I just finished reading the diary of Anne Frank and was moved. As you probably already know, Anne Frank was a German-born Dutch Jewish girl who went into hiding with her family and another family during the Holocaust. The majority of the movie takes place in their hiding spot. There are also added post-war scenes at the beginning and end of the movie that Anne of course couldn't have written, because she didn't survive.
I was curious to see this movie, which I had only seen two scenes of on TV- Anne not throwing away her yellow star because it's a Star of David, and Mr. Van Daan drawing fury for stealing food. Neither scene is from the actual diary. There's the rub- the best parts of this movie are lifted directly from the book, but what's added, changed or left out is no improvement. Anne's diary reads as good as fiction already, so I don't think there was much need to "dramatize" it. Some scenes- like the characters confessing their sins on D-Day- come close to sappy, and Anne never really reconciled with her mother. I also wasn't very impressed with the actress playing Anne in this film. By all means, see the movie- but don't see the movie instead of reading the real thing.
I was curious to see this movie, which I had only seen two scenes of on TV- Anne not throwing away her yellow star because it's a Star of David, and Mr. Van Daan drawing fury for stealing food. Neither scene is from the actual diary. There's the rub- the best parts of this movie are lifted directly from the book, but what's added, changed or left out is no improvement. Anne's diary reads as good as fiction already, so I don't think there was much need to "dramatize" it. Some scenes- like the characters confessing their sins on D-Day- come close to sappy, and Anne never really reconciled with her mother. I also wasn't very impressed with the actress playing Anne in this film. By all means, see the movie- but don't see the movie instead of reading the real thing.