The story of Anne Frank, a young Jewish girl who lived in hiding with her family during the Nazi occupation. Genre: Feature Film-Drama Rating: UN Release Date: 5-APR-2005 Media Type: DVD
Anne Frank: The Whole Story delivers exactly what it promises: the incredibly moving complete story of Anne Frank, going beyond what the Jewish teenage girl wrote in her widely read diary. Anne, along with her family and friends of her family, hid in a secret annex behind her father's office in Amsterdam during the Nazi occupation of Holland. She dutifully kept a diary, which became a worldwide bestseller when her father published it in the 1950s. The story has been adapted for television and movies before, but this version, which played on ABC television, moves beyond what Anne wrote, meeting up with the Frank family before Anne receives her diary, and following her past the diary's last entries into Auschwitz and Birkenau. Hannah Taylor Gordon is a superb Anne, bringing to life the multifaceted girl, in turns intelligent, dreamy, creative, spoiled, and bratty, a girl like any other except that Anne is a Jew in Nazi-occupied Holland. The only one who outshines Gordon is Ben Kingsley as Anne's father, Otto Frank. His quiet performance is extraordinarily powerful; as he watches his family slip away, it is impossible not to feel his grief. This brave film is difficult in parts to watch--the concentration camp scenes are brutal--but this is a remarkable adaptation of Anne's life, and it is a film to be shared and discussed and remembered. --Jenny Brown
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
Good TV movie:
Ben Kingsley is one of the great actors of our time. His performance here as Otto Frank conveys quiet strength in the face of unfathomable sorrow. But the episodic nature (where the commercial breaks are too obvious) and the tour de force allotted to young Hannah Taylor-Gordon verges on becoming a pity-party. This is, after all, a Disney film. Would I use it in the classroom? Probably not, because of (brief) bare breasts in the concentration camp, and because the teleplay by Kirk Ellis ["The Three... more info
love this movie:
i received this movie in great condition and very promptly. this is a must see film. if you like this one, definitely check out schindler's list too.
Excellent:
This film is very realistic, and while it doesn't really shy away from the realities countless suffered during the Holocaust, it is "safe or proper enough" to show to eighth graders. I believe History teachers show stronger films to students, but as a Language Arts teacher, I don't really have the same allowances. I want to reiterate that it is very realistic and excellently executed.
Riveting, but diappointing:
Dramatic portrayal of the famous diary that showed the world what life was like for Anne Frank's family during an oppressive regime of terror.
The actress portraying Anne Frank overacts and I found the overall performance less than it should have been. The drama was well acted by Mr. Kingsley who saved the film from having been way too long and poorly acted. Supporting cast was not too bad, but the whole film is too long for most people to sit through. This one is for the History Buffs.
