Vitus

Genius weighs heavily on a child prodigy who longs to be “normal” in this charming Swiss import from veteran director Fredi M. Murer. Kicked out of kindergarten for being too smart, Vitus is both a brilliant mathematician and a musical virtuoso — but he is still a child emotionally, something his well-intentioned parents fail to see. Only his beloved grandfather (Bruno Ganz) allows him to be an ordinary, mischievous boy, and Vitus increasingly seeks refuge with him. Tired of being exceptional, Vitus plots a way out of his dilemma. Blissfully devoid of sentimentality and melodrama, the story takes a few fantastical turns toward the end that dampen the realism but serve the film’s larger message. Impeccably acted, Vitus rests most squarely on the shoulders of two superb young performers, neither of whom had ever acted before: Fabrizio Borsani, who plays the younger Vitus, and Teo Gheorghiu, a real-life piano prodigy, who plays Vitus at age 12.