Anne Frank: The Whole Story

Anne Frank. A girl like anyone else. Anne Frank. A girl who wanted to travel, to do great things, to be a "modern woman". Just an ordinary girl, who lived and died under extraordinary circumstances. Forced into hiding after the Germans gained control of the Netherlands, she was confined in an annex for two years, and then discovered and with her family was taken to a concentration camp. She later perished there. The only survivor of the annex group was Anne's father, Otto Frank. All that is left of her story is the diary she left behind. Her diary, her legacy to the world, defined the voice of a generation. Her irrepressible spirit and pure heart shine through within its pages. Her words, some of the most precious words in history, have been preserved for posterity in the novel, Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl. This movie, Anne Frank: the Whole Story, tells this tale with such power it leaves the viewer in tears. From her bright, hopeful beginning to her heart-wrenching end, this movie grows a step further than the diary and really does show the "whole story". Inspiring, truthful, tragic, heartbreaking, yet triumph. 10/10

I was skeptical of this TV movie when I found out it was not based on Anne's diary, but on a biography of Anne Frank written by Melissa Muller. I am sure I am not the only one who wondered if any truth would be presented. I was pleasantly surprised.

I have just finished watching the second half of this movie on ABC. The scenes of the concentraion camps are horrific, and really tug at your heart. I can only imagine what these camps were like for the real people and how survivors live life today. Since the story wasn't told from Anne's diary, the viewers got another view of the short but significant life Anne lived, headed by a wonder all-star cast. The movie began with Anne in 1936 and ended upon her death at Bergen-Belsen in 1945.

Hannah Taylor-Gordon was excellent as Anne. At first I wondered if she was too young (at age 14) to portray such a dramatic role, but as Anne grew, Hannah grew as well. Ben Kingsley and Tatjana Blacher played Anne and Margot's parents wonderfully, and the rest of the cast added to the beauty, horror, and passion of the film: Lili Taylor, Rob Das, Brenda Blethyn, and many more.

What can I say about Anne Frank:The Whole Story that hasn't already been said?Not much I guess.I saw it a week ago when it premiered in Finland and was totally devastated by it.It's quite possibly the saddest movie I've ever seen.There were tears in my eyes throughout the movie and the last half an hour was almost unbearable to watch.

Hannah Taylor Gordon is a revelation.She looks just like Anne Frank but,more importantly,manages to capture her wide-eyed optimism and indomitable spirit perfectly.It's truly heart breaking to see her at the end,her spirit finally broken and all her hope gone.Gordon is so believable in her role,it's almost scary.Ben Kingsley is also wonderful as Anne's father.You really believe they are a father and a daughter.The other actors are good too,but Gordon and Kingsley really stand out.

As I said,there's nothing I can say about this movie that hasn't already been said.It's an experience that will stay with me for a long time and possibly the best holocaust movie I've ever seen. 10/10

This movie is cast with so many captivating and amazing actors it is hard to see how it could go wrong! Anne Franks' heartfelt story is told in this movie and it is told as if you are experiencing all of her horrors right alongside her and her family. Hannah Taylor-Gordon plays a cute and heroic Anne and Ben Kingsly plays her noble and wise father Auto Frank. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie because of its' touching significance and its' sad historic references. I would not say that this movie was completely without fault. The actors mostly all speak with English accents and as well know Anne's family was Dutch so they could not possibly have English accents. Some parts of the story are laughable with the tale of Anne going through puberty before the annex and during. Her coping with getting breasts, going through her puberty and most importantly finding love. I reccommend watching this movie again because I think it would be a great classic to anyone's collection.

Let's face this fact that Anne Frank's diary is almost as well read as the Bible, Torah, and Koran. We all know about Anne Frank, the Dutch Jewish girl, who hid in the attic with her family during World War II from the Nazis. She wrote in her diary about life in the attic and how they lived under constant fear and terror. The cast has Sir Ben Kingsley as Anne's father, Otto Frank, and lone survivor. Brenda Blethyn OBE is also in the cast. It's chilling when they get to the concentration camp of Bergen-Belsen, the separation, hair-shaving, and ritual act of dehumanizing everybody there. There was no talk among them as they sat with their hair being cut off for another purpose. We know who made it and didn't. After visiting Auschwitz in 2000, I didn't feel what I supposed to feel like ghosts and hauntings which I feared the most because it drains you emotionally. Even 60 years after the Holocaust, I fear that people are forgetting about it and not learning from it. We haven't learned because there are other Anne Franks out there. It is still a haunting and chilling testament of survival and the human spirit.