Heidi (2015)

The orphan girl Heidi is brought by her aunt Dete to live with her reclusive grandfather, the Alpöhi (called Almöhi in the German version), in the Swiss mountains. Heidi quickly settles into her grandfather’s hut and gradually wins the affection of the old loner. She most enjoys spending her time with Geissenpeter: together, they tend the goats and roam the alpine meadows. Heidi’s aunt Dete appears on the mountain and tells the Alpöhi that Heidi is to go to a respectable family in Frankfurt. Against her grandfather’s wishes, she takes Heidi with her to Frankfurt. There, Heidi is to be a playmate to the paralyzed Klara in the Sesemann family, learn manners from the strict governess Fräulein Rottenmeier, and learn to read and write from a tutor. Heidi and Klara become good friends. Herr Sesemann and the servant Sebastian also grow fond of Heidi, but she longs to return to the mountains. Grandmother Sesemann understands Heidi’s distress. When homesickness makes the girl start sleepwalking, the family doctor persuades Herr Sesemann to send Heidi back to the mountains. Sebastian accompanies Heidi back to Switzerland. Everyone there is happy to have Heidi back. In winter, she and the Alpöhi move down to the village, where Heidi goes to school and teaches Geissenpeter to read. In spring, Klara comes to visit with her grandmother. Peter is jealous because Heidi seems to have eyes only for Klara now, so he pushes Klara’s wheelchair down the mountain. As a result, he unintentionally brings about Klara learning, with Heidi’s and his help, to stand and walk on her own again. Father and Grandmother Sesemann are overjoyed when they come to collect Klara and she walks toward them on her own two feet. The film ends with shots of Heidi happily running across the alpine meadows.