****There are some slight spoilers, but I'm not going to give away any finer details.**** I guess there are a lot of down points to this film. Miscasting, revisionist literature, et cetera. But despite all this Courage Mountain is still a rather entertaining movie.
A sequel to Heidi, one of the world's most beloved children's books, our protagonist finds herself with a large inheritance. So Grandfather sends her to an elite school for girls where she can learn to fend for herself like any rich girl.
She travels to Italy and spends only a short time in the school when World War One breaks out. The Italian Army commandeers the school and the children (including Heidi) whose parents could not be reached are shipped to an orphanage where they are forced to do hard labor.
The orphanage is run by a sinister man, a really evil version of Mr. Bumbles from Oliver!, who works the poor children to death. Literally.
Then they plan to escape across the Alps to Switzerland to Heidi's Grandfather. But to complicate their plans the orphanage owner persues them across war-torn Italy with the sole intention of killing them.
Sounds reasonably good? Well, it is. Despite the occasional miscast like Charlie Sheen as Peter, Heidi's love, there is good acting now and then, especially from Juliette Caton who plays Heidi. There's also the good production design and cinematography. Courage Mountain also has the feel of adventure; a sense of urgency.
It's not perfect, as mentioned. The movie has the feeling that it had been longer and better written, but that it has been cut to make it more Kiddy-Friendly. Scenes pass too quickly for the acting to be engrossing. Detail has been given to the narrative yet the human element (character development) has been left out.
Ultimately it is the Great Escape for children with elements from Oliver Twist and Heidi thrown in to create a movie, which, despite being somewhat watchable, could have been great!
I give it a 7 out of 10. It should really get a 5 but I added two points for effort. Not all my agree (especially if your picky) with my score but face it: it could have been worse and there worse movies out there.
A sequel to Heidi, one of the world's most beloved children's books, our protagonist finds herself with a large inheritance. So Grandfather sends her to an elite school for girls where she can learn to fend for herself like any rich girl.
She travels to Italy and spends only a short time in the school when World War One breaks out. The Italian Army commandeers the school and the children (including Heidi) whose parents could not be reached are shipped to an orphanage where they are forced to do hard labor.
The orphanage is run by a sinister man, a really evil version of Mr. Bumbles from Oliver!, who works the poor children to death. Literally.
Then they plan to escape across the Alps to Switzerland to Heidi's Grandfather. But to complicate their plans the orphanage owner persues them across war-torn Italy with the sole intention of killing them.
Sounds reasonably good? Well, it is. Despite the occasional miscast like Charlie Sheen as Peter, Heidi's love, there is good acting now and then, especially from Juliette Caton who plays Heidi. There's also the good production design and cinematography. Courage Mountain also has the feel of adventure; a sense of urgency.
It's not perfect, as mentioned. The movie has the feeling that it had been longer and better written, but that it has been cut to make it more Kiddy-Friendly. Scenes pass too quickly for the acting to be engrossing. Detail has been given to the narrative yet the human element (character development) has been left out.
Ultimately it is the Great Escape for children with elements from Oliver Twist and Heidi thrown in to create a movie, which, despite being somewhat watchable, could have been great!
I give it a 7 out of 10. It should really get a 5 but I added two points for effort. Not all my agree (especially if your picky) with my score but face it: it could have been worse and there worse movies out there.