Anne Frank: The Whole Story (2001)

I'm a grown man and it takes a lot to make me cry, but the story of Anne Frank makes me unashamed to let my tears out. I first read the book in 1992 when I was 13, and although I remembered being touched by it then, I was too young to draw any lessons from it. Recently, I read an article about Hezbollah campaigning to remove extracts of the book from a Lebanese school textbook, and was reminded of her story. I found my old copy, read it again, went on the internet to read about her life in more details..origin, childhood...I want to find out more about her entire life, not just the period from her going into hiding to her death.In a way, this TV movie had helped me learn more about Anne Frank's tragic life, and brought me into her world. I imagined myself being a carefree child, leading a normal life, dreaming of becoming a writer or journalist, I imagined myself stored away for 2 years in a home that is not a home, a prison that is not a prison, wondering why there are people who want to harm you, if anyone will come and save you, if there is light at the end of the tunnel, and probably always dreading an unfamiliar sound or voice floating into your ears.At the end of the movie, I was left with a hollow feeling and tears in my eyes, tears I am proud to admit I can't stop. I reflected on Anne Frank's short life, a life never lived, dreams never fulfilled, places never visited, romance never found, children never had, and I want to go back there and help her when she was hiding, when she was suffering in the concentration camp. This movie had that effect on me, although I must admit it was mainly because she touched me so much. The underlying story will shine through any poor portrayal of her life; the fact that this is a very good and realistic production only serves to enhance and reinforce the lessons Annelise Marie Frank taught the world about courage, humanity, kindness and so many more.

I have seen many of the Anne Frank movies and yet - none has ever felt as right as this one! Whoever reads Anne's diary will have the impression that she was - for her age - a normal, sometimes troubled teenager, full of dreams and ideas about her future. Anne never hesitated to note down her fears and frustrations in her diary. "Anne Frank: The Whole Story" shows this specific trade of her personality and differs - especially by this fact - from all prior movies on the subject who often idealized her. The actress portraying her demonstrates this ambiguity in Anne's character in a wonderful, natural way without making the girl seem dull or flat. The same is also true with the rest of the cast who do not only look much like the historical people but who also create the tone that can be found in Anne's diary. To me as a historian it is the small details that count: By shooting this film in and around the original Amsterdam house and sights, not only the "annex" seems realistic but also the whole film itself reaches a never-before-seen level of authenticity and gives the story a whole new quality. Last, and most important of all it seems, is the fact that the plot of this movie begins long before the Franks hid in the annex and ends with Anne's father Otto as the family's only concentration camp survivor who eventually decides to publish his daughter's diary. This has been left out by all the films before and is a good proof that the movie makers did their homework by going beyond the story portrayed in the book! Therefore the title "The whole story" is well chosen. I recommend this film to all people who have read the diary and who were disappointed by the other films. This is a must-see for all students and teachers of history!

Once again I had to watch this movie as a wrap to the Holocaust unit in English class. Let me tell you right off the bat, I cried so hard at the end. I had to leave the room I was crying so hard and I couldn't stop. The only movie that has ever made me cry is Titanic.This movie is perfect. It follows Anne through her years before hiding and after they are found.Anne Frank was an ordinary teenage girl. She wanted to see the world and be famous. Anne loved her father but didn't get along so well with her mother. She was forced into hiding from the Nazi's in a small attic with seven other people. She had to go through ordinary teenager things, like getting her period, in hiding. She couldn't see her friend or other family, or this boy she had a crush on before she went into hiding. She later falls in love with Peter, one of the people in hiding with her and she clashes with people in the "Secret Annexe" what she calls the hiding place.When they are found, it broke my heart. When they are in the concentration camp it broke my heart. I basically cried from the time they are found to the time that Anne and Margot die at Bergen-Belson, and let's not forget Otto Frank just collapsing when he found out his wife and children are dead.All in all a very powerful movie. The best Anne Frank movie made. A must see and must own.

This well-made TV movie is a very moving experience. Seeing in graphic detail how a well-adjusted and endearing teenage girl deals with the horrors of persecution as her family is forced into hiding to avoid the Nazi terror cannot fail to engage the heart and mind. It shows Anne before the Nazi invasion of Holland as a bubbling girl eager for education and socialisation. Her indomitable spirit is well portrayed during her family's long months of hiding in the back of a factory in Amsterdam. Her physical deterioration after her capture is shown graphically, as is her will to survive to make her mark upon the world. Ironically, she did make her mark upon the world posthumously through her diary, the most-widely read work of non-fiction in the world after the Bible.For me, the virtual incarceration of her family in the factory was very sad and thought-provoking. Taken from their normal lives and stripped of all those things they held dear, Anne's family strives to remain positive of better times ahead. How would we fare if required to give up all that we possessed and go into hiding for fear of our lives? A totally depressing thought, and yet that is what happened to Anne and her family.The later scenes, after the family was captured, humiliated, separated and sent to concentration camps, is simply tragic.The fine performances of Hannah Taylor-Gordon in the title role and Ben Kingsley as her father, Otto Frank, deserve special mention, although the entire cast was believable. Hannah Taylor-Gordon's performance was a revelation - she conveyed a range of emotions that superbly captured Anne's spirit and also her human weaknesses.The movie is not without its weaknesses. It is slow at times and could perhaps been improved by tighter editing, although this may have detracted from the accurate portrayal of the tediousness of living concealed behind closed doors for so long a period.The concentration camp scenes are disturbing and Anne's gradual physical deterioration is depressing. It is not a movie to entertain but one to stir the emotions and the resolve to ensure that this sort of persecution and genocide is never again allowed to happen.It is also a depressing reminder that it still is happening in various parts of the world.