La storia di Anna Frank

I was skeptical of this TV movie when I found out it was not based on Anne's diary, but on a biography of Anne Frank written by Melissa Muller. I am sure I am not the only one who wondered if any truth would be presented. I was pleasantly surprised.

I have just finished watching the second half of this movie on ABC. The scenes of the concentraion camps are horrific, and really tug at your heart. I can only imagine what these camps were like for the real people and how survivors live life today. Since the story wasn't told from Anne's diary, the viewers got another view of the short but significant life Anne lived, headed by a wonder all-star cast. The movie began with Anne in 1936 and ended upon her death at Bergen-Belsen in 1945.

Hannah Taylor-Gordon was excellent as Anne. At first I wondered if she was too young (at age 14) to portray such a dramatic role, but as Anne grew, Hannah grew as well. Ben Kingsley and Tatjana Blacher played Anne and Margot's parents wonderfully, and the rest of the cast added to the beauty, horror, and passion of the film: Lili Taylor, Rob Das, Brenda Blethyn, and many more.

Wow, what an incredible masterpiece of a film. This film is a triumph that possibly is not so well known due to the fact of it originally being a 2 part TV series. Now it is a 3 hour film that doesn't waste a single second. It tells the story in 3 distinct parts - Anne's life as a schoolgirl, Anne in hiding, Anne in the concentration camps. Hannah Taylor Gordon's performance as Anne Frank is worthy of an Oscar as are the performances of the entire ensemble cast. Ben Kingsley as Otto Frank, Nicholas Audley as Peter Van Pels, Brenda Blethyn as Mrs Van Pels. I could list the entire cast as standout performers, the casting was perfect for this picture. I personally believe this should be on the same level of Spielberg's Schindler's List, which is a huge statement in itself.

My only criticism, there was one shot I felt was unnecessary even though it was arguably the best shot of the film. A starry night over the concentration camp. It looked beautiful, like a lovely dream, but I believe it was poorly placed. The whole film felt very real which is what makes it work so well, but this 1 shot felt like it was taking us out of reality and into dreamland. One lesson I have learnt from cinematography is that the most important thing to consider is not whether the shot looks good but whether it fits the scene. This shot may look lovely, but it does not fit the feeling of the scene for me.

Other than this, the film is astounding in every way, it is one of the greatest movies I have ever seen. We get a realistic view of the life that many people had to live during the war, the atrocities that took place and the very real reactions that they had to those afflictions. Many historians have said that this is the one Anne Frank film that gets everything right. Every aspect of it is accurate to what took place in the last few years of Anne Frank's life. Even to the point of being one of the only films that named the fellow hiders accurately as the Van Pels, which was their real name rather than the Van Daans that Anne's diary names them.

I have watched 1959's Anne Frank film adaptation, 2009's film adaptation, and 1995's documentary 'Anne Frank Remembered'. Yet, 'Anne Frank: The Whole Story' was the film that moved me most. Every moment feels significant. Furthermore, after watching 'Anne Frank Remembered' I have discovered that every moment is completely accurate, including the final third in the concentration camps, which would astound any viewer. How powerful those moments are and how perfectly constructed they are by the director Robert Dornhelm.

All of these Anne Frank adaptations, especially 'Anne Frank: The Whole Story' and 1959's 'The Diary of Anne Frank', have taught me a valuable lesson in life, of course, along with her diary too. Some of these quotes from Anne Frank may explain at least some of the power of her story. - "How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world". "In spite of everything, I still believe that people are truly good at heart". "As long as this exists, this sunshine and this cloudless sky, and as long as I can enjoy it, how can I be sad?". "Those who have courage and faith shall never perish in misery".

This wasn't the best review, but I felt I needed to write it after watching this film. I could go on talking about it and the impact it has made on me and I'm sure there are aspects I have forgot to mention, however, it is best that you see it for yourself. There are of course some tough scenes to watch and I can only imagine how it must have been filming those moments, but I would advise anyone with an interest in history, war, and human life to watch this film.

This movie is cast with so many captivating and amazing actors it is hard to see how it could go wrong! Anne Franks' heartfelt story is told in this movie and it is told as if you are experiencing all of her horrors right alongside her and her family. Hannah Taylor-Gordon plays a cute and heroic Anne and Ben Kingsly plays her noble and wise father Auto Frank. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie because of its' touching significance and its' sad historic references. I would not say that this movie was completely without fault. The actors mostly all speak with English accents and as well know Anne's family was Dutch so they could not possibly have English accents. Some parts of the story are laughable with the tale of Anne going through puberty before the annex and during. Her coping with getting breasts, going through her puberty and most importantly finding love. I reccommend watching this movie again because I think it would be a great classic to anyone's collection.

I know someone said that this wasn't an accurate account of Anne Frank's life but as an Asian and having only heard of Anne Frank through summaries in WWII stories, this movie really helped me to get to know this girl and her account of her life as a Jewish girl during WWII. Some facts and accounts may have been manipulated to make the story more interesting but the essence of the story was there. Hannah Taylor Gordon played Anne Frank almost too good; she even looked like the real girl and it was really scary. She really captured the spirit of the sweet wide eyed hopeful girl who never truly comprehended with the horrors of the war. It was heart wrenching to watch an innocent girl being thrown into a concentration camp but I doubt it was to get our sympathies; it was just an inkling of how the children were treated during the Holocaust. The young ones were sent directly to the gas chamber (they were useless; couldn't work) and others like Anne Frank, were made to work and suffer eventhough she was still struggling through her puberty. It wasn't a horror movie but it was scary, if you know what I mean; you can't help but cry for another innocent life lost and then be reminded in the end that Anne Frank was only one of the one and a half million children who died in the Holocaust.

Let's face this fact that Anne Frank's diary is almost as well read as the Bible, Torah, and Koran. We all know about Anne Frank, the Dutch Jewish girl, who hid in the attic with her family during World War II from the Nazis. She wrote in her diary about life in the attic and how they lived under constant fear and terror. The cast has Sir Ben Kingsley as Anne's father, Otto Frank, and lone survivor. Brenda Blethyn OBE is also in the cast. It's chilling when they get to the concentration camp of Bergen-Belsen, the separation, hair-shaving, and ritual act of dehumanizing everybody there. There was no talk among them as they sat with their hair being cut off for another purpose. We know who made it and didn't. After visiting Auschwitz in 2000, I didn't feel what I supposed to feel like ghosts and hauntings which I feared the most because it drains you emotionally. Even 60 years after the Holocaust, I fear that people are forgetting about it and not learning from it. We haven't learned because there are other Anne Franks out there. It is still a haunting and chilling testament of survival and the human spirit.