Anne Frank: the Whole Story (2001) from Tuna

Anne Frank (2001) is a made for TV biography of Anne Frank. It starts years before the famous diary and before German occupation of Holland, and shows what her life was like in Amsterdam before the Germans arrived. It also continues where the diary left off, and shows her experiences as a German prisoner. These experiences include a scene where all of the women are stripped and their hair cut off.  The film is based on Melissa Muller's biography of Anne Frank, and lots of research by Kirk Ellis.
For those who don't know, Anne Frank was a 13 year old Jewish girl living with her wealthy family in Amsterdam. When the German's started messing with the Jews in earnest, the family hid in an attic for several years. Anne kept a very poignant diary, which survived and has become the second widest read work of non-fiction (second to the bible), and has spawned a play and several movies. 

NUDITY REPORT

Anne keeps her arms over the important parts, but her mother's breasts (Tatjana Blacher) are clearly shown.

DVD info from Amazon.

  • no widescreen

  • no features

On the whole, this film is excellent, although I think the "work camp" portion, act three, was longer and slower than necessary to make the point. Excellent performances all around.  

It was filmed in Prague, Czech Republic.  

The Critics Vote

  • no reviews

The People Vote ...

  • With their votes ... IMDB summary: IMDb voters score it 8.4, 
  • With their dollars ... made for TV
IMDb guideline: 7.5 usually indicates a level of excellence, about like three and a half stars from the critics. 6.0 usually indicates lukewarm watchability, about like two and a half stars from the critics. The fives are generally not worthwhile unless they are really your kind of material, about like two stars from the critics. Films under five are generally awful even if you like that kind of film, equivalent to about one and a half stars from the critics or less, depending on just how far below five the rating is.

My own guideline: A means the movie is so good it will appeal to you even if you hate the genre. B means the movie is not good enough to win you over if you hate the genre, but is good enough to do so if you have an open mind about this type of film. C means it will only appeal to genre addicts, and has no crossover appeal. D means you'll hate it even if you like the genre. E means that you'll hate it even if you love the genre. F means that the film is not only unappealing across-the-board, but technically inept as well.

Based on this description, this film is a B.

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