Anne Frank: The Whole Story (2001) (TV)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Robert Dornhelm

Writers (WGA):

Melissa Müller (book)
Kirk Ellis (teleplay)

Release Date:

20 May 2001 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | War

Tagline:

The hiding was only the beginning

Plot:

When the war began, she was only a little girl. When it ended, she was the voice of a generation... A compassionate and sensitive televisual portrait of the Holocaust's greatest diarist. |

Plot Keywords:

Holocaust | Amsterdam Netherlands | Historical | D Day | Sergeant

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Golden Globes. Another 6 wins & 20 nominations

Cast

Ben Kingsley	...	Otto Frank
Brenda Blethyn	...	Auguste Rottgen-van Pels
Hannah Taylor-Gordon	...	Anne Frank (as Hannah Taylor Gordon)
Tatjana Blacher	...	Edith Hollander-Frank
Joachim Król	...	Hermann van Pels
Jessica Manley	...	Margot Frank
Nicholas Audsley	...	Peter van Pels (as Nick Audsley)
Jan Niklas	...	Fritz Pfeffer
Lili Taylor	...	Miep Gies
Peter Bolhuis	...	Victor Kugler
Victoria Anne Brown	...	Jacque van Maarsen
Jeff Caster	...	Lammert Hartog
Rob Das	...	Jan Gies
Holger Daemgen	...	Sergeant Silberbauer
Cees Geel	...	Wilhelm van Maaren

Also Known As:

Anne Frank (UK)

Runtime:

120 min | Israel:180 min | Sweden:190 min | USA:189 min (DVD version) | UK:190 min (DVD) | USA:190 min (copyright length)

Country:

USA | Czech Republic

Language:

English | German | Dutch | French | Hebrew

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Finland:K-11 | UK:12 | Singapore:PG | Brazil:14 | Sweden:11 | USA:Not Rated (DVD rating) | USA:TV-14 (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Prague, Czech Republic

Company:

Dorothy Pictures

Trivia:

The ABC project was not sanctioned by Bernd Elias, Anne Frank's cousin and chairman of the Anne Frank Fonds (which owns copyright of Anne's Dairy), as a result, the film cannot directly quote "Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl".

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The German guards in the camp watchtower are equipped with post-war Russian DHSK machine-guns.

Quotes:

Hermann van Pels: Did you get the bread?
[Peter doesn't answer]
Hermann van Pels: Give me the keys, I'll get it myself! And get rid of that stupid cat, you look like you're wearing one of your Mother's precious furs.
[Slaps Peter]
Hermann van Pels: Dumkopft.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 59th Annual Golden Globe Awards (2002) (TV)

This could be the saddest story ever filmed

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.