Moritz

When his mother is rushed to the hospital with severe seizure-inducing headaches, Moritz decides to temporarily move in with the two gay men next door. The two men are not entirely happy with this new responsibility as they are already having some relationship difficulties, one is under a lot of pressure due to a possible promotion at work and the other is missing city life.

While the small Swiss town has accepted having two gay men living there, having a small boy live with them raises issues of homophobia and pedophilia. Add in an icy Teutonic grandmother who's been estranged from Moritz's mother for years, an overworked part-time mayor and several meddling housfraus and you have the beginnings of a public uproar just when the President of the Swiss Republic is planning a trip to this, his old home town.

Soon Moritz has won the hearts of the two men and his presence helps them to begin to patch up their differences. But will the townspeople let him stay or will he have to go to a foster home?

Well made and to the point this Swiss made for television story gives us a unique look into contemporary Swiss small town life and attitudes

Angela, the single parent of Moritz, is in hospital to have a brain tumour removed. Before being admitted, she asks her neighbours, Ralph and Andi, a gay couple, to look after her son. Meddling neighbours get to hear about it and start a campaign to "save the boy from the pedophiles". The gay couple starts receiving threatening calls and even gets a stone thrown through their window. Then Angela's mother arrives to look after her grandson, the first time in many years that she has seen the boy. She clearly has a very strained relationship with her daughter. Moritz refuses to go with his grandmother; he would rather stay with Ralph and Andi.

As a subplot we have their Swiss village of Aadorf preparing for the visit of the Bundeskanzler, the Federal Chancellor. Members of the community threaten that they will disrupt this VIP's visit to complain about Moritz staying with the gay couple. And indeed, things come to a head during the Federal Chancellor's visit.

The theme of a boy moving in with a gay couple is highlighted in other films as well. Just think of 'Breakfast with Scott' (2003) where we have a young boy, who after his mother's passing away, moves in with his gay uncle and his partner. Another film with a similar theme is the excellent 'Cachorro' (aka 'Bear Cub') of 2004 in which a lad moves in with his gay uncle and his partner when his mother leaves on an overseas holiday, where, incidentally, she got arrested on drug-related charges. As is the case with 'Moritz', in 'Cachorro' the lad's grandmother also pitches up, demanding to look after the boy, and similarly the boy refuses to go with her. The main difference between 'Moritz' and the other two films mentioned, is that the emphasis in 'Moritz' is more on the response of the community to the boy staying with the gay couple.

Although in no way a bad movie, 'Moritz' is not in the same class as 'Cachoro'. I found acting by Jonas Rohr (Moritz), Anatole Taubman (Andi) and Rudolph Straub (Ralph) realistic, while the cinematography is quite good. I have some problems with the script however. Too much time is spent on the subplot, the preparations for the Bundeskanzler's visit, and that diverts attention away from the main issues being dealt with. Nevertheless, I score 'Moritz' an above average 6/10.

I just saw "Moritz", and i thought: Wow! The "Schwizer" can do some films! It is a good story, good told and sometimes great acting.

The Story begun quick, things happened fast, but there were never missing parts, the screenplay was logic and the editing worked well. It is a highly emotional movie, and thats what i liked about it, and if emotions are real, really well acted, then it gives you a feeling of being absolutely involved into the story, and so i felt.

Congratulations from Switzerland, to Switzerland. If you in the States have the opportunity to watch this film, then do it, it is rewarding.

Thanks for reading this

mfg Johnny

I saw 'Moritz' at its TV-premiere on Swiss Television, SF1, on October 26, 2003. It's the story of an eight year old boy whose mother has to go to hospital for brain tumor surgery. The boy likes to live with the two neighbors, Ralph and Andreas, who live together as a homosexual couple. But some people in the country-side village don't like that and want to bring the boy to a normal, 'decent' family.

What I like most about this movie is its beautiful, human story. Most of the characters are shown as interesting people with strong but also weak aspects. It's touching to see how relationships start to grow. No (spectacular) action, but many small, lovely, warm-hearted, witty scenes and dialogues.

It's the second feature film by Swiss director Stefan Haupt, whose first, 'Utopia Blues' was also a human story about a young man (teenager) with personal problems. Also the documentaries of this director are remarkable, f.e. about Elisabeth Kübler-Ross.