MovieChat Forums > Anne Frank: The Whole Story (2001) Discussion > Brenda Blethyn as Mrs Van Pelz

Brenda Blethyn as Mrs Van Pelz

posted 17 years ago by maeaculpa
7 replies | jump to latest

I thought this was a stunning performance.

Mrs Van Pelz was a nagging wife, middle aged, middle class, very concerned with keeping up appearances, holding on to her fine things. On the other hand she is also the one who seems to have the most sense of fun. It's a fine line and Blethyn does it beautifully.

All her fussiness somehow makes what happens to her even more tragic - the way they are processed like cattle at Auschwitz, the way she loses every shred of dignity. I think the scene where she is sitting with Edith and pointing out that the sun is shining shows how her basic humanity has prevailed. Anne has her indomitable fighting spirit to sustain her, but this woman had nothing like that.

Somehow seeing a refined middle aged lady reduced to toiling in the mud infected with God knows what kind of vermin is more shocking than anything else in this movie.

I can't really put into words how Blethyn's performance impressed me.

[–] homercles12000 15 years ago

I agree, especially about the scene in the mud. for some reason, that was the most striking scene with her.

[–] BoyWiththeGreenHair 14 years ago

I think that both Shelley Winters and Brenda Blethyn captured the tragedy of Mrs. Van Pels/Van Daan beautifully. They both gave her a fragile ego, a materialism, and vanity, so that it is all the more hard to watch, or in Shelley's case imagine, her degradation.

What I like is how it was shown that Auguste had a certain strength she was previously unaware of. She has her whole world, both her son and husband, taken away from her within seconds of her arrival in Auschwitz, and yet she finds it in herself to fight for food, comfort Edith following her daughters' deportation, and care for Anne and Margot, helping to reunite her with Hannali. Rumor has it that she survived the concentration camps and that she died in an ambulance on the way to a hospital post-liberation, although I don't know if this can be proven.

If at least she was among the last to die. So whatever insecurities and childish vanities she may have clung to in the attic were obviously not insurmountable for Auguste when faced with such evil and cruelty.

[–] briarswt 14 years ago

Yah, there is no real way to determine when/how she died. We are sure that she was transfered out of Bergen-Belsen - which I almost wish they'd shown - because it would've made Anne's plight even more poignant - how she'd had help and some level of support from a familiar face and it was ripped from her (Although the one scene where she's wrapped in the blanket and talks to Janny does it too). It's almost definite that she was either the sixth or seventh. We know that by December 20, 1944, the day (I believe) that Pffefer died, Hermann had been gassed - the exact timing is uncertain but it's likely September-October. Then, Pfeffer died. Then Edith went - veryyyyyyy shortly before the liberation of Auschwitz. Margot and Anne died somewhere in February/March range, within days of each other (Janny states in an interview that the last time she saw Anne was the scene shown - when she'd thrown her clothes away - and that it was a few days before she could get to her and Margot, because her own sister was sick too, and they were both gone. Peter died somewhere between April-May. There is record of him being admitted to the sick barracks mid-April. The question is, with all the confusion, the exact date. The day they give him, May 2, is, I believe, a catch-all date for those they can name but can't place the exact day of death. Ms. Van Pels's last recorded date of being alive is April 8, 1945, when she was apparently evacuated from Buchenwald to Theresienstadt and historians are not sure whether she survived the transfer or died soon after arrival.

Now "soon" is relative. According to the aritcle on Theresienstadt on Wiki, "On May 1, 1945, control of the camp was transferred from the Germans to the Red Cross. A week later, on May 8, 1945, Terezín was liberated by Soviet troops." That's two/three weeks or so after the evacuation to Theresienstadt for the Red Cross take-over, and a month for the liberation. She could very well have still been alive at the Red Cross takeover and died within that week - or died shortly after the liberation.

Either way, it appears that son and mother died within days or weeks of each other.

Van Pels
Pfeffer
Frank
Frank
Frank
Van Pels
Van Pels

[–] gambitcolumbus 14 years ago

I do believe the movie had a scene with Anne and Margot finding Mrs Van Pels at Bergen-Belsen. I seem to remember them being glad to see her - but given her state, I had trouble recognizing her until they said her name.

[–] briarswt 14 years ago

yah - there is.

There is a question on whether or not Mrs. Van Pels was actually transferred with the Frank daughters or was transferred later. But yah, the scene intially mentioned with Anne seeing her in the mud before recognizing and calling for her is deeply moving - and meaningful.

I'm actually much more curious as to the deaths of Pfeffer and Auguste and Peter. IIRC Otto mentioned to Pfeffer's son about being hopeful. We just have no idea how, and who got word about their deaths. Otto was basically an eye witness for Hermann's, got witness tesitmony for Edith, Margot, and Anne. There is no story I've seen about the gathering of their death information.

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] Charlieee23 13 years ago

We still don't know who betrayed them :(
'Anne Frank: The Whole Story' was based on the biography of Anne Frank by Melissa Muller. She believed that it was the cleaning lady (as shown) who betrayed those in hiding.
However, there have been other suspects, including Van Maaren (although I think Miep Gies believed it wasn't him) and a man called Tony Ahlers, who was a member of the Dutch Nazi Party (NSB) and knew Otto Frank before the war (this theory was put forward by Carol Ann Lee in her biography of Anne Frank).

I personally think we will never know.