My Daughter, Anne Frank (2015 TV Movie) User Reviews (3)

The eternal Anne

[Horst_In_Translation · 6/10 · 1 February 2017]

"Meine Tochter Anne Frank" is a German movie from 2015, a small-screen release that runs for 90 minutes and was written and directed by Raymond Ley. The most known cast members are André Hennicke and Axel Milberg I guess, but Ley as well as actress Mala Emde received a solid deal of awards attention for their work here. Everybody with a bit of an interest in World War II or the Holocaust has heard the name Anne Frank by now I am sure and maybe remembers some parts of her diary even or some details from her tragically short life. And regardless of how short it was, her memory and heritage still live on strongly almost 75 years after her death. This one here is a mix of acting and documentary (interviews) and there is another recent Anne Frank movie (all acting) that I enjoyed even a bit more than this one here. But still, this one here succeeds for what it tries to be, namely informative and poignant.

The best thing about it, however, is possibly not the historic context and information it provides, but the visual side. It is really baffling how all of the characters looks so similar to the real people judging from what we see during the closing credits. They are not really lauded that often, but it needs to be said how convincing the make-up artists, set decorators and costume designers in here delivered. The acting is good too. i would not say there is really that much of a standout and I am not as impressed by Emde as everybody else, but it's a well-rounded effort overall I guess that brings a really old story appropriately back to life and it will be a very long time I'm sure until the character of Anne Frank is forgotten. This is thanks to convincing movies like this one here. I certainly enjoyed the watch and this one is evidence of how it is still possible to take topics that have been elaborated on so many times and once again turn them into creative outcomes. Recommended.

Wonderfully Intimate

[mediamoversnews · 9/10 · 12 January 2016]

This film is a must see for anyone interested in the subject of the Holocaust, and Anne Frank. From the early days of the crisis in Europe, up through her tragic end, this film brings us into the intimate world of a young girl facing the fears and anxieties of a situation she cannot control. Well acted and well directed, this docudrama vivifies the flight of the Frank family, her difficult relationship with her mother Edith and the stricken community in the hiding on Prinsengracht 263. Otto learns how Anne really saw their everyday life in the secret annex, constantly being threatened by detection. How lonely and alien Anne often felt. He begins to transcribe the diary. Doing this Otto Frank has to realize how little he knew about his daughter Anne. It is the beginning of a throwback. Densely dramatized feature scenes, documentary and archive material, new and surprising interviews with her companions constitute the film elements that will allow MY DAUGHTER ANNE FRANK to get the audience close to Anne herself and her story. Embedded into the words of Anne's diary, we evocate her fears, dreams, love and longings, her vision of a possible future, and the reality of a sudden end.

Sad, dead and empty...

[FoolintheFields · 1/10 · 19 February 2015]

The attempt to reimagine the fate of "Anne Frank" in a movie quickly degenerates to a demo reel of actress Mala Emde, full of artificial emotion and watchable only for the sake of the historic character.

What is the point of this movie presented in the fashion of a cheap History-Channel production? The actors give solid bad performances, expectable, but not at all comparable to the praise the movie got before its release all over the media. Character development does not take place in any scene - without knowing the historical characters it is impossible for the audience to care what's happening. It is not enough just to mention the horrible things that happen to Anne in real life, a movie has to build up an emotional relation between characters and the viewer. The narrative structure is non-linear, nice idea, but also nothing innovative. The camera nicely follows the characters around, relying on a semi-total perspective the whole time - one begs for falling asleep. An example: Every time the movie wants to show Anne is thinking about a boy she is falling in love with the director uses a cheesy-romanticized recourse to the visual aesthetics of Jean-Pierre Jeunet. And the most important rule of an awful movie is of course to use sad music when it wants to make the viewer emotionally invested. That's possible but used way to often here.

You always feel like you've already seen this movie. All sinks into monotony, the name and the fate of Anne are merely a vehicle for self-expression of the production team, from the director, the main cast up to the sound editor. Before the premiere of the movie the media praised the movie because it would show the father of Anne as a greater plot point than he ever was in any other movie. After watching it that really makes me ask the question, if anyone of the critics ever saw another screen adaptation. Even the rather conventional version "The Diary of Anne Frank" from 1959 and its remake from 1980, show the character of the father in detail. And lead actress Emde as Anne Frank is not even comparable to the performances of Millie Perkins or Melissa Gilbert, no matter how touched and moved she shows herself during numerous marketing interviews. No, being 18 is not a qualification for an actress, a try is not enough, not on this important topic, poor dramatic performance and type casting are all that stays in this case. And the sleazy plot, who ultimately betrayed the hiding place is as uninteresting as the fact what Hitler has said to his dog on the afternoon of 04/13/1937. Anyone who focuses on such details does not understand the topic at all - why people betray people in need. But that's too much abstraction for a bad movie like this.

Who was the target audience of this film? Those who have not heard the name Anne Frank? There are too few facts and it loses itself completely in his narrative dilettantism. People who already have some knowledge? The story makes the viewer actually lower his head in sadness, but the dramatic presentation of the scenes destroys any emotional attachment - the very important eye witnesses are carelessly inserted between the scenes, the cut nearly implies they are a disturbing element. Since the director quickly wants to show the young and attractive main actress in the bathtub.

Topic 10/10 Movie 1/10

Anyone who wants to see a cinematic acceptable implementation of the topic, watch to the mentioned version of "The Diary of Anne Frank" (1959, directed by George Stevens).