popdrome

This is an odd one. All throughout France, Europe and the world this little film has been misunderstood. Kids play like adults in America's 19th century wild west, and they play it with a twist. There's romance, war, racism, corruption, torture and death, which, although mildly depicted in (in most cases) a humorous way, is not quite standard family flick material. Not even in France.

But there are more layers. You know, this is also a satire on how idiotic grown-ups are, a satire of Hollywood westerns, and it's even a musical! The director and producers took great risks, and from this point of view, this is certainly interesting cinema. The children play their roles quite sincerely, there's little cheesiness, and the humor is subtle enough for adults to be appreciated. It has been shot in Bulgaria (!?). Go see it if you get the chance, you're in for a surprise.

Living around the corner of the Dutch Verzetsmuseum (Museum of the Resistance), a (now quite posh) neighborhood where Anne Frank was born and raised for 13 years, I've always had a special interest in the Anne Frank books, films, theater plays and literature.

Many of you might not know that the Amsterdam Anne Frank Stichting has to approve (not license - it's a not-for-profit foundation against discrimination in general), on behalf of the Frank family, before any film or title about Anne can be commercially produced.

Nevertheless, I've seen many grotesque movie adaptations - many of which portray Anne a bigger heroine than she actually was, often played by an actress twice her age (!!), i've been disappointed oftentimes.

On a side note, I would have been happy to pay big money to've seen Natalie Portman in the theater adaptation she was supposedly in a few years ago.

This now, "Anne Frank The Whole Story", is something else. It's a very beautiful film, first of all, despite shot in Prague, depicting Amsterdam in a true way, about Anne Frank - not so much relying on her diary - but her life and times beyond the "Achterhuis".

I actually believed Hannah Taylor-Gordon, who is a joy to watch anyway, portraying the Anne Frank as I imagined her; happy and merry, steadfast, precocious and foremost just a plain dutch girl.

Needless to say, Ben Kingsley is great, and so are the many other talents. But this actress, she stole the show for me, and because Anne's story appeals to so many people worldwide, this should be a cornerstone in her acting career.

As this was largely a Czech/American production, I think it's time the Dutch start making a true-to-life version. After the Germans with the brilliant "Der Untergang" about Hitler in his bunker, I think the Dutch should have a go at this for dutch history so important lesson. If there's not enough money possibly a co-production. Because it's still rather ridiculous to hear all the characters speak with British and east-European accents.

Plus as far as I can tell, the Netherlands have plenty of acting talent.

Meanwhile, this one's a keeper until then. Highly recommended.

Cornelia Funke, German novelist and children's book writer, supposedly had Brendan Fraser in mind when she wrote this story. OK. Is Brendan Fraser a big star in Germany? I can imagine having John Malkovich or Al Pacino in mind when writing a book - but Fraser? Hmm..

Funke, who wrote The Thief Lord and Die Wilden Huhner, based this story on a simple idea: characters come to life from books when read by a specific someone. After about an hour into the film I totally lost the plot. Such a simple idea, and being unable to tell a good story around it makes it remarkably pale and thin. I didn't understand and didn't care for all the characters that were 'read' out of the book, some were happy, others wanted to go back into the book. First there was only one person who could bring characters to life, then all of a sudden there were three.

Then there was the writer of the book (who didn't have one copy of it) - then there was an evil creature. And what was the old woman's purpose on the motorbike? Eliza Bennet, who is cute, doesn't fit the role of a beautiful princess (as a tomboy like she played in the Contractor she shined) seems to be equipped with only one (1!) facial expression. A cry face. Even when she smiled she couldn't hide it.

Javier Navarrete, usually a very solid composer, created one of the most bland and unidentifiable scores of his career. Knitted together some little tatters to a gray mass of boring sostenuto.

Nope. Overall, this is not a great movie and could have been so much better. You may avoid.