Anne Frank Remembered
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Movie Reviews of Anne Frank Remembered
Movie Review: One of the most insightful and comprehensive documentaries on Anne Frank
Summary: 5 Stars
"Anne Frank Remembered" is a well-compiled documentary that provides deep insights - into the life of Anne Frank, the famous diarist who recorded her experiences as a Jew in hiding with her family and acquaintances in Nazi-occupied Holland, of her life before going into hiding, insights into her character as gleaned through interviews with her childhood friends and acquiantances, as well as portraying the horrific events that led to the Final Solution, i.e. the Holocaust [ film reels of Jews being persecuted & deported, scenes of concentration camps etc].
The documentary is narrated by Kenneth Branagh and excerpts from the diary are read by Glenn Close. It begins with a close look at Anne's background prior to her going into hiding with her family. Anne's family are German Jews, and Anne's father Otto actually served as an officer in the German Army during WW I. However, when Hitler came to power in 1933, his virulent anti-semitism motivates the Franks to leave Germany - most go to neutral Switzerland but Otto takes his wife Edith, and daughters Margot and Anne to Holland where he has business connections.
Through some insightful and candid interviews with Anne's childhood friends and acquiantances such as Hanneli Goslar and also Miep Gies [one of the Dutch Gentiles that helped the Frank family whilst they were in hiding], we discover Anne's natural tendency to be the center of attention, her precociousness and outspokenness.
When the Nazis invade Holland, Otto Frank decides his family should go into hiding - and arrangements are made for them to hide with the Van Pels' at the office where Otto used to conduct his business. When Margot receives a deportation order, the Franks' go into immediate hiding, giving outsiders the impression they left for Switzerland.
Once in hiding, Anne pours out her innermost thoughts and feelings to her prized confidante - her diary [a present from Otto on her 13th birthday]. Contained within the diary are Anne's intimate thoughts on the pains and joys of adolescence, her dreams and her frustrations, especially with her mother [whom Anne felt didn't really understand her] and also Mr "Dussel" [the dentist Mr Pfeffer]. It was quite a revelation to listen to Mr Pfeffer's son disagree with Anne's unflattering portrayal of his father in the diary. It was also poignant to see this grown man tear up and thank Miep Gies for helping his father go into hiding.
The latter half of the documentary attempts to reconstruct the events that occurred after the Franks and the rest were captured by the Gestapo - their brief stint in prison before being sent off to Westerbork [a transit camp] and finally deported to Auschwitz and other concentration camps. The retelling of the tragic fates that befell these innocent people is heartwrenching indeed.
The final scene that has stayed with me is of Anne watching a wedding from her apartment window - it is the only moving footage of Anne that has remained till this day...though brief, it captures this young girl in a moment in time when she was filled with all those childhood dreams, and still untouched by the tragic events that were soon to follow. It serves as a poignant reminder of what might have been had this lovely young woman lived to realise her full potential. "Anne Frank Remembered" is a must-watch documentary for students of history and for anyone with an interest in Anne or the Holocaust.
Movie Review: She is perhaps Hitler's best known victim, but what was Anne Frank really like?
Summary: 5 Stars
And so begins Anne Frank Remembered, a beautifully crafted in-depth look at the life, death, and timeless appeal of a young Jewish girl who wished to "live on even after my death." Filmmaker Jon Blair paints a fuller picture of who Anne Frank really was by interviewing some of the people who knew her best including childhood friends Hanneli Goslar and Jaqueline van Maarsen. Both describe the girl as a social butterfly whose very presence demanded attention and never backed down when it came to speaking her mind. Hanneli recalls a famous saying her mother made about Anne: "God knows everything, but Anne knows everything better!"
She was feisty, fun loving, and sometimes bossy. Much different than her proper, quieter sister Margot. A family friend remembers how different the Frank parents were when it came to disciplining their children. Mother Edith was the no nonsense type that scolded Anne whenever she drew negative attention to herself, but Papa Otto saw her as the apple of his eye and allowed her to be a free spirit.
Much detail is given to the tightening vise of the anti-Jewish Nazi laws and the dreaded call-up that led to the Frank's decision to go into hiding. Otto's employees including the young Miep Gies took the dangerous tasks of hiding the family (as well as the Van Pels and dentist Fritz Pfeffer). Nearing 85 at the time of her interview, Miep recalls the daily task of supplying food and other goods to those in hiding and the constant fear of discovery. Her English wasn't the best, but her occasional use of bad grammar and long pauses make her more endearing. Her meeting with Dr. Pfeffer's son Peter is so moving and real. Unfortunately he passed away after a long battle with cancer shortly afterward. Speaking of Pfeffer, those who've read the diary are already familiar with Anne's many run-ins with the seemingly stern man. Little did she know that both shared a common love of life and freedom nearly stifled by their cramped quarters.
Fellow captives Janny Brandes-Brilleslijper and Rachel van Amerongen-Frankfoorder share their memories of the days following the arrests of those in the Secret Annex to the transit camp Westerbork and death camps Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen, where Anne briefly reunited with friend Hanneli on the other side of a fence. Hanneli wonders out loud if Anne might've fought harder to survive if she'd known her father hadn't been gassed on arrival at Auschwitz. Sadly Otto was the only survivor and Miep handed over his daughter's diary only after she'd learned the girl wasn't coming back. She hated being called a hero, but what she did was truly heroic and without her Anne's diary would've been lost forever. The last part of the film covers the diary's publication and the impact it continues to make to this very day.
The most striking scene is of 12 year old Anne leaning on her balcony watching a wedding take place on the street below. The clip lasts only seven seconds yet it cements the fact that she was a real flesh and blood girl who had no idea of how her short life would end or the legacy she'd leave behind.
Movie Review: Good At Heart, and In Our Hearts Forever
Summary: 5 Stars
Young, rascally Anne Frank, if not for the extraordinary circumstances of her life, may have grown up to be a writer, a movie star, or any of the other thousand things she dreamed and fantasized about, as any adolescent girl does. Instead, she has become an icon, a symbol of hope, and an inspiration to millions of people around the world who have suffered under the hands of despotism and fear. This DVD serves as a documentary, and tribute, to this amazing girls life.Directed by Jon Blair, who previously produced a documentary on the life of Oskar Schindler, brings his skills and expertise to bringing to life the life of Anne and her family as they first flee Germany to set up her home in Amsterdam, and then, to flee into hiding once German invades the Netherlands. As told through the eyes of her childhood friends, Anne is precocious, impish and fun. Interviews with Lies Gosslar and others provide first hand accounts about her, and make her real and authentic, not grandios or distorted, as the tendency may be for someone as famous as Anne. This documentary also doesn't shy away from Anne's burgeoning sexuality and her feelings about her adolscence, which provides a more complete picture of this girl.
The documentary moves into the Frank family needing to hide from the Nazis in their Secret Annex, and we meet the impressive Miep Gies, who sustained the people living there for two years. The footage of Miep in the Annex itself was astounding, and her testimony honest and compelling. A scene in which the son of Fritz Pfeffer, the Jewish dentist who also hid in the Secret Annex, meets Miep in Annex itself reduced me to tears in an instant; kudos to Blair for making this reunion happen and capture it on film. Amazing cinema.
What I appreciated most about this documentary occurs after everyone in captured from the Annex and forced into the hands of the Nazis. Blair painstakingly recounts the final months of the Franks lives, which in past documentaries seems to be rushed over. Blair brings Jewish survivors who knew the Franks back to the camps they were imprisoned in, and shared their experiences. The effect is chilling, and allows us to truly understand the last months of Anne's life more than I ever have before. He brings back Lies to talk about being with Anne during her last few days; incredible.
Also amazing, Blair digging up a very brief movie clip of Anne herself, leaning out the window watching a wedding happen on her street. The twelve year old girl becomes even more alive as we see her, hair blowing in the wind, looking up and behind her, not knowing what her fate will be in just a few years.
Anne Frank so longed to be known around the world, dreaming of becoming a famous writer, and even began to prepare her diary for publication after the war. While she never lived to see that occur, her legacy and gift to the world, through her inspirational words, remains with us today. And this documentary serves as an excellent tribute to her short, short life.
Movie Review: Never Again
Summary: 5 Stars
Anne Frank's high activity level as a little girl is that which is often seen in highly gifted babies and young children; that Anne became a gifted writer is no accident. When a child is very young, the energetic pace is often one sign of of a highly active mind. I wanted first to clear that up, since some viewers may take second-hand accounts of "naughtiness" at face value. I believe that Anne Frank deserves nothing less than the highest praise, regardless of how people who were raised more strictly may describe her as a little girl.
The film itself is breathtakingly real. That such a precious child should have been treated by the Nazis in such a horribly unhuman manner is unthinkable to those who have any shred of human decency. That anyone should be treated in such a brutal manner by virtue of their ethnicity, religion, color or creed, is inhumanity at its lowest depths and should never, ever happen again.
Miep Gies is a heroine of vast and far-reaching proportions for hiding the Franks, the Van Pelses and the dentist, though she says she was just being a human being. She was a courageous and kind woman who, like Anne Frank herself, serves as a model of the highest caliber for humanity to follow. Otto Frank also served as an important role model for his parenting methods, for allowing the child Anne to be herself and to grow in her own way, in her own time.
If it hadn't been for the Nazi holocaust, Anne and her sister, along with the others, would have been free to live and let live, and Anne would have undoubtedly become one of the most prolific and inspiring writers of all time, traveling the globe and meeting the movie stars whose photos she still has pasted on the walls of the Anne Frank museum.
Shame on the Nazis for curtailing and making an actual, living hell of this beautiful little girl's life and depriving her and her loved ones and fellow Jews all over Europe of their freedom, well-being and happiness.
Thank you for this film which is a testament to caring and kind and courageous people like Miep Gies and company,without whom this world would be a dreadful place indeed.
May this never happen again, to anyone anywhere in the world, lest the diary and life of Anne Frank be in vain.
Movie Review: Superb Documentary
Summary: 5 Stars
When I was 15 I was a part of the Eisenhower People to People student ambassador program and stayed in Holland under the roof of a former member of the Dutch Resistance (the father of which was still proud to show me his old pistol, hidden away from those days). I saw the exterior of the Frank house, the Secret Annex. Now I am a Phd in European Military History, the author of five books and I mention this to give some credibility to my statement that this is a magnificent documentary. A must-have for every household in the world. The entire production is excellent and historic with oral interviews of those who were there. I was deeply touched by that steadfast bulwark of humanity, Otto Frank and by the incredibly modest and heroic Miep Gies who is a role model for all womanhood. I could write a book on my feelings about these noble people and those that lived with them and aided them. Do not miss this documentary!! Dr. David Bullock, Captain, USAFR, ret.