MovieChat Forums > Anne Frank: The Whole Story (2001) Discussion > They couldn't even quote the diary!

They couldn't even quote the diary!

posted 20 years ago by mindphonetics
7 replies | jump to latest

Anne Frank's family requested that Steven Spielberg drop out of the project, which he did. Anne's closest living relative wouldn't sanction the film, and therefore they couldn't even read from the diary!!!

I hate this adaptation.

Melissa Mueller's book.... it is filled with exaggerations, rumors, and out and out lies. She names the betrayer! What a laugh, considering Miep Gies herself has said no one knows who it is-- one of many many possibilities.

There is much talent in this wonderful cast... I remember seeing Hannah Gordon in "Jakob the Liar" and immmediately thought--- oh my God, she could be an Anne Frank. It is a shame that they are wasted on a script with so many historical holes....

It is important to remember that there are hundreds of biographies about the Franks--- many telling varitions on the story. There is no one solid truth.... reading one biography does not make that the definitive one.... that being said, I cannot trust anything that Anne's own family and trust will not allow.... And Melissa Mueller's book is just that.

If you want a true, moving, beautiful portrayal of Anne Frank-- see the Academy award winning documentary "Anne Frank Remembered." Her own family sanctioned it, and therefore I trust it.

[–] bombad_jedi 20 years ago

You are entitled to your opinion, of course, but the historical discrepencies that you list are not as horrible as all that. The purpose and feeling in the story come across, which is important for a film.
If this was a documentary or a history book, the changes might worry me.
But this is a film, and certainly not meant to be a flawless time machine into the past.

[–] Ondedis77 20 years ago

Um, did they really HAVE to quote the diary? This was based on Anne's LIFE, not her diary. Unlike the other movies.

Also, Melissa's book names the SUSPECT, not the betrayer. You said it yourself: no one knows who it is. The suspect was the cleaning lady in the same office building the Franks were hiding in, so it's a possibility that SHE might have called the Gestapo.

[–] 20 years ago

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[–] candyshapedratpoison 18 years ago

what "historical mistakes" are in the movie??

I love my Muse t-shirt more than my life

[–] KaidtheShiz 17 years ago

For some reason, I always just think of Bep as the betrayer. I dunno why.. but when I look at her in pictures, she just looks very shifty. Maybe it became too hard for her. Of course, I could be dead wrong but that is what I am thinking. I know looks can be decieving.

[–] fallenangel3 16 years ago

I believe that Bep was a very young and shy girl, she was insecure and I believe she had problems with communicating with people (source; the anne frank museum website). You should not forget that she was very young and she had to keep 'the franks' a secret.

Besides that there was no telling what would happen with the workers and helpers after the jews were betrayed. You could be shot on the spot or all the workers could be taken to prison etc. Bep and her father both new about the Franks, Pfeffer and Fam. Van Pels hiding in the back building. So she did not only risk her own life and that of her friend but also that of her family. I do not believe that she would have taken that risk.

Besides al that I do not believe that you would keep the hiders a secret for so long. Bep also spends many nights dining with the Franks. I believe she loved them and would've never betrayed them.

[–] caulfield_17 16 years ago

Anne's words are the best part.

Why have a film about Anne Frank which focuses on the people around her for which she harboured disdain, and then proceed to do so stupidly and in poor english. How discourteous to Anne's true vision, and how misrepresented. This version was trying to tell a different story.

Not that i even watched much of it.