AllMovie

This Swiss produced version of Heidi is updated for the 21st Century, tackling the Internet, the global economy, and the problems of working moms. Despite these nods to modernity, the basic storyline remains similar to the classic book by Johanna Spyri: Heidi (Cornelia Gröschel) is a child of the Swiss Alps. When she's not roaming the countryside with her best friend Pete, she's working happily beside her mother at a quaint inn. But one day her mother is killed during an electrical storm and Heidi is left to the care of her Aunt Dete, a self-centered clothing designer in Berlin. Aunt Dete has enough problems of her own as a single parent, so she foists the girl off on her Grandpa (Paolo Villaggio), a hermit who lives in a primitive mountain hut. After some early difficulties, Heidi and Grandpa bond to one another, only to be sepearated by the reappreance of Aunt Dete. Whisked off to a luxury apartment building in the German capital, Heidi pines away for her mountain home while enduring the mischief of her cousin Clara. In the process of escape, Heidi alters the lives of all those around her by showing them the goodness of old-fashioned values.