Anne Frank Remembered

The first half, that deals with the Frank family hiding in the upper floors of Mr. Frank's business, is very well done but does not really add anything to what we already know, especially if we have seen George Stevens' film or read Anne Frank's diary. It is when this very sobering documentary follows the Franks to the death camps of Auschwitz and Bergen Belsen (just to type the names induces chills) that the film becomes terrifyingly riveting and, for me, eye opening. There is a protective temptation with this particular family to freeze them at that moment when their hiding place is discovered so that they can somehow go from discovery to immortality, without having to undergo the intervening horror. Well, director John Blair will have none of that as he slowly guides us through various Nazi hellscapes to see what befell not only the Franks but millions of Jews, accompanied by stark images of barracks, guard towers and corpses and the calm, somber, and at times devastated voices of the death camp survivors. A quite shattering experience. A minus.

PS...Almost forgot to mention Kenneth Branagh's very good narration, which is serious without being stagey. Only time I've ever liked Branagh.

The documentary is excellent, except for one element - the narration says "Polish death camps" - once and for all, please get this right - there were NO POLISH death camps! Poland was occupied by Germany and the death camps were German DEATH CAMPS SET UP BY THE Nazis! This is an important piece of history that is surprisingly perpetuated in a variety of printed and film material."Usage of the term has been condemned as insulting by the Polish foreign minister Adam Daniel Rotfeld in 2005, who also alleged that it—intentionally or unintentionally—shifted the responsibility for the construction or operation of the camps from the German to the Polish people." (quoting from Wikipedia) Even Obama had to apologize for using this term as late as May 2012. This wrong term must NOT be used anymore. Death camps were NAZI CAMPS, located in Nazi-occupied Poland!

Through the years I've been very much interested in the life of this teenager who left such a profound, indelible mark on the world. My fascination has also been born of fear, as in, could this happen again.

And throughout the ensuing years, yes, I fear 'it' continues to happen around us and of course 'it' was happening long before Anne. The 'it' of course is can a so-called civilized society turn on its own or on an innocent country/race/continent and murder citizens in cold blood on the flimsiest of excuses? I leave that question out there.

At the beginning of the documentary there is a statement about the leader Adolf Hitler in that the one profound fact about Hitler that is never mentioned was that he was elected democratically and all of the atrocities committed were done as the result of a compliant poodle-press and fear-mongering propaganda played over and over again for a docile population.

One of the atrocities was Anne Frank, who put a face to the death camps by the miracle of her diary's survival.

Kenneth Brannagh does a wonderful job on the commentary and interviewing, he has that rare gift of minimizing his own persona thus allowing the subjects to speak for themselves.

Many new facts and people never before interviewed are brought to life in the meticulous research, which I will not go into here as they add immeasurably to the reality and gut wrenching sorrow of the film.

Glenn Close reads selections from the diary and her voice is perfect for the part, she brings a naiveté and freshness to the role.

Old childhood friends of Anne's are interviewed at length and her last days before death are well recorded and witnessed along with her vibrant and mischievous personality.

This is not to be missed. A wonderful and respectful film about the seldom seen Anne.

10 out of 10.

Anne Frank Remembered interviews a number of people who knew Anne, either before or after she was sent to the concentration camps. Miep Gies, one of the quartet who concealed the Frank family from the Nazis in Amsterdam for over a year, offers extensive recollections of Anne, her father, and the war. Anne's lone surviving relative, Bernd Elias, expresses his feelings about his cousin. Excerpts from 1976 and 1979 interviews with Otto Frank (who died in 1980) are included. Together with many other testimonials, these form a compelling picture of events not covered by Anne's diary. Anne Frank Remembered is as important for what it will preserve for posterity as for the story it tells today. The message emerging from the Holocaust has always been "Never Forget", and films of this quality make it impossible not to remember. If the story of each of Hitler's victims was told with the sensitivity and power of Anne Frank Remembered, there would not be enough buckets in the world to hold all the tears.

This is a film that every child should see before they grow and get distorted often passed down ideas from generation to generation of family. I grew up in two different places although only 20 miles apart. I went to school & had friends of every color creed & religion for the first 8 years of my life. Then I moved to hillbilly country (although not anymore) where it was very unusual to even have one African-American kid in your class. My graduating class in high school had 2 or 3 African-Amercians (god why can't I just say Black? You can call me a honky or whitey or whatever! all of this political correctness peeves me as it does most others!) Anyway back to the film give this a try to see what happens when people get a distorted view or just what ignorance or a lack of understanding does to a culture or a country! This is an excellent film everyone should see especially children.