A Small Light

We finished this 8-episode mini-series over three evenings. It is good one, a damn good one.

This is the Anne Frank story but told from the perspective of Miep Gies, a Dutch woman who risked her life to shelter Anne Frank's family from the Nazis for more than two years during World War II.

This is a superhero story of someone ordinary who accomplished extraordinary things. But if Miep were still alive she would harangue me for using the word superhero because in her view anybody can and should do what she did.

The Anne Frank story has been seared into the world's consciousness - a story of heroic resilience in the face of insurmountable odds. Years ago I visited the Anne Frank museum and I remember thinking how could a family of eight stay cooped up in an annex for two years and why didn't more people do what Miep and her husband Jan did?

The first two episodes are very easy to watch and I loved the love story of Miep and Jan. The meet-cute is a disaster but the second time they meet is magical. It is so easy to get behind them and understand why they did it. I kept questioning myself what would I have done if I were in their shoes. Would I be brave enough?

The last three episodes are filled with suspense to breaking point. So many eleventh hour tick tock nail-biting situations that make Mission Impossible movies a joke because it happened to real people. I know exactly what happened to the Franks but I was still hoping they survive.

Sorry, my words are crap. But trust me that this deserves your undivided attention and it is surprisingly not difficult to watch even if the suffering is unthinkable. I don't know... If I have kids I would sit them down and watch this with them because there are so many brilliant teaching moments, but that's me.

The reason this is called A Small Light is because of a quote by Miep who always ended her speeches with this: "But even an ordinary secretary or a housewife or a teenager can, within their own small ways, turn on a small light in a dark room."

This may be the best miniseries I've ever seen. The acting, writing, cinematography, costumes, direction puts you in the story. Bel Pawley is revelatory. Liev Schreiber is the father we all want. Joe Cole's quiet morality is amazing. All of the actors, OMG. You feel like you're there, day to day, with people to whom we can all relate, those just living their lives, and those seduced by fascism.

They all lived in a multicultural country with free speech, nightclubs, and work. Disaster came upon them slowly. Then they had to do extraordinary things to try to save friends and neighbors when the world crashed in around them. The beauty of the series is you can see yourself in them. Watch it.

I joined IMDB shortly after it made its appearance on the Internet circa 1993.

The production design is incredible. The cinematography is excellent. The acting is spectacular. The story is engaging. The historicity is exemplary.

I, usually, do not gravitate toward dramatic media. However, this production is so well balanced that I was sucked in very quickly.

Not once was I ever bored and anticipated every scene. The screenplay writers must be acknowledged for their incredible efforts.

I look forward to the remaining episodes and hope others will appreciate the great effort that has been put into this project.

I've watched several episodes, and feel compelled to continue with this series, which is based on real people in Europe during World War II. The writing is effective and well paced. With the difficult themes, it would be easy for the writers to be overly sentimental or strong-handed with morality issues, but they've wisely avoided these traps. The script offers engaging dialogue and realistic scenes, brimming with empathy while reflecting the terrible dilemma of that time. I'm impressed with the cast, particularly Bel Powley, Joe Cole, and Liev Schreiber. The costumes, set design, and cinematography are all quite fitting.

With only 2 episodes released at the time I'm writing this, I can't vouch for the entire season.. but I'm LOVING it So far! Cinematography is a great mix of artsy/creative and mainstream- artsy for me and mainstream enough for me to watch with my mom who isn't into a lot of the dark and "weird" shows I like. I really appreciate the balance of tension and pure emotion the writers are managing to build in a story we all know.

I'm the type of viewer that can't enjoy other elements properly if bad acting takes me out of the story... but this has been wonderfully cast! Otto, and Miep have been truly incredible so far, and I look forward to exploring the other characters in the coming episodes!

I felt the need to write this review because the only other written review is 1 star based on it not being historically accurate... and I can't stress this enough, ACCURACY /= A GREAT SHOW. A Small Light has managed to portray a horrific, and already thoroughly told, point of history from a different perspective. For everyone who sat in history class and said "I would have done xyz if I was around when nazis were committing war crimes", this gives peek into what that would have been like to actually make those tough choices... and the story is captivating regardless if it's an actual diary from the time.

This is a clear step forward in Hulu's originals track record, 100% recommend!