The Diary of Anne Frank- Book Review, Movie Review, and TV Movie Review

In a way, Anne Frank was both ordinary and extraordinary.  She was ordinary because she was just another teenage girl going through the same experiences that every teenage girl goes through. She was extraordinary because even as a young woman, her writing reflected a mature quality that many writers take years to develop. She was also extraordinary because she was and continues to be the voice for the millions of children whose lives were taken needlessly during World War II.

After the war, her father, Otto Frank, the only member of her family to survive the Nazi Holocaust, returned to their hiding place and discovered his daughter’s diary.  Initially published in the late 1952, The Diary of Anne Frank has not been out of print since then. It is the diary of a young Jewish girl hiding with her family during World War II. It is an extraordinary book about an ordinary young woman growing up under extraordinary and scary circumstances.

The first film adaptation of the book premiered in 1959. Millie Perks stepped into the lead role and Joseph Schildkraut played Anne’s beloved father, Otto.

In 2001, a TV movie, based on the book premiered. In this adaptation, Hannah Taylor Gordon played Anne and Ben Kingsley played Otto Frank. The difference between this adaptation and previous adaptations was that the story did not end with the discovery of the Annex. It followed the story as the member of the secret Annex lived and died in the concentration camps.  The difference between this adaptation is much darker than earlier ones, it is not for the faint of heart, especially towards the end.

I recommend all three.

 

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