Meine Beste Freundin Anne Frank

Told from the perspective of Anne Frank's closest companion, Hannah Goslar (who is still alive at 93), this fictionalized movie jumps back and forth between their idyllic life in Amsterdam and what inevitably happened to them after the Nazis took them away. Of course, the latter scenes are necessarily harsh and provide the heartbreaking moments you fully expect from the outset. The problem is that Anne comes across as capricious in the pre-camp scenes while Hannah remains stoic and devoted. Director Ben Sombogaart's simplistic approach seems at odds with the touching story despite affecting performances from the two leads, Josephine Arendsen as Hannah and Aiko Beemsterboer, who bears a striking resemblance to the real Anne Frank.