Out of all the books I have ever read ‘The Diary of Anne Frank’ is one which stands out as one of the few which touched me right to the soul. Since I was a young girl I have re-read that book, and many others about her and her family, to the point where I would not consider myself so much an expert but I feel familiar with Anne’s spirit and how she was as a person. How her family were as people, both together and as individuals.
So I eagerly awaited the new BBC serialisation of the book and watched the first episode last night.
So far I am quite disappointed.
Anne was, by her own description, like “quicksilver”. She was hyperactive, chatty, cheeky…spirited. I don’t know why but Ellie Kendrick’s Anne is so laid back she could be on valium. Her whole characterisation seems to be focused on Anne’s well known talent for answering back to her elders; she gives us a plummy-voiced Anne delivering her lines as if trying to win an elocution competition. Where’s the spark, where’s the girl…?
Anne was just 13 when she entered the annexe and a very slight, tiny 13 at that. Ellie Kendrick looks older (she was 17 during filming) and acts far too sophisticated and worldly – which was something Anne was not. Maturity and a sense of naive ‘sophistication’ were qualities that would come to Anne toward the end of her time in hiding.
Otto Frank was no doubt the leader of the group in the annexe but so far Iain Glen does not convince me that he is quite the dignified and wise Papa that Anne so adored. As Margot, Felicity Jones captures her character in such a way that if she had no lines to speak you wouldn’t know she was there – she was also much taller than Anne at the beginning of their time in the annexe.
Maybe it would have been asking for too much but some accents would have added to the quality and credibility…but only if done properly. I have always thought that Meryl Streep would be an ideal Edith Frank – with the right makeup, wardrobing and Meryl’s brilliant talent for foreign dialect she would bring Annes misunderstood and tragic mother to life beautifully.
The production is just too….english. These actors are portraying German Jews who had particular mannerisms and traits – none are evident in these characters – close your eyes and you could be listening to an english drama on the radio.
Okay, so it is only episode one I am referring to; I shall persevere during the rest of the series if only for the fact that it was filmed in the actual Prinsengracht annexe itself. I have been there and was struck by the atmosphere and how frustrating it must have been for those people to have existed in that small space for over two years.
But you dont have to go there – just pick up a copy of Anne’s book and you can experience it all yourself through the amazing talent of a little girl who would undoubtedly have gone on to do greater things had she been allowed to live. She would have turned 80 years old on June 12th this year…
But of all the wondeful things she might have done – this definitely would have been the greatest.
Anne Franks diary.
And what people had to say…