Karry
Best movie of this year hands down!
UnowPriceless
hyped garbage
Steineded
How sad is this?
Rafael Luiz
I have seen many versions of Anne Frank's story and I was really impressed by the quality of this version. The first good point is how is portraited Edith, it's the first time we can see how panicked she was when arrived in the annex. The second good point is the reaction of Otto by a personal letter written to him by Anne, something that had never been shown before.Thumbs up to Ellie Kendrick, the best Anne Frank so far and Lesley Sharp as Petronella. Lesley Sharp delivered the best Mrs. van Daan just as described in Anne Frank's Diary.I'm looking forward to the DVD!
shakermaker1984
This new TV adaption of the story of Anne Frank produced by BBC is what I had been looking forward to for a long time. However, after watching all of the five episodes this week, I felt a bit disappointed.As a big fan of Anne Frank all the time, certainly I have read her affecting diary that nearly everybody in the world knows about, as well as the memoir written by the attic-helper Miep Gies and the biography written by Melissa Muller. Besides this new BBC version, I also had watched three videos of her story before: one is a film and the other two are made for TV. The film adaption was made in 1959 by Americans, which is the first work about Anne on screen. Though I don't like this film at all since the cast and the set are far away from the truth in history, it still hold the value and importance for its first attempt of adapting her story. The second is a TV adaption made in 1988 by US, and compared to the film adaption, this one stepped forward quite much in any aspect. For the reason that it was mainly based on the memoir "Anne Frank Remembered" written by Miep Gies, this little-known TV adaption only adopted the view of Miep Gies and thus overlooked most of the details in the attic as well as the content of Anne's diary. The third one "Anne Frank: The Whole Story" is still a TV adaption made by Americans in 2001, despite the fact that most of the characters are from Britain. This is the only adaption I am totally satisfied with and I can't help to watch it over and over again. It is based on the biography of Anne Frank written by Melissa Muller and covers the whole life of our little Heroin including her joyful life before hiding, the hard days in the secrete attic and the tragic last period in the concentration camp. I have to say the cast and set of this adaption are so appropriate and exact that it is just as authentic as the history. The plot is intense, compelling and heart-warming, thereby making you feel like that you were trapped in the attic too and could be caught at any time.This new BBC adaption, however, is more like an English soap than a serious historical drama. Anyway, the little star Ellie Kendrick looks very witty and enchanting, but some of rest characters are quite boring especially her mother who looks just like suffering from the mental disease. Moreover, Mrs. Petronella Van Daan, her lips are always as red as cherry, and her untimely humor is extremely annoying and unnecessary. Even the Sergeant in the last episode looks so kind and so English that we can't think him as a Nazi devil. On the whole, this diary based adaption gets some improper humor and the act of some roles are a bit exaggerated in my opinion. It seems like they were threatening themselves deliberately rather than revealing the fear in their own heart naturally.
Robston
There can't be many people who haven't heard of the story of Anne Frank. The 13 year old girl from a Jewish family who, to avoid evacuation from Holland by the Nazis, hid with her family in the rooms above her fathers business for 2 years before being caught. The diary she kept during this period was published after the war and has since been translated into a number of languages and has become the most widely read piece of non-fiction apart from the Bible.The rights to the story are rarely available and it's pleasing that this new production transmitted on the BBC over five half-hour episodes on consecutive nights is a great example of quality, thought provoking and moving television that should be enjoyed by all.Ellie Kendrick stars as Anne, the teenage daughter of Otto (Iain Glen) and Edith Frank (Tamsin Greig). In her diaries Anne comes across as a precocious teenager, sometimes impertinent and always with something to say regardless of other peoples feelings and Ellie Kendrick's performance captures this perfectly. She is a teenager after all and we get to know all her growing pains through her diary entries. Iain Glen is the solid and almost perfect father and is amiably assisted by Tamsin Grieg as a quiet and dependable mother. The supporting cast including Lesley Sharp, Ron Cook and Geoff Bretton as the Van Daans are all exceptional, particularly Lesley Sharp whose performance as the selfish and head strong Petronella was always entertaining. The production values were first rate and the recreation of the rooms where the families lived really made you appreciated how claustrophobic, stressful, and monotonous their daily lives must have been. As the series concludes and you get more and more attached to these characters the sudden discovery of the secret annex by the police is well handled and very emotional.A very strong series that is never preachy or over-dramatic and which I hope is transmitted in as many countries as possible. Highly enjoyable and recommended.
pawebster
One can only be grateful to the BBC, which (along with a lot of rubbish) produces so many worthwhile, thoughtful and carefully crafted programmes.This is one of them. The story of Anne, her family, Peter's family and the dentist has been dramatised with great attention to detail and sensitivity. The sets seem to be exact recreations of the real hiding place in Amsterdam.Ellie Kendrick is a great find as Anne. She is quite a good look-alike and convincingly acts Anne's personality. This version is far from painting her as a saint. She is portrayed as quite selfish and petulant, and cruel towards her mother. This seems to be truthful.Most of the rest of the cast are good, and are also have quite a good resemblance to the real people they represent.I only have doubts about the actor playing Peter. He is way too old for the part. A man of 24 is not suitable to play a boy of 16, try as he might. To make matters worse, his face seems to have been painted pink and white to make him seem younger, but this merely looks unnatural.However, this is a minor blemish in a very good production.
