Virginia Creepers: The Horror Host Tradition of the Old Dominion Review

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(More customer reviews)If you grew up in Virginia in during the 1950's - 1990's this is a must have DVD. The disc covers essentially every local TV late night horror host frm the 1950's to the present.
It includes many interviews with the (in most cases) still living hosts including favorites of mine like Dr. Madbllod, Bowman Body and Count Gore DeVol. Also iterviewed are fans, stage crew, producers, other actors and many more. Quite a few humerous anecotes including the theft of a coffin prop in Hampton, VA in the 1960's that local teens "borrowed" and sold .50 chances to have your photo taken in the coffin.
The DVD includes many clips from these classic shows.
Brings back a lot of wonderful memories. My only regret is hat it's only two hours long! I hope they will make a Virignia Creepers Part 2 with more interviews clips.
You will enjoy this DVD and be nostalgic for the days when there was more local programing!

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For more than 50 years, the airwaves of the Commonwealth have been pleasantly haunted by some of the most creative, hilarious and enduring horror hosts in the country.Since 1958, kids in Virginia have been staying up late to catch characters like The Bowman Body, Dr. Madblood, Count Gore De Vol, Sir Graves Ghastly and Dr. Gruesome in the act of comic relief. And to this day, on TV and on the internet, horror hosting is still going strong in the Old Dominion.This documentary explores one of the nation's richest traditions with extensive interviews with dozens of hosts, actors and producers. It also features audio and video thought lost to time and even uncovers the history of four shows that were previously undocumented!The film is a full 120 minutes feature with a music video, mini-documentary and lots of additional footage in the deleted scenes.If you are tired of spending another weekend with no horror host to look forward to, this film is for you no matter where you grew up!

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Fantastic Festivals of the World:Euro Review

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(More customer reviews)I have seen 2 of these shows on Discovery HD Theatre.I am a Spanish teacher and I have not see a video that covers the festivals in Spain that does them any justice as these documentaries do. What is rare is that each documentary captures the "emotion" of the people and you feel you are a part of the festival. I highly recommend.

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The TRAVEL*ADVENTURE*NATURE line is an exclusive video series presenting the best from independent producers and filmmakers in 4-DVD box sets.Join our Emmy award-winning cinematographys as they take you to the modern celebrations of Spain and France in Fantastic Festivals of the World:Europe. Two countries and seven unique colorful and exciting celebrations await you on your journey to Fantastic Festivals of the World: Europe. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre:MISCELLANEOUS/SPECIAL INTEREST UPC:781735602041 Manufacturer No:60204

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Broadway - The American Musical (PBS Series) (2004) Review

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(More customer reviews)Soup to nuts, the folks over at PBS pulled it off. They've condensed the history of the American Broadway musical into six hours, and it feels about right.
Yes yes yes, there will be hordes of folks who quibble that their "all-time most important" musical didn't make it, but that's missing the point.
You will feel as if you have a serious grasp of the development of the American musical after seeing this film. Period. Mission accomplished.
The first segments of the documentary, hosted by the ageless Julie Andrews, begin with Flo Ziegfeld, and the "Follies". One thing that hasn't been mentioned (yet) is the nice concomitant history lesson you get regarding New York, Times Square and American popular culture while absorbing this mini-series. The influence of opera (or more properly, operetta), vaudeville and minstrel shows are made abundantly clear, and are fascinating to someone like me who really had no exposure to this sort of material.
As we reach mid-century, more and more of the people talked ABOUT in the film are actually alive...and the shows discussed are ridiculously familiar to even the most "uneducated" viewer. Song after song reveals their source...standards that originated on Broadway that have become part of our cultural language.
Artistic ambition grows by leaps and bounds...from the musical "revue" to musical "comedy" to a dramatic "book" musical. Storytelling techniques through song and staging develop as fast as the geniuses on the stage, behind the stage and under the stage can think...
Some of the creators, like Sondheim, are expert at analysis and insight. They provide some great "talking head" moments about musicals that aren't theirs! By and large, the critics they used for the documentary come across as enthusiastic, overwhelmingly knowledgeable, incisive, playful...I thought as a group they were terrific, without any hint of elitism, snobbery or any number of other "stereotypes" one may have about a "New York Broadway critic."
My first audible gasp came at the end of episode five, when they play that "I Love NY" commercial from the late 70's. I remember seeing that as a kid, but the only thing that had any effect on me was the presence of Brooke Shields at the end of it.
People like Mandy Patinkin, Patti Lupone, Angela Lansbury, those "Cats" creatures and yes, I think that's Patrick Swayze in "Grease" mode...what a riot!
The most affecting portion, for me, is the last episode, for that encompasses most of my personal Broadway experience. I imagine that whatever era you feel the most affinity towards will have the same effect.
Spending 6-10 minutes per musical or producer seems criminal, until you simply appreciate the tidbits for what they are. They're like little gems. Fragments of shows that you yearn to see ALL of...
...so let me editorialize for a second.
All musicals should be filmed once with their original casts, if only for posterity. I own "Sunday In The Park With George" and "Sweeney Todd", two exemplary musicals (covered here) and nice DVD's to own. What I wouldn't give for an "Evita" (not covered here) with Lupone and Patinkin, or the original cast of "Rent". There. Editorial done.
Speaking of "Rent", the final fifteen to twenty minutes of the movie are an emotional tidal wave. Seeing Jonathan Larson's last day of work on video...watching him make his last milk shake at the Moondance Diner...and then finding out he dies right before previews, is not heartbreaking, it's heart-shattering.
That segment leads into the piece on 9/11. Somber and a little creepy, as you've seen almost six hours of the busiest intersections on Earth suddenly empty, a modern ghost town.
The filmmakers then pull off a terrific stunt. They show the post 9/11 commercial encouraging people to come back to NY. It echoes the one from over two decades prior, yet is defiant, proud and yes, a little inspiring.
A quick cut to "Hairspray", specifically to the finale which may be the single most energetic song to ever grace the boards, and then summing it all up with "Wicked", a musical I coincidentally just saw three weeks ago (and loved), made for an amazing viewing experience and I could not recommend this any more highly.
Now, for those of you who DO own this, my copy is plagued by a jittery video (with pristine audio) across all three discs. No one else has mentioned this, so perhaps my case is isolated...
One last request: please watch the rehearsal "bonus" footage with Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth, working on their song from Wicked called, "For Good." Watching and listening to these two outstanding singers tentatively creating these performances, intercut with footage from the final result, sent shivers up my spine.

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Crusade in the Pacific - Box Set Review

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(More customer reviews)This great DVD set covers the entire Pacific war. Beginning with the Japanese invasion of China in the early 1930s to the Japanese surrender in September, 1945, this great collection contains footage of every major battle of the Pacific war. Besides covering all of the "major" conflicts, such as Pearl Harbor, Midway, Guadalcanal, etc., there is also excellent footage of Bougainville, New Guinea, the Aleutian campaign, and the China-Burma-India Theater. Much of the footage contained in this set is not found anywhere else. The footage, although somewhat "grainy" in spots, is still very good and the battle sequences are extremely exciting to watch.
The DVDs are enclosed in a protective metal case, and also included is a colorful guide that contains photographs as well as brief descriptions of some of the weapons, personalities, and battles of the Pacific war.
Each disc contains four 30-minute episodes, so there is over 10 hours of great Pacific war footage in this set. The viewer will be delighted with the attention to detail and authenticity provided in each episode. The narration which accompanies each episode is helpful to understanding the battle being described, and the footage places the viewer directly in the conflict.
I give this fine collection my highest recommendation. I have watched the complete "Victory at Sea" series, and this set rates on the same high scale. The excellent footage, filmed on land, in the air, and at sea, describes the great Pacific conflict in amazing detail. The storage box is strong and durable, and the colorful and informative booklet provides the viewer with additional information. This fine DVD set is a must for any World War II enthusiast.

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Chinese Stuntman (Dubbed In English) Review

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(More customer reviews)The Chinese stuntman is the same movie as Counter Attack. I accidentally ordered both movies. However, the amazing stick fighting scene with Ho Chung Tao versus Dan Inosanto is worth the money.
This movie is a true classic. A must have for Dan Inosanto (Bruce Lee's friend in real life) and Ho Chung Tao (Bruce Li) fans.
I rate this movie 5 stars-
great action!!
Fast fact: Dan Inosanto was born Daniel Arca Inosanto on July 24, 1936. He is a Filipino Martial Arts instructor who is a foremost authority on Jeet Kun Do (Bruce Lee's art).
Dan Inosanto has appeared in other movies including: The Warrior Within, Fight Science, Modern Warrior, and The Path of the Dragon.
Of course, Ho Chung Tao has appeared in about 30 movies including Iron Dragon Strikes Back and The Chinese Connection II.-

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Bob Marley and the Wailers Live at the Rainbow (1977) Review

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(More customer reviews)So it falls to me to review this first? This June 1977 concert at London's Rainbow Theater captures the recently reconfigured Wailers ending a European tour to promote the masterful 'Exodus' album. The rare videotaped performances of 'Trenchtown Rock' and 'Rebel Music', and 'Crazy Baldhead', dating from the earlier Wailers repertoire, and performed wonderfully well here, are the treasures of this collection, however. Missed notes on some songs, including the beginning of 'Exodus', and guitarist Junior Marvin's failure to notice his boss Bob about to start singing 'Lively Up Yourself', are minor annoyances, as is the loss of Aston Barrett's famous distinctive bass line in 'No More Trouble', jettisoned in favor of a 'new', harder sound (surely a reaction to the exciting energy of London's 'new wave' summer of 1977). By the way, it always annoyed me that the front cover picture on the VHS and now the DVD editions is most definitely not from this 1977 show, but rather is the same photo that graces the 1975 Live at the Lyceum album. I wish those responsible would show some commitment to historical accuracy, and use a photo from the actual show in '77. The DVD sound and picture are good, considering the age of the videotape source. I purchased my DVD copy of 'Live at the Rainbow' from Amazon France, and it includes an accompanying DVD entitled 'Carribbean Nights', which is an informative and enjoyable look at Marley's life and times. While 'Caribbean Nights' contains no full-length performances, it does contain several exciting if brief film clips of various performances such as the Leeds, UK 1973 show with Peter Tosh. Hopefully these early performances will someday make it onto DVD as well.


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BOB MARLEY & WAILERS:LIVE AT THE RAIN - DVD Movie

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Who's Dancin' Now? (2001) Review

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(More customer reviews)Jacques D'Amboise demonstrates the difference between a teacher and a mentor. A teacher gives information, a mentor literally reaches into a child's life and lifts him/her to a higher plane. In this video, it's great to watch Jacques coach average kids into above-average performance, and provoke them into seeing greatness in themselves, and his technique has obvious application in all fields, not just artistic or physical. This video is superb for not only profiling an accomplished mentor like Jacques, but for showing us the incredible power of dance to unchain a child's imagination, and boost their self esteem.

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Street Thief (2007) Review

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(More customer reviews)This is honestly a great movie, I first say it on A&E and thought it was such a smart movie, weather it's a documentry or a mocumentry, it's a good film to see. You can't find it on Netflix and they arn't showing reruns anymore. Free Shipping? Good deal.

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Kaspar Carr is a master thief, targeting businesses in the Chicago area. In STREET THIEF, he stakes out fresh opportunities in front of a documentary film crew, which gradually becomes complicit in his crimes. As the director and producer become entangled in the allure of their fascinating subject and the legal ramifications of their actions, Carr pursues a series of larger-scale and more dangerous jobs. All the while, he reveals how he came to choose this unconventional lifestyle.STREET THIEF combines elements of film noir and cinema vérité in a novel approach to filmmaking. Shadowing Carr and his film crew from urban supermarkets to suburban shopping malls to the snowy fields of Wisconsin, viewers are rewarded with a voyeuristic view into the lives of the thief and the filmmakers and are able to witness firsthand their changing philosophies and notions of morality.DVD Features: Trailer; Deleted Scenes

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Discovering Hamlet Review

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(More customer reviews)For anyone interested in a behind the scenes look at how a play proceeds through production this video is for you. The Birmingham Repertory Theater is the setting for this production directed by Derek Jacobi with Kenneth Branagh taking the lead as Hamlet. Narration is provided by Patrick Stewart to guide viewers through the production process. Interspersed between scenes of the rehearsals are interviews with the various actors discussing their characters. I would have like a longer interview with the director, Derek Jacobi, discussing his vision of Hamlet but all in all this is quite a good video.

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Two of Britain\'s greatest actors stage Shakespeare\'s greatest tragedy
A behind-the-scenes look at Shakespearean theatre
In 1988, rising star Kenneth Branagh tackled the role of Shakespeare\'s prince of Denmark for the first time in his professional career under the guidance of celebrated actor Derek Jacobi, considered "the best Hamlet of his generation" (The New York Times). Narrated by Patrick Stewart, this hour-long film documents how these two intelligent, passionate men found new depths in Shakespeare\'s classic drama.
Filmmakers Mark Olshaker and Larry Klein follow the company through four weeks of rehearsals, from the first read-throughs to opening night. Interviews with principal actors--as well as the set designer, costume supervisor, text advisor, and others--reveal how each member of the company meets the production\'s challenges. In all, Discovering Hamlet offers an intimate, behind-the-scenes look at the process of staging Shakespeare\'s most demanding tragedy.
An Emmy®-winning star of stage and screen, Derek Jacobi (I, Claudius) has played some of the Bard\'s most challenging parts in his 50-year career, including Hamlet, Prospero, Macbeth, and Lear.
Four-time Oscar® nominee Kenneth Branagh is a versatile actor, director, and writer famed for bringing Shakespeare to the silver screen in Hamlet, Henry V, and other films.

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American Experience - Eugene O'Neill: A Documentary Film Review

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(More customer reviews)Anyone can make a documentary. It's become quite formulaic. You start with a story you want to tell, have a narrator anchor your tale, illustrate with moving images or still images over which you move, layer music and sound effects to create a mood, and add a healthy dose of "talking heads" to gain intimacy and credibility.
Put together Muhammad Ali, Lloyd Price, Zaire, "Rumble in the Jungle," and George Plimpton, and you get Leon Gast's ninety-minute "When We Were Kings." Put together Babe Ruth, Billy Crystal, Ebbets Field, "Take Me Out to the Ballgame," and Bob Costas, and you get Ken Burns' eighteen-and-a-half-hour "Baseball."
Anyone could have made a documentary on Eugene O'Neill. Of course it helps to have a big brother, who plucks you from the Columbia University campus to help him fight nine episodes of "The Civil War." It helps to have already made a highly acclaimed documentary of your own on the Big Apple. It helps to have enlisted the venerable Arthur and Barbara Gelb, who know more about your subject than you can ever hope to know. It helps to have a bit of luck - to have your hand slapped by a PBS executive for stretching a two hour documentary into three, and then being told that your next project on Eugene O'Neill, which you had planned on running four hours, WILL come in at two - or more precisely, 112 minutes. And it helps to be a genius.
On Monday evening, January 23rd, some 150 invited guests filled the MGM Screening Room at 6th Avenue and 55th Street in New York City. They previewed the American Experience PBS documentary "Eugene O'Neill," which will premier on Monday, March 27, 2006. They previewed the genius of Ric Burns.
"What does it cost to be an artist? What did it cost to be Eugene O'Neill?" director Lloyd Richards asks in the opening moments of the film. "It cost Eugene O'Neill a mother, a father, a happy marriage, children. It cost the many wives that he tried to have because he didn't know how."
Burns uses Richards and his other "talking heads" to seamlessly tell his story. "When I interview them, I sit across from them and look them in the eye," Burns related at his Steeplechase office, several days after the screening. "If you don't look them in the eye, they lose interest, and you've lost them."

Burns didn't lose playwright Tony Kushner, who movingly remarks in the film, "In O'Neill, there's this absolute, sort of God-ordained mission, which is to keep searching, even if in the process he discovers that there is no God. It's a terrifying sort of mandate, but it also I think should be the mandate of all artists, and in a way, of all people." Narrator Christopher Plummer provides the anchor for playwrights Kushner and John Guare, directors Richards, Sidney Lumet and Robert Brustein, and O'Neill scholars Edward Shaughnessy and the Gelbs. They all respond to Burns' deft technique, and are transformed from "talking heads" into eloquent orators. Burns uses these heads to speak words about O'Neill. He uses a second set of heads to speak O'Neill's words. Al Pacino, Zoe Caldwell, Christopher Plummer, Robert Sean Leonard, and others strategically speak dialogue from O'Neill's plays. They "speak" O'Neill's words, as opposed to performing them, and tell Burns' story in much the same way that the playwrights and the directors and the scholars tell it. It's a brilliant juxtaposition that helps Burns keep his story moving at a cohesive, break-neck pace.
Burns starts his story in 1937, when O'Neill moves into Tao House, his California hillside home. Burns uses this point in time as a fulcrum to look backward and relate O'Neill's break with his family, and then look forward, as O'Neill reclaims his family and, as his reputation declines and illness threatens to silence him forever, wrenches from himself three of the greatest plays ever written by an American.
Burns' story could have been told over four hours, or even eighteen-and-a-half. The Gelbs would have had no problem providing the necessary substrate. But that hand-slapping PBS executive fortuitously forced them to cut and cut and cut their story to 112 minutes. Integrated with Brian Keane's magical score, a perfectly accessible tale was crafted that can be easily consumed in one sitting.
The 150 invited guests in the MGM Screening Room already knew most, if not all of Burns' story. It wasn't necessary to give the likes of Ted Mann and Ben Brantley a history lesson on O'Neill. Had Burns' documentary served only to educate, it would have been just another formulaic example of its genre. But, it did much more than educate. It forced those gathered on January 23rd to feel what it cost to be an artist, and it forced many of them to shed a tear for O'Neill and for others they had known who had paid that price. Those assembled felt the tragedy and the genius of Eugene O'Neill. And they felt the genius of Ric Burns.

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The author of such innovative works as "The Iceman Cometh" and "Long Day's Journey Into Night," Nobel and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, Eugene O’Neill wrote 20 long plays in fewer than 25 years. Much of his writing was influenced by his troubled childhood and relationships. This AMERICAN EXPERIENCE production, by award-winning director Ric Burns, tells O'Neill's turbulent story from his childhood to his painful death at the age of 65.

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Recording "The Producers" - A Musical Romp with Mel Brooks (2001) Review

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(More customer reviews)Originally shown on PBS, this is a documentary of the recording of "The Producers" cast album. "The Producers," the hit Broadway show that made a sweep at the Tony's, and continues to do so at the box office, has a lot of funny people involved - Nathan Lane, Matthew Broderick, and Mel Brooks - and this movie captures them in some candid moment. Fortunately, the editors are not the MTV music video-type; we get to see whole songs being recorded, which is often not the case in these behind-the-scenes videos. Many songs are included, as well as interviews with Mel Brooks, who talks about how the show came about, the plot, and the cast members. One can see what a warm person Brooks is. And for those who cannot afford tickets to the Broadway show, or have to wait for months for availability, this is the next best thing. This video contains footage of Broderick doing a Marlon Brando impression, Susan Stroman praising the cast members, and more. We also get to see Lane getting a little nervous in the recording studio - at one point, he complains of not being able to hear himself, and gets snippy (or is he just being funny?) with a woman working the equipment. An extremely enlightening look at the hectic recording (Mr. Brooks keeps remarking, astonished, "I can't believe we only get one day" - every hour of overtime means thousands of more dollars) of a cast album.

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The exuberant atmosphere of the Broadway blockbuster is captured in "Recording The Producers: A Musical Romp with Mel Brooks," a new 85-minute film from the Emmy Award-winning director Susan Froemke and Maysles Films. The documentary candidly captures the excitement of translating the show into a complete experience for the recording's audience.

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Vaudeville (1997) Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a case of documentarians thinking that you'd rather hear them pontificate that actually see what they're talking about. The packaging for this DVD claims you'll see 80 vaudeville acts. And you will, for about 12 seconds each... not one performance is complete. Which is a big shame, given the wealth of footage the filmmakers apparently had access to. The writer of this presentation should have stepped well out of the way, and let the performances speak. To make it that much more frustrating , much of the running time goes to interviews with non-vaudevillians such as present-day filmaker Robert Townsend, and clips of vaudeville-influenced stuff like the Muppet Show. It kills you sit through this stuff knowing that the filmmakers are holding back rare footage of performances by houdini, w.c. fields, you name it. Buy this if you know nothing about vaudeville... and want to hear some old-timers doing a remember-when. If you want to see some old routines, get some of the variety films (international house, stand up and cheer, (this list is huge) from the early thirties and you'll be much better off.

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Colors Straight Up Review

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(More customer reviews)This is the story of an arts program in the Los Angeles Public School system geared torward "at risk" youths. It was filmed in the program's infancy, when Colors United was an extracirricular program at one high school in South Central Los Angeles.
We are immediately immersed in the world of these kids, without commentary or words of introduction. The camera simply follows around several students as they shuffle back and forth between their gritty life in the "hood" and their alternate ego as a member of an acting and performing troup rehearsing for their big annual show.
The film is heartbreaking many times over, and I, who rarely cry during movies, found my eyes moist througout much of the film. The movie shows how hard the lives of these kids are, and how courageously they funnel this experience into their artistic performance, which is called "Watts Side Story." For many viewers, it will be a window into a world they have heard of but know very little about. But it is on the moral plane, not the social, that the film really enlightens.
The determination of these high schoolers to commit to each other for the sake of an uplifting common purpose, while all around them their world seems to be coming apart at the seams, is almost the definition of moral courage.
The director is wise not to pontificate or comment on the on screen happenings. The young men and women depicted feeling their way to adult hood and moral responsibility is the most eloquent statement that can be made. I can not recommend this film highly enough. It is especially appropriate for high school age kids or those involved in *at risk* behavior to see "another way."

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COLORS STRAIGHT UP - DVD Movie

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Ballerina (2006) Review

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(More customer reviews)This is the best ballet documentary I have ever seen on the Kirov. It is almost a sequel to "The Children of Theater Street." The Kirov has taken its history and technique and brought it into the modern arena - even the leotards and tights are like amazing costumes from Karinska. These women have incredible technique and artistry - each one very different from the last. They are current and yet old fashioned, in a good way, at the same time. If you're a dancer - you'll love this because its is filled with behind the scenes, rehearsals, class, and life in the reality of being a Russian dancer. Interesting perspective on performance scenes as well.

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In the grand tradition of the Ballets Russes comes a portrait of five Russian ballerinas from the Mariinsky Theatre (also known as the Kirov).Behind any great ballerina lies the discipline and rigour that comes from decades of training and practice. Superstars like Nijinsky, Baryshnikov and Pavlova established the reputation of Russian dancers as the best in the world. The five dancers profiled in this revealing film are tough, insightful and exceptionally talented; onstage they reveal no hint of the sweat, pain and hard work of the rehearsal studio. From Swan Lake to Romeo and Juliet, from the backstage studio to performing on stages around the world, Ballerina captures the sublime beauty of ballet, in all its resplendent glory.FEATURINGDiana Vishneva, Svetlana Zakharova, Ulyana Lopatkina, Alina Somova & Evgenia Obraztsova

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NASCAR - The IMAX Experience (2004) Review

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(More customer reviews)This is an unbelievable movie. I saw it at the IMAX theater and was blown away and now the DVD is almost as good. I want to make a couple of things clear, however. You people who are dogging this DVD for not being widescreen need to understand that the actual IMAX format is not widescreen. It is 4:3, not 16:9. It is IMAX for a reason. This movie and other IMAX movies WILL not and SHOULD not be shown in widescreen format, because that is not the original IMAX format. You people should go see an IMAX movie and notice the square shaped picture and not the rectangle that normal movies are shown. Get a clue. Another thing, making a 3-D DVD is not as simple as throwing in a pair of paper glasses. You must have special equipment including a 3-D projector and special electronic glasses. Even then it will not be the quality of IMAX. Back to the DVD itself. You will not be dissapointed. Unbelievable picture and sound quality makes for the ultimate DVD experience. You will love this movie.

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When NASCAR: The IMAX Experience 3D is released to IMAX Theatres in Spring 2004, fans will literally be transported into the driver's seat of America's most popular spectator sport. The groundbreaking IMAX 3D film, set against America's most popular spectator sport, will be distributed exclusively to IMAX theatres by Warner Bros. Pictures and IMAX in Spring 2004 and marks Warner Bros.' first foray into the IMAX arena. DVD Features:Documentaries:Drivers' ProfilesDocumentary:NASCAR's closest racing moments

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The Diary of Anne Frank (As Seen on PBS) Review

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(More customer reviews)This latest adaptation of "The Diary of Anne Frank" is by the BBC (released in 2008, total running time is 150 mins). The screenplay is by Deborah Moggach, and is directed by Jon Jones. This adaptation is the most faithful to Anne's "Diary of a Young Girl", reflecting the maturing of a young girl under harrowing circumstances, and exploring all her feelings and emotions in a credible manner.
The film stars Ellie Kendrick as Anna Frank, a feisty 13-year-old Jewish girl who finds her world turned upside down when the Nazis invade Holland in 1942. When her older sister, 16-year-old Margot (Felicity Jones) receives a summons from the Nazis to report for deportation, the Frank family, including father Otto (Iain Glen) and mother Edith (Tamsin Grieg) go into hiding in a Secret Annex above Otto's office. They are helped by a group of loyal Gentile friends, namely Miep Gies (Kate Ashfield), Mr Kleiman (Roger Frost), Mr Kugler (Tim Dantay), and Bep Voskuijl (Mariah Gale). The Franks are later joined by the Van Daans, comprising father Hermann (Ron Cook), mother Petronella (Lesley Sharp), and son Peter (Geoff Breton), and soon after by dentist Albert Dussell (Nicholas Farrell).
Living under such constraints puts a lot of stress on the occupants of the Secret Annex, and the story unfolds through Anne's observations (told partly through voiceovers) as the real Anne Frank had made these observations about her life in hiding in her beloved diary. Anne's chafing under the restrictions of living in hiding is credibly portrayed here(especially the conflicts with Mrs Van Daan and Dussell), as is her adolescent angst which comes across most clearly in her tense relationship with her mother, whom Anne felt did not truly understand her, in contrast to her beloved Pim/Dad whom Anne was very close to. The budding romance between Anne and Peter Van Daan is also explored with a great degree of sensitivity, and it is amazing to see these adolescents manage to connect on an intimate level, despite the harrowing circumstances they find themselves in. Anne's heartfelt conversation with her father is one of the most poignant scenes here and Anne's reflections on her parent's marriage is very insightful, especially from one so young. Ellie Kendrick delivers a finely nuanced performance as the adolescent Anne who harbors so many desires and ambitions, hopes for an unfettered and normal life, and the yearnings of a teenage girl. Her intimate observations regarding her body's cycle and all that it signifies are altogether poignant and heartrending to watch.
The sense of fear and danger is palpable from the first moments, and pervades the show. But there are also light-hearted moments to offset the bleak atmosphere, as when Mrs Van Daan refuses to eat cabbage because it gives her gas, and the comical teeth-pulling scene involving a certain fuss-pot and the dentist. But, knowing their final fate (as anyone who is familiar with Anne Frank's story will know) makes this a heartrending watch indeed. This series ends with Anne, her family, the Van Daans and Dussell being led away by the authorities after their hiding place was discovered (they were betrayed, and the identity of the person/s who betrayed them has never been confirmed till today, though there are many books written on the subject and speculations on the identity of the person/s concerned). The fates of all eight Jews in hiding is also revealed.
I would highly recommend this latest adaptation of "The Diary of Anne Frank" to anyone who has an interest in the Holocaust, who has read and loved Anne Frank's "Diary of a Young Girl", and also to teachers of History, may we never forget. There is also a bonus feature which is an interview with Anne Frank's cousin, Buddy Elias.
Note:
I have watched two previous screen adaptations of "The Diary of Anne Frank". The 1959 B&W movie (total running time:180 mins) starring Millie Perkins as Anne Frank and Joseph Schildkraut as Anne's father, Otto. Though this movie was well-acted and credibly portrayed the fears and frustrations of people in hiding, I felt the movie was wanting in terms of being faithful to the original source, i.e. Anne's diary. This movie is not an altogether historically accurate representation of actual events. The Franks had gone into hiding before the Van Daans, but this is portrayed otherwise in the movie. Peter Van Daan [Van Pels] was extremely shy in real life, but his demeanor is portrayed differently here, and his romance with Anne is overly exaggerated in typical Hollywood style. This movie ends with the capture of the Franks' and their friends in hiding.
The second version I watched was "Anne Frank - The Whole Story" (Walt Disney Studio Release 2001 -total running time 189 mins) and is a well-acted and beautifully filmed movie based on Melissa Muller's biography of Anne Frank. The movie was beautifully filmed with great attention to period details and the excellent casting choices made this an engaging viewing experience. Ben Kingsley played the role of Otto Frank and Hannah Taylor-Gordon plays Anne Frank. Her resemblance to the real-life Anne is quite uncanny. Her portrayal of Anne is simply amazing - strong-willed, impetuous, candid, ambitious, and yet, underlying all that fierceness of spirit is a young girl on the brink of womanhood who yearns to be thought of as a woman and not a girl, and longs for freedom and love. This adaptation ends not with the capture of hidden Jews in the Secret Annex, but with the sisters in the Bergen-Belsen camp, and with their deaths.


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The new Diary of Anne Frank production aired on PBS Masterpiece Theater on April 11, 2010 and is the first true and authentic account of life in hiding under Nazi terror during World War II from the unique perspective of a teenage Jewish girl.The Diary of Anne Frank is a modern, timeless classic of literature and a extraordinary social document that has endured the world over. The story is both an important piece of recent history and universal family tale that is understood worldwide. Full of tension but at times funny and ultimately tragic, Anne Frank's diary manages to create a truthful and timeless picture of domestic life in all its pettiness and normality while never letting us forget the extraordinary threat of death that await the characters if discovered.The BBC worked directly with the Anne Frank-Fonds estate to ensure complete authenticity for the film. Dramatizations of her diary are far and few between as the Anne Frank Fonds (estate) tends not to grant the rights to adapt her memoirs, so this drama series is a very rare event. The detailed reconstructions of the house, together with the strong award winning performances from the cast, combine to create a landmark piece of drama.

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