes her in with the intention of passing her on as soon as someone else can be found. He sends Heidi up to his alp to watch over the goats every day, along with his goatherd Peter...

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Yet another adaptation of Heidi, the children’s classic by Johanna Spyri. What may seem like too much nostalgia is actually a nice surprise. Published in 1880, the Swiss novel has already been adapted more than a dozen times for the big screen and twice for TV. You’d think it has all been done, but Swiss director Alain Gsponer delivers a succinct version that gets the essence of the story. The movie is also very short, at one hour and forty minutes, a condensed mixture of fresh air and human relationships. It does the landscape justice and the humorous bits that punctuate the film are intelligent. As for the young Anuk Steffen, who makes her cinematic debut, her performance is full of life, compassion and joy. A rather successful remake of the classic.